How annoying is first-person present tense?

[AllenWoody]

For the first several years of my Lit ‘career’ I wrote exclusively in third-person past tense. This mirrored other fiction writing I’d pursued over the years. But for some reason when I decided to try my hand at first-person, I moved into present tense. My first story with this approach was Emergence, which got a favorable overall reception. When I wrote a short follow-up series I kept going in the same vein. It feels comfortable and immediate, really allowing me to present the character with more depth, especially with respect to the reader’s insight into their thoughts.

But since then I’ve also started picking up on some of the sometimes strong dislike people have for this approach. I see comments to the effect that readers flat out won’t start a story written in that tense/perspective, or that it’s annoying. I don’t want to be annoying.

How much does it bother you as a reader, and do you purposefully avoid this tense?

 

[madelinemasoch]

I prefer third-person past, but I don't mind other approaches. Don't get too caught up in it... Wield the style well.

 

[mirafrida]

I wouldn't avoid it as a "matter of principle."

But in practice, if I see a story that starts out "I am doing X, and I see Y, and Z is happening" then I'm probably quite likely to hit the back button.

 

[StillStunned]

It annoys me. Not the first person, that's fine. Present tense is what puts me off, but I'm struggling to say why.

Maybe it's as simple as not being what I'm used to. Maybe it's more subtle: first person present tense seems to prioritise the narrator over the reader. As the reader, I don't feel like the narrator is sharing with me, I feel like I'm intruding on the narrator's thoughts.

Does that make sense?

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't avoid it, and I think it can work, but my experience is that authors often don't know how to handle present tense and get things wrong. Inexperienced authors who start stories in present tense are much more likely either to switch out of it unconsciously or to use the coordinate tenses (perfect and progressive) incorrectly, and that bugs me.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I think it depends on how believable the narrator is, regardless of the perspective used.

I have used both first and third person, and for me it really boils down to who is best positioned to tell the story so that all of the characters are best represented. The more characters in the story, the more difficult it is to make a first-person perspective believable.

 

[MillieDynamite]

The present tense is difficult to maintain. It almost goes against the grain. First person present would also be difficult. But if third person or first person present is done right, it would be very compelling to read. But getting all the wording exactly written to keep you in the moment, woman alive, what a wonderment that would be.

 

[AllenWoody]

It annoys me. Not the first person, that's fine. Present tense is what puts me off, but I'm struggling to say why.

Maybe it's as simple as not being what I'm used to. Maybe it's more subtle: first person present tense seems to prioritise the narrator over the reader. As the reader, I don't feel like the narrator is sharing with me, I feel like I'm intruding on the narrator's thoughts.

Does that make sense?

It does make sense, although not surprisingly I don’t feel precisely that way. When I wrote Emergence I was startled by how easily the words flew onto the page, but that’s a single-installment, largely character-driven story. Since then I started a longer, plot-driven work in the same tense and now I wonder if I’m creating a clunker.

 

[AllenWoody]

The present tense is difficult to maintain. It almost goes against the grain. First person present would also be difficult. But if third person or first person present is done right, it would be very compelling to read. But getting all the wording exactly written to keep you in the moment, woman alive, what a wonderment that would be.

Oddly enough, I’m having the opposite problem. After having written several stories in this tense I find myself struggling to write past tense. I keep having to go back and change verb tense, then find myself doing it yet again.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Well, I have a story I want to be working on for the Halloween contest, which I'm writing in the third person present. But it's been a time-consuming endeavor, and outside factors make it highly unlikely I'll finish in time for this year. Or even for a pre-Halloween release for sale. It isn't so much how hard it is to write but how hard it is to carve out the time to do it. Of course, my daily diversion to here isn't helping either.

Oddly enough, I’m having the opposite problem. After having written several stories in this tense I find myself struggling to write past tense. I keep having to go back and change verb tense, then find myself doing it yet again.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Well, I have a story I want to be working on for the Halloween contest, which I'm writing in the third person present. But it's been a time-consuming endeavor, and outside factors make it highly unlikely I'll finish in time for this year. Or even for a pre-Halloween release for sale. It isn't so much how hard it is to write but how hard it is to carve out the time to do it. Of course, my daily diversion to here isn't helping either.

