Writing in present tense

mr ploppy · 09-15-2010, 02:35 PM

Someone was advertising a book in here yesterday, not sure where the thread went or what the books was called, but when I had a look at the feedback on Smashwords there was a few comments saying that the present tense writing style took a long time to get used to.

So are those people just being picky, or is there really a lot of people who would be put off by a present tense writing style?

TGS · 09-15-2010, 03:38 PM

Well, I guess most narratives are written in what we think of as the past tense, (though Käte Hamburger - a literary theorist - reckons it isn't really past tense but what she calls the "epic preterite"). Some books written in the present tense can be very successful - After Dark by Haruki Murakami comes to mind as the most recent that I've read. Reading a narrative in the present tense can have some quite interesting cognitive effects - not least of which is that when we read a "normal", past tense or whatever you want to call it, novel the narrator is narrating events that he/she knows about - in a sense they "know" more than we as the reader does, and have made decisions about which bits of what happened they are going to tell us about. But when a narrative is in the present tense the narrator doesn't have this privileged position - the effect can be much more like watching a film, with the events unfolding as we encounter them, there is on one predigesting the events and the recounting them.

Having said all that, just because present tense narratives are relatively unfamiliar to us it can take some time to settle into them. And of course, they may be badly written, which doesn't help.

Lemurion · 09-15-2010, 03:54 PM

This pops up regularly on writers' boards, and it's usually extremely polarizing.

Some people love present tense because it provides a sense of immediacy, others hate it because they find it seems artificial, and the artifice outweighs the immediacy.

One problem is that because it's less common than "past" it's more noticeable, and because the reader is likely to be paying more attention to the writing they are more likely to notice when it's done badly.

The real issue is that when people dislike it, they often dislike it intensely and are very vocal about that dislike. There really are person who will put a book down and walk away the moment they see it's in present tense.

It can work very well - but using it will turn some people off.

kcmay · 09-15-2010, 05:35 PM

I always sample books before I buy, and I'm one of those who's put off by present tense stories. As soon as I see it's in present tense, I delete it and move on to the next book.

Some writers believe that present tense is more immediate. I disagree. Immediacy has to do with reader involvement, not verb tense. The biggest problem I've seen with the present tense stories I've read is that not everyone handles present tense well. You can't write, for instance, "A few hours later" or "later that day" when telling a story in present tense, but some writers don't realize they've let those things slip in.

ASparrow · 09-15-2010, 06:42 PM

I love present tense, partly because the words look so sleek and pretty on the page. Present tense often uses the simpler, root form of a verb, no need to add on all those clunky -eds.

I like reading it, too, if done well, but that goes for any kind of writing. I will not discard a book merely because of an unfamiliar tense.

That said, I still mostly write in the past tense, the exception being my novel, LETHE.

Tom Wood · 09-15-2010, 06:52 PM

Having written several spec screenplays, I just can't write any way other than present tense. I do notice that a lot of present tense is first person. I write third person so it does have that feel of a movie unspooling in front of you.

Luke King · 09-15-2010, 10:14 PM

I don't like present tense a whole lot. I remember reading a science fiction book once that was set under the sea (published sometime in the 1990s) and it annoyed the hell out of me. I also remember reading a book on writing once where the author said that past tense (paradoxically) has a sense of immediacy, whereas present tense tends to remove the reader from the action.

That said, I have used it occasionally, but I think it really depends on the story.

jaxx6166 · 09-15-2010, 10:46 PM

I saw the book you guys are talking about in the ibook store a couple weeks ago and picked it up for free. Got about 20 pages in and got a headache. The kid hadn't even found his way into the magic world of the MMO and I already had tuned it out for the present tense. I'll have to go back and check it out again, but initially i found it way too jarring to get into.

Tom Wood · 09-16-2010, 01:04 AM

How timely...

