# Present-Tense Fiction



## Kyle R (Jul 7, 2015)

Lately, I've become more aware of a widespread disdain for present-tense fiction. It's not the disdain that's caught my attention (we all have our likes and dislikes, after all!)—it's the logic used to justify that disdain.

Bestselling author Phillip Pullman states his case against the present tense (http://www.theguardian.com/global/2010/sep/18/philip-pullman-author-present-tense), though I'm not convinced.

For one, he says:

*But if every sound you emit is a scream, a scream has no expressive value. What I dislike about the present-tense narrative is its limited range of expressiveness. I feel claustrophobic, always pressed up against the immediate.
*​
This, to me, is one of the more common misconceptions about using the present tense. For some reason, some assume that a present-tense narrative must somehow be trapped in the present, bound by the _here_ and _now_. And yet, here's a passage from Pulitzer Prize winner, Jennifer Egan, written from the POV of a little girl:

My brother builds models for a hobby. From plastic pieces he makes ships and airplanes, racing cars, those see-through human bodies where you put in the heart and stomach and things. I arrange the pieces for him. For years we’ve had the same quiet days: lawn mower sounds, children laughing on our neighbors’ lawns, faint noises of TV from where Dad sits alone in his study watching a game. Every year the models get more complicated.

Six years ago, when Bradley was ten years old and I was seven, our mother started the car to take us shopping. After backing out of the garage, she remembered her grocery coupons. We stayed in the car, engine running, while she went inside to get them. It was a hot day, one of those afternoons when bits of white fluff fill up the air and under everything you hear beating locusts. That’s how I think of it now, anyway.

— _One Piece_, by Jennifer Egan
​
​Throughout the present-tense story, Egan's narrator mentions the past, where a life-changing event occurred. The ripples of this past event move through the present, affecting all the characters, and Egan's juxtaposition of the two stories (then, and now) give the story both meaning, and the flexibility to move through time.

So what, then, about the argument that present tense must be bound to the immediate?

Another thing Pullman said:

*What I did say, in an email to the Telegraph journalist who asked me about it, was that the use of the present tense in fiction had been getting more and more common, and I didn't like it.
*​
Change happens. Art evolves. To me, the present tense in no way represents a threat to past tense. Past-tense fiction is still strong as ever (and I suspect it always will be). Still, present-tense writers seem to be assaulted for their narrative choices. "How dare you write in a less-than-traditional tense!" many detractors seem to say. "It offends me. It irritates me. It annoys me." And that offense, that irritation, that annoyance, then, inexplicably gets extended to the writer, as well.

What troubles me about this mindset is the immediate disdain for stories (and the writers who write them) based on tense alone. It's the epitome of judging a book by its cover (or in this case, judging a story by its verbs). Present tense is not a threat to past-tense fiction. It's simply another method of telling a story.

To me, it's a great tragedy that many stories are dismissed (or even mocked) simply because the author uses the word "runs" instead of "ran."

Mostly, I hope that one day present-tense detractors will focus, instead, on recognizing the present tense as a valid storytelling form. Instead of stereotyping the entire tense (and the entirety of writers who use it) as faulty and amateurish, it would be nice to discuss the pros and cons of the tense objectively, as craftsmen (and craftswomen).

There are many professional (some even award-winning) writers who use both the present and the past tense. If the present tense were such a poor storytelling form, why would such decorated writers use it? My belief is this: they use it because they are experienced enough to recognize that it does, in fact, have value, in the same way the past tense has value, as well.

Its limitations and weaknesses (just like the limitations and weaknesses of the past tense) are defined not by the tense itself, but by the practitioner. 

Do I consider the present tense superior to the past tense? Not at all. Do I believe the present tense deserves equality as a valid storytelling form, rather than condescension? I do. The same goes for the writers who use it.

There are different methods for creating something of value. Not all stories need to be written in the past tense, just as not all art requires a paintbrush. Just look at Abby's graphite works of wonder.


