2nd-person Narrative

Because you are thinking about pursuing consulting, you read ‘House of Lies,’ by Martin Kihn, which was marketed as a tell-all expose on the vile evilness of consulting firms. It was a good book, and wildly entertaining; so entertaining, in fact, that after you finished it for the third time, you who usually read books only once before placing them on imaginary bookshelves before they collect mountains of dust, you decided to write the author a quick thank-you e-mail.

You usually do not do this. In fact, after the hundreds of books you have read in your lifetime, which do not include the mountainous texts you finished during your first term of business school, this is only the second time you have ever done this; the other time, you wrote Po Bronson, because his book helped you confront your utter confusion regarding What You Should Do With Your Life. Now, you think you should do consulting, and Marty Kihn’s book opened up your eyes like nothing else could have. And you thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

What you liked most about the book, however, was not the plot, or the sarcastic humor, though as already mentioned, you found it quite enlightening and funny. No, the best part about the book, was that it was not necessarily about Marty. It was about you. In second person. And it was much, much, more powerful.

So, you decide to apply this lesson to your blog, at least for a couple of months. Not because you are purposely stealing ideas from Marty Kihn (who in turn probably stole his ideas from William Faulkner or Nathaniel Hawthorne), but because you think that writing this way would make your blog infinitely more fun to write, and quite possibly give it that extra punch you think is still missing. The punch that will knock your blog into the next stratosphere, where it will be not only informative, but also wildly entertaining to read.

Besides, there is no downside. Marty Kihn’s most recent book is entitled, “A$$hole.” Even if you are stealing his idea, you are sure that he will understand.

^_^