Philip Pullman and Philip Hensher criticise Booker Prize for including present tense novels

dworth · 09-16-2010, 04:12 AM

"You can't write, for instance, "A few hours later" or "later that day" when telling a story in present tense,"

You can, sort of. For example:

"It's a few hours later and I'm standing outside the house."

mr ploppy · 09-16-2010, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcmay

You can't write, for instance, "A few hours later" or "later that day" when telling a story in present tense, but some writers don't realize they've let those things slip in.

I don't see why not. Just because something is in present tense it doesn't mean it has to be in realtime. Without any time jumps, what would you write about while everyone was asleep?

mr ploppy · 09-16-2010, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Wood

How timely...

Philip Pullman and Philip Hensher criticise Booker Prize for including present tense novels

I see what you mean about it being polarising. But if it is also a fad, that in itself would be a good enough reason not to use it. I think the appeal to me is because it's the way I speak myself. "So he says 'stop it' and then he goes and drops his beer" is the way I would tell someone about an event that I had seen in the past.

mr ploppy · 09-16-2010, 07:40 AM

Mr Ploppy has a brainwave whilst making dinner.

"You reek of her" he says, and rushes to his keyboard. "I can just do two different versions, one in past tense and one in present tense," he types. "Then people can decide for themselves."

But will Smashwords allow this, he ponders.

Ea · 09-16-2010, 07:44 AM

I'm not sure whether it's due to lack of familiarity or because it's simply more difficult to write well in present tense, but I don't generally like reading it. Especially writers of books of, um, an "adult" nature, seem to favour the technique - probably because of an idea of perceived immediacy. It's not something I especially like when reading.

In general, I think has a lot to do with being used to it, and that one has to be a better than average writer to pull it off well. It will put off some people. The queation is whether it's worth it.

Lexi Revellian · 09-16-2010, 07:51 AM

I dislike present tense writing, unless there's a good reason for it (I wrote a short story in first person present tense because the narrator was in for a nasty surprise at the end).

Having said which, I've just read The Hunger Games, and the pull of the story overrode my prejudice against the present tense it's written in. But I'd still have preferred it in past tense.

09-15-2010, 02:35 PM	#1
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	Writing in present tense Someone was advertising a book in here yesterday, not sure where the thread went or what the books was called, but when I had a look at the feedback on Smashwords there was a few comments saying that the present tense writing style took a long time to get used to. So are those people just being picky, or is there really a lot of people who would be put off by a present tense writing style?

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09-15-2010, 03:38 PM	#2
TGS Country Member Posts: 9,058 Karma: 7676767 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Denmark Device: Liseuse: Irex DR800. PRS 505 in the house, and the missus has an iPad.	Well, I guess most narratives are written in what we think of as the past tense, (though Käte Hamburger - a literary theorist - reckons it isn't really past tense but what she calls the "epic preterite"). Some books written in the present tense can be very successful - After Dark by Haruki Murakami comes to mind as the most recent that I've read. Reading a narrative in the present tense can have some quite interesting cognitive effects - not least of which is that when we read a "normal", past tense or whatever you want to call it, novel the narrator is narrating events that he/she knows about - in a sense they "know" more than we as the reader does, and have made decisions about which bits of what happened they are going to tell us about. But when a narrative is in the present tense the narrator doesn't have this privileged position - the effect can be much more like watching a film, with the events unfolding as we encounter them, there is on one predigesting the events and the recounting them. Having said all that, just because present tense narratives are relatively unfamiliar to us it can take some time to settle into them. And of course, they may be badly written, which doesn't help.

09-15-2010, 03:54 PM	#3
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	This pops up regularly on writers' boards, and it's usually extremely polarizing. Some people love present tense because it provides a sense of immediacy, others hate it because they find it seems artificial, and the artifice outweighs the immediacy. One problem is that because it's less common than "past" it's more noticeable, and because the reader is likely to be paying more attention to the writing they are more likely to notice when it's done badly. The real issue is that when people dislike it, they often dislike it intensely and are very vocal about that dislike. There really are person who will put a book down and walk away the moment they see it's in present tense. It can work very well - but using it will turn some people off.