What do _you_ think about the present tense? :encouragement:


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## Terry D (Jul 7, 2015)

Kyle R said:


> What do _you_ think about the present tense? :encouragement:



So, all you want are posts in support of present tense? I mean, you just spent a nice long post telling us that you believe those who don't like present tense feel the way they do because of misconceptions. So they are wrong. No point in asking how the wrong-headed feel is there? Pullman stated the way he feels about the tense choice -- that's not a misconception it's a reaction, and  a valid one. Maybe present tense doesn't make you feel that way, but it does make others feel that. I read present tense books and stories, and I sometimes write short stories in present tense, but I far prefer past tense, particularly for longer works. Past tense is the natural form of story telling -- cave men sitting around a fire probably started their tales of close encounters with Sabre-toothed cats by saying, "We were walking along the path when..." Present tense does not put me any more 'in-the-moment' than does a well told past tense story. The suspension of disbelief required to put me inside a character's head (particularly if that character is very unlike myself) is no greater than it is for me to believe I'm 'listening' to a narrator telling me a story. In fact it's much easier, for me, to 'get into' a story that's being told in past tense than to make the artificial leap into a story supposedly being told as it happens.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Jul 7, 2015)

I don't read a lot, but I subconsciously associate present tense with children's books and bad YA works.  There's something inherently amateurish in its feel to me.  I certainly agree that good stories CAN be written in present tense, but I'm also of the (admittedly unjustified) belief that most present tense works aren't exactly masterpieces.

EDIT: Terry posted his response as I was working on mine, and as I read it, I realized why I consider present tense to be sub-par.  There's an inherent logical flaw in it - the idea that a story that was obviously written prior to my reading it is nonetheless being presented as though it's happening right then and there.  It's almost a manufactured and contrived immediacy, and I don't care for that.


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## ppsage (Jul 7, 2015)

I would question whether cave people 'naturally' told their stories in past tense. Much ritual storytelling is in the form of real time re-enactment. Not sure how we'd ever discover the truth, but the question of when and how tense came to be used in language seems an open one, given the diversity of extant languages. It may be anachronistic to think past tense natural for early storytelling.


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## Jon M (Jul 7, 2015)

Critics of this tense have zero credibility. Similar to disliking an image because of its palette, or because you have some weird, unresolved issue with the color blue.


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## Kyle R (Jul 7, 2015)

Terry D said:


> So, all you want are posts in support of present tense? I mean, you just spent a nice long post telling us that you believe those who don't like present tense feel the way they do because of misconceptions. So they are wrong. No point in asking how the wrong-headed feel is there?


Not at all. Differing opinions are encouraged (and expected)!



			
				Terry D said:
			
		

> Pullman stated the way he feels about the tense choice -- that's not a misconception it's a reaction, and a valid one.


It's his comment "*its limited range of expressiveness*" that I consider a misconception, as if the present tense somehow dooms a narrative into being a chronological, blow-by-blow affair.

Consider Chuck Palahniuk's debut novel, _Fight Club_. The narrative moves back and forth in time. The tense oscillates between the present and the past and back again. To me, Palahniuk's range of expressiveness when using the present tense is about as far from limited as one can get.



			
				Terry D said:
			
		

> . . . it's much easier, for me, to 'get into' a story that's being told in past tense than to make the artificial leap into a story supposedly being told as it happens.





			
				Gamer_2k4 said:
			
		

> There's an inherent logical flaw in it - the idea that a story that was obviously written prior to my reading it is nonetheless being presented as though it's happening right then and there. It's almost a manufactured and contrived immediacy, and I don't care for that.


Those are fair statements, and many readers feel the same way!

To me, reading present tense is like watching a movie. When I watch a movie, and a character is on-screen, dying in the arms of his love on an alien planet, I don't think, "This is fake! How can this be happening while I watch it? Is there some sort of live camera feed filming this right now on Mars? Am I supposed to believe that this is happening _while _I'm watching it on the screen?"

Instead, I get choked up and I think, "Oh, damn! Not Johnny Astronaut! Don't die, Johnny!"


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## Terry D (Jul 7, 2015)

Kyle R said:


> It's his comment "*its limited range of expressiveness*" that I consider a misconception, as if the present tense somehow dooms a narrative into being a chronological, blow-by-blow affair.
> 
> Consider Chuck Palahniuk's debut novel, _Fight Club_. The narrative moves back and forth in time. The tense oscillates between the present and the past and back again. To me, Palahniuk's range of expressiveness when using the present tense is about as far from limited as one can get.



