Narrative styles: third person, present tense...

[harry87]

Third person present tense:

Greater sense of urgency, or an annoying gimmick?

 

[3113]

Third person present tense:

Greater sense of urgency, or an annoying gimmick?

I, personally, find present tense an annoying gimmick: "He touches her gently. She responds. He kisses her...."

And I think it actually slows things down rather than creating a sense of urgency.

 

[only_more_so]

I, personally, find present tense an annoying gimmick: "He touches her gently. She responds. He kisses her...."

And I think it actually slows things down rather than creating a sense of urgency.

I tried writing in the present tense once, and it really sucks. Maybe it is because I am so used to writing in past tense. Just like this message, it's all already happened by the time I write it, er wrote it. And it has really been done by the time it's read.

As long as we are talking point of view and tenses... Am I the only one who really doesn't like second person perspective? Or at least as it's done in most Lit stories?

Personally I stick with first person past tense, or third person limited past tense.

 

[3113]

As long as we are talking point of view and tenses... Am I the only one who really doesn't like second person perspective? Or at least as it's done in most Lit stories?

Heh. Mention "second tense" in the Author's Hangout. It's like screaming "Fire!" Everyone comes pouring out. "Did someone say 2nd Tense?"..."Yes! Someone mentioned that evil tense!"

Okay, maybe it's not that bad, but you're not the only one who doesn't like it in lit stories. Not by a long shot.

"You touch her breasts. You kiss her. She looks at you with love in her eyes...."

Please

 

[snooper]

Heh. Mention "second tense" in the Author's Hangout. ...

I don't understand what you mean by "second tense". I assume this is an American term for something we, in the UK, have a different name for. Can anyone translate, please?

On the main subject:
Children live entirely within themselves and in the present. Their initial attempts at writing are always first person and usually present tense. Anyone who doesn't believe that should read the newsbook of a five year old at school. As they mature they start to write in the past tense, as they realise, subconsciously, that memories are not re-living of events (as, for example, dreams are) but are genuinely past events. Then as they develop they move to describing other people's actions in the third person.

So then we have the newsbook saying things like "Mummy cut off the cat's tail yesterday when she trapped it in the kitchen door."

Finally they learn to distinguish the continuing present from the past tense and we have "My favourite aunt is grandma. She spoils me. We went to visit her last Saturday."

The pluperfect comes much later.

Oh, and yes; the excerpts are genuine, and from my sons' newsbooks. The cat recovered and, after a visit to the vet, seemed to be unaffected by the loss of a couple of inches off the end of its tail.

 

[only_more_so]

I hadn't heard it called second tense, but rather second person. Basically it is when the author writes as if talking to YOU. So "You" become an intimate part of the story. Sometimes it is kind of a first person second person, where the two main characters are You and I, or sometimes it is more of a third person, where You are doing things, but I isn't there.

 

[BedtimeStories77]

Is this a story idea?

 

[3113]

I don't understand what you mean by "second tense". I assume this is an American term for something we, in the UK, have a different name for. Can anyone translate, please?

As said, it's the use of "You" as the point-of-view. Rather like in a cookbook: "You mix the sugar and butter together until smooth. Then you add the eggs..."

Very popular for Lit stories because it *presumably* makes the reader feel as if they're part of the story: "You stroke her breasts...."

1st person (or tense) = "I" as in Detective novels: "I got out my gun...."
2nd person = You
3rd person selective = He/She but only one character's perspective: "Harold knocked on her door, then nervously adjusted his tie..."
3rd person omniscient = He/She with many points of view. That's where you get a War and Peace situation. The p.o.v. changes from character to character--the author is "God" and can take the reader into the head of any character.

 

[Weird Harold]

Third person present tense:

Greater sense of urgency, or an annoying gimmick?

Present Tense is like Jalapanos -- only to be used in small doses.

If the reader really notices what tense a story is written in, it's probably because it's annoying -- which pretty much makes it an "Annoying Gimmick" by definition.

Writing exclusively in Present Tense is difficult to do without it being noticeable because it's so foreign to what the readers are used to. It can give a dream-like feel to a story or scene so it's a usefull weapon in a writer's arsenal, but like most weapons, it can do as much harm as good.

 

[Seattle Zack]

Skillful writers can use present tense quite effectively (one of my favorites is Boston Terran's God Is a Bullet) but you'd better know what you're doing. More than likely, it will come across as flawed and ineffective.

Good luck if you try it, but don't be surprised if changing tense doesn't add the "sense of urgency" you want if it isn't there already.

 

[Verdad]

Skillful writers can use present tense quite effectively

Yes. An example that popped in my mind is Charles Stross, a British sci-fi author, in the stories he published in Asimov's.

If the reader really notices what tense a story is written in, it's probably because it's annoying -- which pretty much makes it an "Annoying Gimmick" by definition.

True. In the example I mentioned above, it actually took me awhile to understand what it was that I found so appealing about his style.

And I think it actually slows things down rather than creating a sense of urgency.

That's very interesting too, because I think that's how it works too, for good or for ill, depending on the case... Not necessarily slowing down, but maybe increasing the sense of distance from the action? I'm not sure of the psychological explanation for that, though.

Verdad