Past & Present Tense. HELP.

[KatnissEverdeen]

Past & Present Tense. HELP.
So I was writting my story, the one I posted here, and I cannot longer go writting present. It's hard, and I like it better on past. Alot. The point is...
which do you think is easier ? and Why?

[hillwalker]

There's no 'easier' or 'harder' - it's remaining consistent that is difficult.

Writing a story in the present tense can make it seem more immediate - as if the reader is watching the story at the same time as it unfolds for the characters.

Using the past tense to tell a story is similar to reporting events in a newspaper article for instance so is presumably the more natural of the two.

It's good practice to write the same story in both to get a feel for how well they work - and what it takes to master each.

H

[Panglossian]

I'd say it is tricky to keep present tense going for a long piece. After a certain point it starts to feel unnatural, in that it taints the realism and believability: the reader begins to doubt how the writer is logging what is happening as it is happening. Present tense can work really well in short short stories, though I think past tense is easier to sustain for longer stuff.

[PeterL]

Stories are recountings of events real or imaginary. The author is a storyteller, and the reader isa listener. Trying to write a story in the present tense destroys that relationship, and it creates cognitiv disonance. The reader is surely aware that there isn't a monster standing directly in front of him; the page being read is there. It is easier and more honest to put narration in the past tense, and to have characters give a feeling of immediacy through their dialogue.

[KatnissEverdeen]

I'd say it is tricky to keep present tense going for a long piece. After a certain point it starts to feel unnatural, in that it taints the realism and believability: the reader begins to doubt how the writer is logging what is happening as it is happening. Present tense can work really well in short short stories, though I think past tense is easier to sustain for longer stuff.
Yes, it is tricky. Ya, some I wrote were short stories in present, they sound good. but in Safe Fire (my book) after chapter one I got stuck.


Stories are recountings of events real or imaginary. The author is a storyteller, and the reader isa listener. Trying to write a story in the present tense destroys that relationship, and it creates cognitiv disonance. The reader is surely aware that there isn't a monster standing directly in front of him; the page being read is there. It is easier and more honest to put narration in the past tense, and to have characters give a feeling of immediacy through their dialogue.
Yeah. That too it doesn't feel right.
----------------------------------------------------

Now which one is perfered by readers?
I perfer past! But in my favorite book, The Hunger Games is in present and it's amazing, it made me feel I was actually there. Collins knows how to write. She inspired me start writting. That's why I write in present.

I just read this. And it makes sense.

Lets break it down. A book written in the present tense allows the reader to feel that he is watching it happen before him, and involves a factor of participation. It also allows the illusion that anything can happen anytime, as he is literally wearing the character's shoes.
On the other hand, past tenses are more of a report and the I feel that the element of surprise rather diminishes.
Content is a dominant factor, but we generally take to a book only after satisfyin ourselves that it meets our expectation.

[hillwalker]

Stories are recountings of events real or imaginary. The author is a storyteller, and the reader isa listener. Trying to write a story in the present tense destroys that relationship, and it creates cognitiv disonance. The reader is surely aware that there isn't a monster standing directly in front of him; the page being read is there. It is easier and more honest to put narration in the past tense, and to have characters give a feeling of immediacy through their dialogue.

Rather a sweeping statement, and misguided on so many levels. The author is not restricted to the passive role of 'storyteller'. He/she can be the main character as well as the narrator - and the reader can be so much more than a 'listener'.

Present tense 'destroying' the relationship between writer and reader? Cognitive dissonance? Based on what exactly?

Writing in present tense places the reader at the heart of the action - perhaps that's difficult to imagine sat in your armchair with a book in your lap. But that's the general idea - allow the reader to escape reality.

Cognitive dissonance is when the subconscious is required to hold two conflicting beliefs... so I'm not sure how reading a present tense account might cause this conflict unless you are incapable of forgetting you are just reading a fictionalised account and that none of the characters are real.
If that indeed is the problem, reading a story written in past tense is just as likely to take some believing since you're obviously not actually observing or experiencing real events despite the writer's attempts to bring the story to life.

