Present tense. Do you like it?

[AG31]

Almost always (always?) when someone posts a "should I..." question about some writing technique, I advise doing whatever it is well. I didn't think there was a technique that, in and of itself, I'd reject. But I've decided I just plain don't like present tense. I happen to be on my 3rd present tense book in the last few weeks, and I've found it annoying every time. I have trouble imagining what "bad" present tense would be. It seems like it just is there or isn't there. But it's setting my teeth on edge. Too bad, because in all other ways I've like the books.

Do you have an opinion about present tense?

Is there such a thing as good or bad present tense?

Are there writing techniques you just don't like, regardless of the skill employed?

 

[Bazzle]

Almost always (always?) when someone posts a "should I..." question about some writing technique, I advise doing whatever it is well. I didn't think there was a technique that, in and of itself, I'd reject. But I've decided I just plain don't like present tense. I happen to be on my 3rd present tense book in the last few weeks, and I've found it annoying every time. I have trouble imagining what "bad" present tense would be. It seems like it just is there or isn't there. But it's setting my teeth on edge. Too bad, because in all other ways I've like the books.

Do you have an opinion about present tense?

Is there such a thing as good or bad present tense?

Are there writing techniques you just don't like, regardless of the skill employed?

If I can work out what tense I am writing in, and stick to it, my writing would improve. Yet I am often finding myself tense blind.

 

[old_prof]

I don't notice tense when I'm reading. Unless they screw it up, that screams at me. And I have to reread the section and figure out what tense they were using and why the current stretch is wrong.

I find writing in present much easier (and more natural).

 

[StillStunned]

Present tense should be reserved for writing in 2P POV.

Actually, I think the default should be past tense, and you need a very good narrative reason to use present. Most stories and books that use present tense don't have such a reason.

Or maybe it's a style that's preferred by a younger generation of writers and readers, and I should accept that I'm not the intended readership.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Present tense should be reserved for writing in 2P POV.

Actually, I think the default should be past tense, and you need a very good narrative reason to use present. Most stories and books that use present tense don't have such a reason.

Or maybe it's a style that's preferred by a younger generation of writers and readers, and I should accept that I'm not the intended readership.

Endorsed.

 

[AG31]

Present tense should be reserved for writing in 2P POV.

Actually, I think the default should be past tense, and you need a very good narrative reason to use present. Most stories and books that use present tense don't have such a reason.

Or maybe it's a style that's preferred by a younger generation of writers and readers, and I should accept that I'm not the intended readership.

Can you give an example of a good reason to use it?

 

[AG31]

After starting this thread, and going back to my present tense book, I think one reason I don't like it is that intrudes. I'm aware of it. It's harder to get lost in the story.

 

[AG31]

I don't notice tense when I'm reading. Unless they screw it up, that screams at me. And I have to reread the section and figure out what tense they were using and why the current stretch is wrong.

I find writing in present much easier (and more natural).

I can see how it would be easier to write in the present tense. But that doesn't mean it reads easier.

 

[GemmaGemmaGemma]

I don't really understand the tenses and probably never will, but what a privilege it is to know they exist

 

[StillStunned]

Can you give an example of a good reason to use it?

When the immediacy is part of the story. When it's important for the narrator to experience the events "in real time", so to speak, as the story unfolds. I know you've read Ben's Big Mistake; I wrote that story in 1P present tense because I thought the twist justified it. It's a story that wouldn't have the same impact if it was in past tense.

Similarly, in the few cases where 2P POV works, I think it almost demands the use of present tense. It's all about the immediacy, and placing the reader there in the situation.

In longer stories, you lose the immediacy and start wondering why it wasn't written in past tense. Or if it's done well and the immediacy is maintained, it quickly becomes exhausting because it's too intense.

 

[lasoldier]

Personally, I hate present tense for the most part, reading and writing it. There are a couple scenarios where I think it's the right tool for the job, like for a character conversationally relating a story to another character ("so I says to Mable, I says..."), but I think it generally makes a story worse.

But given how popular it's becoming in modern fiction, I just have to accept I'm an old shaking their fist at the clouds.

 

[VerbalAbuse]

I would like to add my weight to this conversation.

 

[VerbalAbuse]

the question cannot be "is present bad (or good)?"
but rather, what bothered you about present tense in the stories you read? you need to anchor your question to an experience.

 

[yowser]

As (almost) always, it depends on the skill of the writer, as it takes exceptional ability to pull it off. Chances are excellent that if a reader notices present tense writing, it's badly done.

I've said before that Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union is an exemplar. The style works with the genre (detective fiction) and conveys immediacy, as well as being a brilliant read.

 

[StillStunned]

the question cannot be "is present bad (or good)?"
but rather, what bothered you about present tense in the stories you read? you need to anchor your question to an experience.

I can't speak for @AG31, but for most of my life present tense just wasn't used for books. And if you did ever come across it, it often felt gimmicky, like the author was using a trick to stand out from the crowd.

I think that a lot of us who did most of our reading pre-2000 have a bit of prejudice against present tense for that reason. That said, what I said above is still a valid reason: present tense creates a sense of immediacy that either the story doesn't warrant or is too exhausting to maintain.

 

[VerbalAbuse]

As (almost) always, it depends on the skill of the writer, as it takes exceptional ability to pull it off. Chances are excellent that if a reader notices present tense writing, it's badly done.

I've said before that Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union is an exemplar. The style works with the genre (detective fiction) and conveys immediacy, as well as being a brilliant read.

