I have taken up present tense third person recently. I find myself comfortable with present tense but I've heard often that it is frowned upon(for lack of a better phrase)
Why is this?
Why is this?
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Present Tense is bad?
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I sure hope not, my entire MS is present tense!
No, I don't think it's bad. There are some people who don't care for it, but that's true of anything. It tends to be associated more with books aimed for teens, in my experience, particularly present tense first person. Present tense third person is kind of rare, but if you write it well, there's no reason it can't work.
No, I don't think it's bad. There are some people who don't care for it, but that's true of anything. It tends to be associated more with books aimed for teens, in my experience, particularly present tense first person. Present tense third person is kind of rare, but if you write it well, there's no reason it can't work.
I don't think it's frowned upon the same way that "show don't tell" is frowned upon, for instance. It's just one of those things that some people don't like, like prologs or cursing.
I've never heard anyone say "I don't like 3rd person past tense", but I know some people don't like present tense (I'm one of them).
I've never heard anyone say "I don't like 3rd person past tense", but I know some people don't like present tense (I'm one of them).
As I've said to plenty of others, for me it acts like a magnifying glass exposing any flaws that I'd be more likely to over look in traditional past tense.
Having said that, there are instances where it works very well. IMO, it's best for rather surreal or dreamlike stories. A good example is the Night Circus.
Having said that, there are instances where it works very well. IMO, it's best for rather surreal or dreamlike stories. A good example is the Night Circus.
If it's frowned on, someone ought to tell Hilary Mantel (both her Booker Prize winning novels where written in first person present tense.)
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Same ol' answer-- it's only bad if it's done badly. As for readers' preferences, they run the gamut. You can't please everybody so write your novel the way you want to, in a manner that fits your story, your characters, and your style.
There's an audience for everything.
There's an audience for everything.
haha.
And first person action novels - especially YA -- are often written in present tense.
I personally LOVE it, when both reading and writing. In literary fiction, though, if you're deviating from the standard which is limited third person past tense, most people think you need a reason...
I find third-person present is a little odd for me at first. It takes me a while to acclimate to it, but once I do, it's just fine. As someone mentioned above, The Night Circus does it well.
I loathe present tense novels. Why? Because I'm always aware that I'm reading. I've never been able to totally lose myself in a present tense story. The words are always there, calling attention to themselves in a way that past tense doesn't, and that disrupts my reading experience. I don't enjoy present tense, so I don't read it.
Does that make present tense bad? For me, yes. For others, no. Write the way you want to write.
Interesting how we differ. I've encountered others who, like Scribhneoir, hate present-tense narrative. For me, this approach can be a bit jarring at first, and then I forget about it and read on.
Present tense is not bad, it's just that a lot of readers really don't like it at novel length. I hate trying to read present tense at novel length. I've done so a few times, but I have yet to see a case where I didn't think past tense would have made a far better read.
As an editor, I have to read some present tense, and I've read some because the novel came highly recommend, but I simply will not read long present tense for pleasure. It wears me out fast.
As an editor, I have to read some present tense, and I've read some because the novel came highly recommend, but I simply will not read long present tense for pleasure. It wears me out fast.
I'm wondering why you think that. It's always been my experience that readers of lit fic are way more open to less-than conventional styles and formats.
For me, this approach can be a bit jarring at first, and then I forget about it and read on.
Agreed in that I have no problem moving past it if the story is well-written. It probably is a little more difficult to do well, though, as Scribhneoir and Wilde_at_heart hinted.
Present tense is the prevailing standard in some genres, e.g. "literary"/academic fiction and YA. In some of the other commercial genres (romance, SFF, mystery) it's not popular with writers or with readers who mostly read in-genre. Depending on what market you're writing for, you may find some resistance to present tense in some quarters. But it's hardly rare. If it works for your story there's no reason not to use it.