He didn't say anything about time management. I feel he was talking about how locked into one character's emotions the reader becomes. There's an inflexibility about present tense which can feel restrictive to readers.






> Those are fair statements, and many readers feel the same way!
> 
> To me, reading present tense is like watching a movie. When I watch a movie, and a character is on-screen, dying in the arms of his love on an alien planet, I don't think, "This is fake! How can this be happening while I watch it? Is there some sort of live camera feed filming this right now on Mars? Am I supposed to believe that this is happening _while _I'm watching it on the screen?"
> 
> Instead, I get choked up and I think, "Oh, damn! Not Johnny Astronaut! Don't die, Johnny!"



My expectations for movies are far different than my expectations for books. Movies are generally more shallow in their presentation, in that way they are similar to a story told in present tense.


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## EmmaSohan (Jul 7, 2015)

Gamer_2k4 said:


> I don't read a lot, but I subconsciously associate present tense with children's books and bad YA works.  There's something inherently amateurish in its feel to me.  I certainly agree that good stories CAN be written in present tense, but I'm also of the (admittedly unjustified) belief that most present tense works aren't exactly masterpieces.



Amateurish? Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries) put the dialogue tags before the dialogue. That isn't how we normally write, and it sounds amateurish. But it's how we normally talk and think, and she was trying to sound like a 15-year-old writing in her diary. So it was a great choice.

There's a tension writing in first-person present, especially for a younger character: Do I write well, or do I sound like my character? Laurie Halse Anderson (_Speak_) chose to sound like a somewhat depressed 15-year-old.



> It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache.



Jodi Picoult (I think) wrote well and sounds professional, but not like a 13-year-old. (_Leaving Time_)



> My grandmother pivots, pancakes balanced on a spatula, and freezes when she sees the scarf around my neck. True, it doesn't match, but that's not why her mouth pinches tight. She shakes her head in silent judgment and smacks the spatula against my plate as she sets down the food.


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## Kyle R (Jul 8, 2015)

Terry D said:


> He didn't say anything about time management. . . There's an inflexibility about present tense which can feel restrictive to readers.


Oh, he does mention time management. Wrote a whole paragraph about it, actually!
I want all the young present-tense storytellers (the old ones have won prizes and are incorrigible) to allow themselves to stand back and show me a wider temporal perspective. I want them to feel able to say what happened, what usually happened, what sometimes happened, what had happened before something else happened, what might happen later, what actually did happen later, and so on: to use the full range of English tenses.​
His argument (to me) is like pointing at a five-speed transmission and complaining that there's only one gear. Why must the present tense prohibit the use of other tenses?
Yesterday, this bar was packed. Today, it's stark and empty—the chairs all stacked, the floorboards flecked with dust. Tomorrow it'll be stuffed to the brim all over again, filled with stomping boots and twisting, starched hoop skirts. But right now, in this quiet hour before the horses wake, this whole rickety place is ours.

​Voila! Four sentences in a present-tense narrative and we've already used the past, the present, and the future tense. 



			
				Terry D said:
			
		

> I feel he was talking about how locked into one character's emotions the reader becomes.


For me, the more locked into one character's emotions I am, the better! I want to feel what the character feels, to experience the story as they do. The less locked in I am, the more likely I am to place the story down and look elsewhere.

I suppose that's another place where personal preference comes into play. :encouragement:


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## John Galt (Jul 8, 2015)

There was a viewpoint somewhere that was the only viewpoint written in present tense, the others were past tense. I believe the present tense was used to convey the sense that the autistic character saw the world differently. 
An interesting use of the tense, I think. Can't remember the name of the work, though.


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## Kyle R (Jul 8, 2015)

Here are the first two paragraphs of Jessie Burton's debut Historical Fiction novel, _The Miniaturist_, which received glowing praise and became a New York Times bestseller.

For those who dislike present tense: what do you think of the excerpt?

I consider it a rather innocuous use of third-person present, less polarizing or stylistic than most, so possibly more appealing to present-tense detractors.

