How many novel writers have narrated their stories in the present tense?

Prisim 2020-10-01 14:33:59 UTC #7

I tried writing a short story in present tense before because I personally feel you can't hate something until you've tried it yourself...but it was the hardest 5 page story I ever had to write. I just can't get into a groove with present tense both as a reader and a writer. It's definitely not a tense that's going to be for everyone.

KRWright 2020-10-01 15:33:07 UTC #8

I do first person present tense for almost all my novels. The immediacy really helps, and also with Tapas' readers prefering shorter chapters as well, it allows you to cut a lot of the trappings that third person can give and really get into the issues at hand. It's not perfect for everything. Anything that needs a lot of world-building is hard to do in first person, and requires careful forethought so that the main character isn't just narrating exposition at the audience. But other than that, I've found it's a really fun and fast way to write and still produce a good product at the end of it.

https://tapas.io/series/Spooky-Darling

RainbowCat 2020-10-01 16:09:05 UTC #9

I'm writing all my stories in present tense (for example Dreams and Nightmares on Tapas because I think that's a lot easier. Mostly because it's easier to show the characters' thoughts. But also because English isn't my first language and the tenses still confuse me

shapeshiftingmel 2020-10-01 16:38:30 UTC #10

I've tried writing in the present tense before but always ended up failing for some reason. I don't know why but I personally feel more comfortable writing in the past tense.

MeltingCORE 2020-10-01 17:34:05 UTC #11

I do have a novel called "Mega-Egypt" that is in present tense! It's privated again currently because I'm reworking it so I can't really share examples. But I agree with the others that it's incredibly hard to pull off. Mine is in present tense, first person but with an unreliable narrator who writes diary entries. It's much more abstract and surreal than my current big series, "Red Shift". I imagine writing a more streamlined, clear story in present tense is just as difficult.

shi0h 2020-10-01 17:39:31 UTC #12

Ever since I learned how to do so, I've been writing in the present tense (so, ~8 years?) Granted, it was little difficult to grasp when I first started practicing with it, but now I like it better than past tense lol Third person limited/deep, present tense is my go to~

Like others have said, it provides an immediate, in-the-moment feel, that imo, is fun to write (and read, honestly). But you really do have to keep track of your -ings and -eds, so to speak

spadesart 2020-10-01 17:45:42 UTC #13

I think the hunger games is written almost entirely in present tense? that's the most well known example I know of. It really aided the story in getting the reader to feel like they're right there in the moment, especially in the audiobook version.

therosesword 2020-10-01 17:56:08 UTC #14

I've got a Novella up "Dead Souls Doing the Samba"
I think the subject of everything a person writes dictates (darn that little voice in your head) how it should be written.

Darn it, tried to put in a link... oh well

foxnflames 2020-10-01 18:26:35 UTC #15

I write in first person, present tense. For me it creates a sense of wonder and anticipation for my character. I have to be mindful of tense slips and properly sectioning when something is being explained in past tense, but other than that I have fun with it.

Pan 2020-10-01 18:48:30 UTC #16

I pretty much exclusively write in present tense because I find it a much more limitless medium than past tense. This of course changed from writer to writer, but it's my preference to use present. I'll just link my profile since all my stories use the same tense haha

Edit: My whole shtick is third person, present tense. I don't write in first person often if at all!

Pan 2020-10-01 18:56:35 UTC #17

I actually disagree with you there. I'd highly recommend present tense because of the closeness of the action, and the potential for strong voice. I do agree that one must be pretty comfortable writing in present tense, though, especially if they're coming from writing strictly past tense. It's a difficult switch to make, but not because present tense is difficult, rather because being used to doing something one specific way and switching it up always requires an adjustment period.

As for outward reflection, of course you can have that in present tense! It's a tricky balance if you're writing in limited POV, which is a given if you're doing first person but also possible in third, but it's really more about learning to shape your words differently. All the potential is still there!

I love present tense. It's definitely less popular than past, but when it's done well? CHEF'S KISS. It's my favorite haha

DasIstWunderblyat 2020-10-01 22:29:54 UTC #18

It would be easier to write in present tense for me as I come from the language that have no tenses at all. However, many people shit on that usage for being amateur and even call it lazy shit writing . I thought of me being no spik Inglish, incrorect grammer, with present tense would not be a good impression, so I try (keyword: try) to force myself to write in past tense even if I have not grasped the whole concept of tenses.