I read that. I don't remember the tense. but that is the kind of story that works best in present. for the reasons that should be rather obvious.

 

[SmilingLez]

If I am writing an internal monologue, I love using present tense. For a memory, of course past tense. Describing a scene, it depends if the story is in past or present reality. My latest prose, 1940s Harlem jazz club, is present tense and visceral.

 

[Writer61]

I don't really notice the POV or the tense of a story.

Mostly write 1P and have a habit, which I am trying to correct, of mixing past & present tenses. That said, my average rating is 4.64 so I don't worry too much about it.

 

[Britva415]

Do you have an opinion about present tense?

I generally don't like it, I generally find it to seem contrived.

 

[Britva415]

I think one reason I don't like it is that intrudes

Same here. The author would have to work harder to overcome the intrusiveness, and, if they don't, then, they don't.

Where "they don't" could mean they don't make the effort, or it could mean they don't succeed, or it could mean they don't think about it at all.

 

[Britva415]

for most of my life present tense just wasn't used for books. And if you did ever come across it, it often felt gimmicky, like the author was using a trick to stand out from the crowd.

Conventions change faster than an individual reader's taste does. I feel like the above can go a long way toward explaining why I personally default to objecting to it - though, I will still give such a story a chance.

A chance. If I find that it wasn't done specifically, necessarily, AND effectively to serve the story, let's just say I won't be impressed and it won't stop irritating me.

 

[Britva415]

in the few cases where 2P POV works, I think it almost demands the use of present tense. It's all about the immediacy, and placing the reader there in the situation

I agree about how 2p generally demands present tense - unless it's just a dictation of a reminiscience, in which case, it's really just 1p-past with no, or few, "I" statements.

As for why 2p demands present tense, I feel it's less that it's about the immediacy. I don't think the author can be motivated by, "oh, I feel like placing the reader there in the situation" and have that be the reason to choose present tense. I think that instead the structures of the usual 2p situations can't be anything but immediate in the first place. Usually a past tense couldn't technically even work.

Those situations include when the 2p narration is an internal self-talk stream of experience, when the 2p narration is a series of imperatives, when the 2p narration is of the "imagine I do all this to you" type. In those last 2 cases, future tense is a possibility but is even rarer and would be even weirder than present, but past certainly doesn't work for imperative and isn't as compelling for that hypothetical/make-believe telling.

If the author is motivated by "I want to put the reader there in the situation," that could motivate them to choose 2p in the first place, but I don't think it's going to be what motivates them to choose present tense as if there were other possibilities on the menu. Like you said, 2p generally demands it, and I think, for the most part, that's on purely functional/technical grounds.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I can't speak for @AG31, but for most of my life present tense just wasn't used for books. And if you did ever come across it, it often felt gimmicky, like the author was using a trick to stand out from the crowd.

I think that a lot of us who did most of our reading pre-2000 have a bit of prejudice against present tense for that reason. That said, what I said above is still a valid reason: present tense creates a sense of immediacy that either the story doesn't warrant or is too exhausting to maintain.

I'm the same. Present tense gets tiring to read in long doses, there's no place to slow down. As a consequence, crossing the road gets the same level of intensity as the best sex later that night. Which is of course, not true. Crossing the road can be so much better, because it's a beginning, so full of promise... **

I've used present tense on occasion, but don't ask me which stories. It's rarely memorable.

** Who am I kidding? Combine both!

 

[Britva415]

I agree about how 2p generally demands present tense - unless it's just a dictation of a reminiscience, in which case, it's really just 1p with no, or few, "I" statements.

As for why 2p demands present tense, I feel it's less that it's about the immediacy. I don't think the author can be motivated by, "oh, I feel like placing the reader there in the situation." I think that instead the structures of the usual 2p situations can't be anything but immediate in the first place. Usually a past tense couldn't technically even work.

Those situations include when the 2p narration is an internal self-talk stream of experience, when the 2p narration is a series of imperatives, when the 2p narration is of the "imagine I do all this to you" type. In those last 2 cases, future tense is a possibility but is even rarer and would be even weirder than present, but past certainly doesn't work for imperative and isn't as compelling for that hypothetical/make-believe telling.

If the author is motivated by "I want to put the reader there in the situation," that could motivate them to choose 2p in the first place, but I don't think it's going to be what motivates them to choose present tense as if there were other possibilities on the menu. Like you said, 2p generally demands it, and I think, for the most part, that's on purely functional/technical grounds.

NB: None of that is to suggest I like it

 

[RocketGrunt]

Present tense is great for immediacy. The narration is now, the action is current.

That immediacy runs into logical problems if the story is longer and has pauses in the action. It's like how Found Footage movies often feel weirdly disjointed and the lack of filler material makes them feel less real even though the inclusion of filler material would make them be boring trash.

There's no better way to narrate a chase, a sword fight, or the finding of a crucial clue than the present tense. You'd never have such scenes in a movie told about in the past tense instead of shown in the here and now of present tense. It's just that for the written word it is not an easy thing to ask the reader to switch gears and go from one tense to another.

But yes, present tense time skips are jarring and hard to pull off well. There's the famous Dr. Manhattan "I am on Mars, you and I are about to have a conversation there." You can do stuff like that. It's very good when it lands. But there aren't a lot of examples of it working well, because it's hard and kind of a gimmick.

You probably shouldn't write anything other than flash fiction in present tense. Not that you absolutely shouldn't, it can definitely work. But you probably shouldn't.