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I believe that present tense is popular in YA. Chuck Wendig uses it in some of his books. Under the Empyrean Sky is in third-person, present tense.
Elizabeth Moon's Speed of Dark is in present tense for the scenes written in the pov of the main protagonist. I've also read some short fiction that's in present tense, though I've personally seen it used more often in first person.
It also shows up fairly often in literary fiction.
In any case, I don't think it's "frowned on," if it's appropriate for the story and done well. As for needing a "reason," well any choice you make about how to tell your story will have a reason, even if that reason is simply that it's most natural for you to tell it in that way. Some people don't like reading stories written in present tense, but that goes for every other literary convention as well. You're going to write to a given audience no matter what you do.
Elizabeth Moon's Speed of Dark is in present tense for the scenes written in the pov of the main protagonist. I've also read some short fiction that's in present tense, though I've personally seen it used more often in first person.
It also shows up fairly often in literary fiction.
In any case, I don't think it's "frowned on," if it's appropriate for the story and done well. As for needing a "reason," well any choice you make about how to tell your story will have a reason, even if that reason is simply that it's most natural for you to tell it in that way. Some people don't like reading stories written in present tense, but that goes for every other literary convention as well. You're going to write to a given audience no matter what you do.
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I'm glad it is common in YA because that is what I'd like to write. My plan was to write in third person present tense for the pov of the main character and third person past tense for action scenes but I like the idea of what Roxxsmom mentioned.
I may just use the present tense for the main character and past tense for the rest of the story.
Thanks all~
I may just use the present tense for the main character and past tense for the rest of the story.
Thanks all~
did the meaning of words change?
present tense is saying that things are happening now
the fact that things are happening now makes you aware you are reading a book???
I will guess you like past tense then. you are reading about something which already happened but this does not make you realize you are reading???
Are you living in the past? Do you have a DeLorean? are you wearing an orange vest?
Actually, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies are in third present, limited to Thomas Cromwell's POV. One effect this has is to defamilarise the narrative, which is based on historical events the reader can be and often is aware of. But they weren't historical events to Cromwell and the other people taking part in them. To them, they were happening "now".
Margaret Atwood has written first present more than once. John Updike's Rabbit novels are third present, starting with Rabbit, Run in 1960.
First present may be particularly popular in YA at the moment, but it's not new, in first or third person. There's a suggestion that its popularity in the twentieth century may be due to the influence of cinema - film scripts are written in present tense, and we experience films "now" when we watch them. But it goes back much earlier than that - see for example Joyce Cary's |Mister Johnson from 1939, Damon Runyon's short stories...and Dickens's Bleak House, which is half in third present omni, half in first past.
I don't think it's frowned upon in general at all. Actually, I've read an increasing number of books written in present tense over the years. I hardly notice it anymore.
Some people don't care for it because they find it awkward or jarring compared to past tense, or because they've seen it done badly. I think it's common for people to find present tense awkward when they're used to reading books in past tense. I think past tense is more "invisible" for many people.
But I'd say present tense is pretty popular.
Some people don't care for it because they find it awkward or jarring compared to past tense, or because they've seen it done badly. I think it's common for people to find present tense awkward when they're used to reading books in past tense. I think past tense is more "invisible" for many people.
But I'd say present tense is pretty popular.
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I'm pretty sure you could have made your point without being so personal about it. Different people have different reading experiences.
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I was never a big fan until I wrote a story in it. It just had to be written that way. (The story dictates, not me.) Now it doesn't bother me one way or the other. And I'd never set down a book because it was in present tense. I might set it aside if the story is horrible or horribly written, however.
I can't really read first person pov. Does that make it bad? No. Should people avoid it? No.
I do think that more people love to read past tense because it's the "common literary form" and easier for the ear (eyes), I guess.
Me? I write almost all my stories in present tense.
I do think that more people love to read past tense because it's the "common literary form" and easier for the ear (eyes), I guess.
Me? I write almost all my stories in present tense.
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