On the step of her new husband's house, Nella Oortman lifts and drops the dolphin knocker, embarrassed by the thud. No one comes, though she is expected. The time was prearranged and letters written, her mother’s paper so thin compared with Brandt’s expensive vellum. No, she thinks, this is not the best of greetings, given the blink of a marriage ceremony the month before—no garlands, no betrothal cup, no wedding bed. Nella places her small trunk and birdcage on the step. She knows she'll have to embellish this later for home, when she’s found a way upstairs, a room, a desk.

Nella turns to the canal as bargemen's laughter rises up the opposite brickwork. A puny lad has skittled into a woman and her basket of fish, and a half-dead herring slithers down the wide front of the seller's skirt. The harsh cry of her country voice runs under Nella's skin. "Idiot! Idiot!" the woman yells. The boy is blind, and he grabs in the dirt for the escaped herring as if it's a silver charm, his fingers quick, not afraid to feel around. He scoops it, cackling, running up the path with his catch, his free arm out and ready.​


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## Gamer_2k4 (Jul 8, 2015)

It sounds like it's begging to be written in third-person past tense.


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## EmmaSohan (Jul 8, 2015)

Gamer_2k4 said:


> It sounds like it's begging to be written in third-person past tense.



Some of the present tense seemed nice, but I agree with Gamer.

 She knocks on the door. No one comes. Why would anyone come, she just knocked? If there is some delya, maybe they are upstairs. I have no trouble with "She knocked on the door. No one came." That might be me as a reader. To me present tense maybe should sweep though time -- I knock on the door. I stand there, waiting. No one comes."

Same for her turning and the laughter. It makes sense to me that the laughter occurs first, then she turns. But that' not how it's written. I don't think I would have had any trouble with "She turned as the men laughed." Now the author is dumping the event in the past and letting me sort it out.

"Embarased" (past tense for an even in the present) was also awkward, but that might depend on what you do to make the sentence grammatically appropriate. We also have the odd thing of abruptly shifting to past tense to report an event the woman did not see.


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## scrub puller (Jul 8, 2015)

Yair . . .

I believe a writer who submits to editors/agents is required to write a condensed version of their novel in present tense . . . it's called a "synopsis" and it has to be the best writing they have ever done.

I have seen lamentations on other sites about writers doing the damn thing "their way", well best of luck with that. (big grin)

A synopsis in fact is the only time I use present tense as it does not fit well with my style. 

It can be interesting but, as has been mentioned I too have difficulty with a story unfolding before my eyes. In the same vein I am unable to appreciate (say) an action movie as I can always envisage the camera on the tracks and the whole artificiality of the set.


Cheers.


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## Kyle R (Jul 8, 2015)

Interesting to see what you guys think of the present tense!

How about this passage? (From Anthony Doerr's award-winning short story, _The Deep_.) Do you feel the use of the present tense adds to the passage, or detracts from it?

Mother catches a fever in 1932. It eats her from the inside. She still puts on her high-waisted dresses, ties on her apron. She still cooks every meal and presses Mr. Weems's suit every Sunday. But within a month she has become somebody else, an empty demon in Mother's clothes—perfectly upright at the table, eyes smoldering, nothing on her plate.

She has a way of putting her hand on Tom's forehead while he works. Tom will be hauling coal or mending a pipe or sweeping the parlor, the sun cold and white behind the curtains, and Mother will appear from nowhere and put her icy palm over his eyebrows, and he'll close his eyes and feel his heart tear just a little more.​


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## scrub puller (Jul 8, 2015)

Yair . . .

*Kyle R

*(To me) the use of present tense in that piece is an affectation. 

It adds nothing to in the way of 'presence' and reads better in past tense.

Nice passage of work though, you can just convert it as you read.

Cheers.


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## Kyle R (Jul 9, 2015)

I can see how some consider the present tense an affectation. Sometimes, it might very well be just that!

Other times, I consider it a narrative choice that can affect both the story's context and tone.

What do you guys think of the following opening lines (and their use of the present tense)?

Isaac Marion's _Warm Bodies_:
I am dead, but it's not so bad. I've learned to live with it. I'm sorry I can't properly introduce myself, but I don't have a name anymore.

​Marie Lu's _The Young Elites_:
I'm going to die tomorrow morning.