Admittedly, descriptions written in present tense that emerge from a past tense narrative can be a more effective way of intensifying recollections than composing the entire book in present tense. But it's unfair to write off an entire literary style on such shaky reasoning.

There are many classic novels where the present tense plays a critical role - half of 'Bleak House' is written in present tense for example and I believe it's quite a good read.

H

[cyberbob]

Do you mean present tense as in

"Johnny walks to the table. He lights a cigarette and speaks to Marlow:
'Methinks it is like a weasel'

Marlow looks at him strangely and begins to tap dance in the sky."

Like that? That narration sounds weird to me. I think past tense sounds a lot better and it's the one I alwayse use.

[gruntingslime]

I find my natural inclination will turn to present tense and I will need to consciously maneuver it if I want to write in the past.

[KatnissEverdeen]

Do you mean present tense as in

"Johnny walks to the table. He lights a cigarette and speaks to Marlow:
'Methinks it is like a weasel'

Marlow looks at him strangely and begins to tap dance in the sky."

Like that? That narration sounds weird to me. I think past tense sounds a lot better and it's the one I alwayse use.

No like that. I am writting in first person

“I am different, am not a normal kid, my life changed when I turned 16.” He says slowly and shaky. “So will yours… soon.” he finishes in a low voice. I don’t understand what he means, but it makes me shiver. I know that his past is my future
like this. That's a part from my book. I don't know how to write it. It sounds better in both (the whole thing.)
I think Past Tense, it's old fashioned. What if we could change that a little bit. One thing I don't like is when they mix both together..

[PeterL]

No like that. I am writting in first person

like this. That's a part from my book. I don't know how to write it. It sounds better in both (the whole thing.)
I think Past Tense, it's old fashioned. What if we could change that a little bit. One thing I don't like is when they mix both together..

You are mixing tenses.


“I am different, am not a normal kid, my life changed when I turned 16.” He says slowly and shaky. “So will yours… soon.” he finishes in a low voice. I don’t understand what he means, but it makes me shiver. I know that his past is my future

The "I am different..." comes across as internal dialogue, in which the character is talking to himself. "my life changed when I turned 16.” He says slowly and shaky." is ordinary past tense direct narrative. The "he says" would be better as "he said."

You might want to thkink about what the words that you write mean or might mean to readers. If readers gather different meaning from what you intend, then there is a problem with the writing.

[AuntShecky]

Using verbs in the present tense was in vogue a couple of decades ago, possibly in emulation of some of the short stories by Carver or in an effort to make the work seem more immediate or "cinematic," with perhaps an overly-
optimistic eye toward a future screenplay sale.

I've weighed in (a bit heavily) on this very topic before.
When I read a story whose setting is contemporary but written in the present tense, my first impression is that it has "The Eighties" all over it, i.e. a bit "passé."

My main misgiving about the using present tense is that unless you and I are masters of consiistency, we can run into problems when we want to introduce a flashback or a similar reference to the character's past. This makes our prose vulnerable to all kinds of awkward constructions.

[KatnissEverdeen]

You are mixing tenses.



The "I am different..." comes across as internal dialogue, in which the character is talking to himself. "my life changed when I turned 16.” He says slowly and shaky." is ordinary past tense direct narrative. The "he says" would be better as "he said."

You might want to thkink about what the words that you write mean or might mean to readers. If readers gather different meaning from what you intend, then there is a problem with the writing.

That's not the thing though. In this part of the story he is talking to Ever about his past, but the story isn't in past is in present.

[faithosaurus]

When writing stories I'm used to doing it in past tense, but sometimes present tense is nice as well.

If I want the story to feel more "in the moment", then I'll use present tense. I usually will only use it when I have the main character as the narrator as well.