So, why are you entertaining the troops instead of writing?

 

[lavendersilk]

I'm embarrassed to admit, I've been stuck writing present tense first person simply because I think the sex scenes are hotter. But, I'm have an extremely hard time right now.

I'm not writing for a contest, just for fun. But I still want it to be enjoyable to read...

I'm this close to chucking it.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Sigh, I don't know.

So, why are you entertaining the troops instead of writing?

 

[Bazzle]

My Halloween story Phantom Flings https://literotica.com/s/phantom-flings I tested my self (and in places failed) to write a story in two tenses!

 

[Djmac1031]

So I wrote a 1st Person, Present Tense story I've been on the fence about publishing.

It's basically about a dream, and it's pretty short.

I know Present Tense isn't the most popular so curious (and, being honest, concerned) about how readers might react.

I suppose I'll never find out if I don't publish it, right?

 

[MillieDynamite]

We all fail now and again. Nothing about failure is bad. Well, if your failure causes death, that's bad. Umm, if you don't learn something from the failure, it isn't cheeky baby. But baring death and stupidity, it's all Butter.

My Halloween story Phantom Flings https://literotica.com/s/phantom-flings I tested my self (and in places failed) to write a story in two tenses!

 

[MillieDynamite]

No, sir, you won't. So, pub it, baby.

So I wrote a 1st Person, Present Tense story I've been on the fence about publishing.

It's basically about a dream, and it's pretty short.

I know Present Tense isn't the most popular so curious (and, being honest, concerned) about how readers might react.

I suppose I'll never find out if I don't publish it, right?

 

[lavendersilk]

What if you did a chapter in 1pov present, then switch to 3pov past in the following chapters? I believe James Patterson does this a lot in the Women's Murder Club. He does 1pov present for the killer's chapters and then does 3pov past? for Lindsey? Eek, I'm not sure.... it's been awhile since I've read those.

Just try finding a story written exclusively 1pov present and see how you feel about it. Wally Lamb does this well.

 

[mpeters]

Writing in present tense puts me off, personally. My stories are all first person past tense, relating something that had already happened,

I could almost see it working but you’d maybe need to switch tenses and perspectives all the time, with third person past setting things up, and then first person present to get their POV and thoughts as things are happening. But it would almost feel like a gimmick just so show you could.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Writing in present tense puts me off, personally. My stories are all first person past tense, relating something that had already happened,

I could almost see it working but you’d maybe need to switch tenses and perspectives all the time, with third person past setting things up, and then first person present to get their POV and thoughts as things are happening. But it would almost feel like a gimmick just so show you could.

I think the tense needs to consistent in a story.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Most third-person stories have a mix of tenses in them. The dialog can be present, past, or future. Narration (first or third person) is usually past with an occasional future reference, "In three years, he would know different. But at that time, he was blissfully ignorant."

 

[Rob_Royale]

Like anything else it depends on how well it's done. First person can be very intimate and immersive or it can sound like the MC is bragging.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I tried my hand at switching back and forth between a 1st person POV present and past tense in my latest story "The Morning After an Epoch Night".

It's a Loving Wives stroker story, where the husband wakes in the morning, and the core of the story is him getting ready for work and getting it on with his wife before leaving the house. But they discuss their previous evening, with flashbacks about what they were doing with his past tense 1st person POV.

One thing I've observed in reading stories is I need a visual que when the scene shifts. So, I do that within the chapters after a few paragraphs of present tense, then inserting a line of asterisks ***** before shifting to past tense of the previous night.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Many of Patterson's stories are a mixture of first and third-person. But, of course, his stories are a mixture of his inserts and other writers' efforts. Calling the Cowriters, when basically he writes the outline, they write the story, he inserts some Patterson flares, is really only stroking the egos of those that ghostwrite for him. They don't have rights when the stories are sold for TV or Movie. They don't get royalties but salaries. Okay, I don't much like the man.

 

[lavendersilk]

I didn't know that.