​Yay? Nay? Would changing those lines to the past tense add or detract from them? Would the past tense, in these cases, change the tone and context of these opening lines, or would they remain the same?

Thanks for the insightful comments. Enjoying the discussion so far. :encouragement:


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## John Oberon (Jul 9, 2015)

I typically don't like present tense, usually because of the narcissism. Often, it's an MC narrating, and beginning writers especially tend to write a first-class example of navel gazing. The whole world filters through that one character, so it better be a pretty darn engaging character, but it usually isn't. I also struggle with the contrived immediacy thing.

_I was dead, but it wasn't so bad. I learned to live with it. I was sorry I couldn't properly introduce myself, but I didn't have a name anymore.

I was going to die tomorrow morning.

_Depends on the purpose of the sentence whether changing the tense adds or detracts from it. In the first sentence, the narrator speaks directly to the reader, so yeah, not going to fly too well in past tense. The second sentence is more of a general statement so past tense doesn't affect it near as much, but of course, if that opening line is part of a letter or something, then past tense won't fly there either. Just depends.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Jul 9, 2015)

Kyle R said:


> I can see how some consider the present tense an affectation. Sometimes, it might very well be just that!
> 
> Other times, I consider it a narrative choice that can affect both the story's context and tone.
> 
> ...



You're confusing immediate tense changes to accomplish a particular goal with using a certain tense constantly over the course of a book.  Consider the well-known opening line of _Moby Dick_: "Call me Ishmael."  That's unquestionably present tense, yet most of the remaining book (as near as I can tell - my GOODNESS is it hard to get through that prose) is past tense.  Why? Because the narrator switches from directly addressing the audience to recalling a story, and the tense changes appropriately.  When you're breaking the fourth wall, present tense is proper.

And just how would you change the second excerpt to past tense? It's describing an event in the future.  My novel is written in past tense, but you'd better believe I use future tense when referring to future events.  There's nothing special or artistic about it; it's just proper grammar.


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## EmmaSohan (Jul 9, 2015)

Gamer_2k4 said:


> My novel is written in past tense, but you'd better believe I use future tense when referring to future events.  There's nothing special or artistic about it; it's just proper grammar.



?? I thought that when your novel is written in past tense, you would use conditional (future of the past) for describing events in the future. Example:



> But the stress Misha endured now made combat seem a vacation, and his subconscious rejoiced in the knowledge that this would soon end, and rest would finally come. (The Cardinal of the Kremlin)



Can I see the use of future in your novel?


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## Kyle R (Jul 10, 2015)

John Oberon said:
			
		

> I was going to die tomorrow morning.
> 
> The second sentence is more of a general statement so past tense doesn't affect it near as much, but of course, if that opening line is part of a letter or something, then past tense won't fly there either. Just depends.





			
				Gamer_2k4 said:
			
		

> And just how would you change the second excerpt to past tense?


I'd use: "I was going to die the next morning."

But the thing with switching from the present to the past tense, in this case, is that it implies a buffer of _time_ between the events of the story, and the narrator's current situation. This can give the narrator additional elements to use in the telling of the story (like hindsight and perspective), but can also remove certain elements as well (like fear and uncertainty).

So, to me, choosing the past or present tense isn't always a superficial thing—it can also change the context of the storytelling completely. Not necessarily better either way—but different.

A narrator who thinks she's about to die will probably tell a tale differently than a narrator who, _once upon a time_, thought she was going to die, and is now reflecting back on it.



			
				John Oberon said:
			
		

> I typically don't like present tense, usually because of the narcissism. Often, it's an MC narrating, and beginning writers especially tend to write a first-class example of navel gazing. The whole world filters through that one character, so it better be a pretty darn engaging character, but it usually isn't.


That sounds, to me, like it's _first person_ that irks you more than the present tense (as those issues can exist in first-person, past-tense stories as well).


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## EmmaSohan (Jul 10, 2015)

Kyle R said:


> Interesting to see what you guys think of the present tense!
> 
> How about this passage? (From Anthony Doerr's award-winning short story, _The Deep_.) Do you feel the use of the present tense adds to the passage, or detracts from it?
> Mother catches a fever in 1932. It eats her from the inside. She still puts on her high-waisted dresses, ties on her apron. She still cooks every meal and presses Mr. Weems's suit every Sunday. But within a month she has become somebody else, an empty demon in Mother's clothes—perfectly upright at the table, eyes smoldering, nothing on her plate.
> ...