Plus, my story is third-person omniscient shit with fuckery shit amount of world building sprinkled in which IDK how fitting it is with such tenses use; I observe it is more common in first person and I don't like it. As my language does not have tenses, I cannot sense the difference of "immediacy" as well as many people pointed out here. I also more used to past tense in fiction.

Does using past tense make my writing better? Absolutely not. It's shitty as always. Here is a proof of its shittiness

domisotto 2020-10-02 00:07:38 UTC #19

When I wrote a short story, it felt awkward. But after a few pages of the novel, i became comfortable. But when I switch from editing Trapped (Present Tense, First Person) to writing or editing Free Spirit (Third Person, Past Tense) or vice versa it takes a little readjustment.

I did like it for Trapped by the Mafia because it is both romance and a thriller, and it helped to bring the element of raw feeling and unexpected turns to the narrative.

_tastycheez 2020-10-02 00:16:29 UTC #20

I write my story in both present and past tense. This might be kinda weird but it makes sense when I think about it. I am writing a fantasy novel, so the character's dialogue and feelings are in the first person. Narration and worldbuilding stuff is written in the third person. Not sure this works very well, but I like writing like this so screw it.

darkone4587 2020-10-02 08:41:30 UTC #21

My works are typically written in present tense. Mainly because that is the tense I find it the easiest to write in.

Queenie_J_Alexander 2020-10-09 18:24:56 UTC #22

In my experience choosing the tense really depends on the setting of your story. I have written stories in both past and present tense, and while I have a preference for writing in the present tense for it giving me clearer paths when I have to shift between tenses for narrating purposes, it doesn't always flow smoothly. Still, I'm glad the present tense setting has been becoming more and more popular among writers, and I know I will try to write in the present tense as often as possible. It also helps that the story I have on Tapas is marked by exact dates, so writing in the present tense at the moment is the logical decision.

But going back to the grammatical aspect. Have you guys felt like getting confused at times which tense and aspect to use when you were writing in the past tense? Maybe it's an ESL thing, I'm not sure, but while I was aware that even though I was trying to tell an event that was yet to happen, because the setting was in the past, it felt like I was messing things up because when I was learning about different tenses in my grammar classes I was never taught how to apply these to storytelling...

Liability

domisotto 2020-10-09 18:36:47 UTC #23

Yes, English Past tenses and Tenses coordination give me trouble, it’s part of the learning process. Before Present Tense became popular, when I saw fictions in Present Tense, I’ve assumed that it was used by non-native speaker to make things easier.

However, narration in Present Tense has its own grammar problems, as in you have to watch yourself for not slipping into the Past Tense, or if you are doing it, you are doing it correctly.

Overall, just keep the grammatical rules in mind, and proof read a lot. There is really not much else you can do, no matter which language you use.

Queenie_J_Alexander 2020-10-09 19:04:58 UTC #24

You're right. It's curious because nearly a decade ago one of my Lit professors, who worked as a literary translator as well, asked us during a class what we think of narration in the present tense as well as of writing in first or second person. Back then, I'm not even sure it was possible to get a publishing contract if your story was set in the present tense and first person narration was treated with scorn by many (unless it was written by one of the great writers, I guess?). Although, at that time, even fanfiction was mostly written in the past tense, still, but there appeared a few cases where the story was set in present tense and it was refreshing and interesting to see something so out of the norm.

Yes, from what I've seen, this is more frequent for writers who are switching from one tense to another. It's easy to forget what tense you're supposed to write in and only realize that you made a mistake pages and pages later. If you even realize it before posting. Having a beta reader can help wonders with this issue, though.

domisotto 2020-10-09 19:13:40 UTC #25

I always found it clunky, particular when the writers are just starting out and tend to overuse I see, I feel, I do, I say in sentence construction. It is harder to make it flow well, because we tend to switch to past tense when telling a story in English vs doing running commentary in present tense on everything that goes on around us (outside the Driver's training heh).

Pan 2020-10-09 19:43:47 UTC #26

So this is less of a tense issue and more of a tell VS show thing. Words like "see, feel, do, realize, wonder, think" etc are called filter words, which separates the reader from the action by filtering it through the POV character. You can absolutely write any combination of POV and tenses without filtering, but it's a very common rookie mistake!

I myself only started cutting filtering out of my writing about a year ago. I write exclusively in present-tense but when I was a preteen I wrote in past, and I promise I had this issue with both tenses haha