09-15-2010, 05:35 PM	#4
kcmay Addict Posts: 363 Karma: 500001 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Georgia, USA Device: Kindle2	I always sample books before I buy, and I'm one of those who's put off by present tense stories. As soon as I see it's in present tense, I delete it and move on to the next book. Some writers believe that present tense is more immediate. I disagree. Immediacy has to do with reader involvement, not verb tense. The biggest problem I've seen with the present tense stories I've read is that not everyone handles present tense well. You can't write, for instance, "A few hours later" or "later that day" when telling a story in present tense, but some writers don't realize they've let those things slip in.

09-15-2010, 06:42 PM	#5
ASparrow Addict Posts: 355 Karma: 600000 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Boston Device: Palm TX	I love present tense, partly because the words look so sleek and pretty on the page. Present tense often uses the simpler, root form of a verb, no need to add on all those clunky -eds. I like reading it, too, if done well, but that goes for any kind of writing. I will not discard a book merely because of an unfamiliar tense. That said, I still mostly write in the past tense, the exception being my novel, LETHE.

09-15-2010, 06:52 PM	#6
Tom Wood oddly human Posts: 82 Karma: 6872 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle	Having written several spec screenplays, I just can't write any way other than present tense. I do notice that a lot of present tense is first person. I write third person so it does have that feel of a movie unspooling in front of you.

09-15-2010, 10:14 PM	#7
Luke King Member Retired Posts: 173 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle 2	I don't like present tense a whole lot. I remember reading a science fiction book once that was set under the sea (published sometime in the 1990s) and it annoyed the hell out of me. I also remember reading a book on writing once where the author said that past tense (paradoxically) has a sense of immediacy, whereas present tense tends to remove the reader from the action. That said, I have used it occasionally, but I think it really depends on the story.

09-15-2010, 10:46 PM	#8
jaxx6166 Wizard Posts: 1,222 Karma: 769316 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Eternal summer Device: 350, iPad, PW	I saw the book you guys are talking about in the ibook store a couple weeks ago and picked it up for free. Got about 20 pages in and got a headache. The kid hadn't even found his way into the magic world of the MMO and I already had tuned it out for the present tense. I'll have to go back and check it out again, but initially i found it way too jarring to get into.

09-16-2010, 01:04 AM	#9
Tom Wood oddly human Posts: 82 Karma: 6872 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle	How timely... Philip Pullman and Philip Hensher criticise Booker Prize for including present tense novels

09-16-2010, 04:12 AM	#10
dworth Zealot Posts: 140 Karma: 2094632 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Bradford, UK Device: kindle pc	"You can't write, for instance, "A few hours later" or "later that day" when telling a story in present tense," You can, sort of. For example: "It's a few hours later and I'm standing outside the house."

09-16-2010, 07:40 AM	#13
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	Mr Ploppy has a brainwave whilst making dinner. "You reek of her" he says, and rushes to his keyboard. "I can just do two different versions, one in past tense and one in present tense," he types. "Then people can decide for themselves." But will Smashwords allow this, he ponders.

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09-16-2010, 07:44 AM	#14
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	I'm not sure whether it's due to lack of familiarity or because it's simply more difficult to write well in present tense, but I don't generally like reading it. Especially writers of books of, um, an "adult" nature, seem to favour the technique - probably because of an idea of perceived immediacy. It's not something I especially like when reading. In general, I think has a lot to do with being used to it, and that one has to be a better than average writer to pull it off well. It will put off some people. The queation is whether it's worth it.

09-16-2010, 07:51 AM	#15
Lexi Revellian Groupie Posts: 172 Karma: 200001 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: London Device: Kindle keyboard	I dislike present tense writing, unless there's a good reason for it (I wrote a short story in first person present tense because the narrator was in for a nasty surprise at the end). Having said which, I've just read The Hunger Games, and the pull of the story overrode my prejudice against the present tense it's written in. But I'd still have preferred it in past tense.