I _want _to say that present tense is good for putting the reader inside scenes and moments. So I love the last sentence in present tense (Background: Tom has a hole in his heart, from birth). And I really don't like the first sentence in present tense -- what am I putting myself inside? This first sentence is just a fact.

I _want_ to say that you can't just change tense and _viola _be in present tense, that the two are different. I want people to choose past tense if they don't have some good reason for present tense.

And I want to say there was no reason for Grisham to write _The Racketeer_ in first person present. It was mostly story, not scenes and moments. But he did. Same for King writing _Mr. Mercedes_ in present tense. So maybe there is some general advantage for present tense. Obviously, it has a more straightforward grammar. Bishop talked about it having an edge, which I did not understand.


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## John Oberon (Jul 15, 2015)

Kyle R said:


> That sounds, to me, like it's _first person_ that irks you more than the present tense (as those issues can exist in first-person, past-tense stories as well).



Yeah...that's what MC as narrator means - first person. Often, beginners write  first-person present tense, and it sucks because of the narcissism. Next in suckage is first-person, past tense for the same reason. Third person present sucks for beginners usually because they can't keep their tense consistent; they keep sliding into storytelling mode, which is third-person past.


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## Kyle R (Jul 17, 2015)

EmmaSohan said:


> I want people to choose past tense if they don't have some good reason for present tense.


For me, the opposite applies, as well—I don't use past tense unless I feel I have a good reason for doing so.

There's a lot of advice floating around along the lines of: "Generally, you should use past tense. If you must use present tense, be sure you have a good reason."

In my opinion, the more accurate advice should be: "There is no default tense that 'should' be used—you _should_ use whatever tense you feel serves your story best." :encouragement:



John Oberon said:


> Often, beginners write first-person present tense, and it sucks because of the narcissism. Next in suckage is first-person, past tense for the same reason. Third person present sucks for beginners usually because they can't keep their tense consistent; they keep sliding into storytelling mode, which is third-person past.


For some, that's quite possibly true! Though I believe it depends on the beginner, too. Some may have an aptitude for writing in the present tense, while others might find it difficult.

But how about for experts? Does present tense still retain its flaws in the hands of experienced writers?


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## KellInkston (Jul 20, 2015)

Present tense has become my preference over the years, and while I think this is largely a non-issue and that anything is fine so long as the reader understands, it is a serious issue to others, so I'll speak frankly. When the key is communicating with the reader, past, present, or future tense does an absolutely perfect job of conveying a situation. Who's to say the story happened before, or will happen, or is happening?

Truly, considering that you as the reader are being made aware of a story when you read it, is that not more present-oriented than anything? Is it truly _just_ a sense of distance that conveys authenticity in fiction? Using past tense in non-fiction is quite understandable and preferable to me, but in the realm of fiction how can the reader claim what the temporal relationship of a story is? They absolutely cannot is the truth of the matter. All the reader is doing is receiving (practically by telepathy) a message from the writer, and I feel present tense is the best way to convey that without any sort of boundary. Besides, it commits a nice immediacy to the work and is fun to write in.

If present tense is wrong, then I don't want to be right!
 :champagne:


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## Kyle R (Jul 22, 2015)

Came across another article this morning advising against present tense. (http://www.caffeinated-press.com/2015/07/writing-in-the-present-tense/)

In it, Jason Gillikin, the CEO of _Caffeinated Press_, calls present-tense writers "*retrograde savages*" and tells them to "*come to your senses.*"

He also calls novels written in third-person present "*subliterate*" and labels most authors who write them as "*inexperienced apprentices"* who* "don’t know any better.*"

What do you think of his argument?

Is the present tense a subliterate form of storytelling? Are present-tense writers devolving literature to a more primitive state?


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## krishan (Aug 26, 2015)

The present tense is one of those things that I never disliked until I was told that I was supposed to dislike it, as it wasn't "good" writing. Thankfully, I got over my learned distaste for it fairly quickly.


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