scrape_r_rational/data/cache2/2xrn8j.md

Writing in present vs past tense?

• Author: u/raymestalez *

• URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/2xrn8j/writing_in_present_vs_past_tense/

• Score: 8

• Created: 2015-03-03T08:03:16

Post:

Hi! What are your thoughts on writing in present or past tense? Which one do you prefer? Which one do you think is better?

Comments:

u/eaglejarl [+5] (an hour later)

I find present tense stories quite jarring. I also feel that it makes it harder to use narration / exposition, as having the narrative voice in present tense is odd.

u/Sceptically [+1] (19 hours later)

I'll second that. I find present tense to be even worse than the second person perspective.

u/thakil [+5] (3 hours later)

Present tense can make a story feel urgent and present, giving a strong sense of pace, but it can also be jarring and off putting. It can be quite exhausting to read something that is set in present tense. It can also constrain the type of stories you can tell in a way that past tense does not. For an excellent example of where it works, try reading the Night Circus (which is a lovely book anyway).

u/Rhamni [+2] Aspiring author (5 hours later)

I definitely prefer past tense. That said, in my own writing there is one exception. When my villain who as just returned from death mind reads a main character, she does so very extensively, and I made it stream of consciousness. That would really not have worked in past tense.

u/alexanderwales [+2] Time flies like an arrow (6 hours later)

I almost always write in past tense. I tend to prefer stories written in past tense. However, there are a few exceptions:

• Sam Hughes is great and most of it is present tense
• Neal Stephenson mostly writes in present tense
• Charles Stross has written a few books in second person present tense

Mostly I think it's a matter of getting into the style for me - I won't put something down because it's in present tense, but I does take me out of the book up until the point that I get used to it. I've found that this is true of a lot of choices authors make about style and voice.

As for pros and cons, the large point of picking out a tense is what you want the reader to feel on a subconscious level. People often make the claim that immediacy is the big benefit of present tense, and that grounding is the big benefit of past tense. I'm not entirely sure that I agree, but it's a popular line of thought.

u/Cuz_Im_TFK [+1] (18 hours later)

I think this is a good analysis. One other point I'd like to add is that you can weave present tense into a predominantly past-tense story if you're careful. I forget exactly where so I cant link it, but Eliezer has a few passages written in present tense in HPMOR that I thought worked really well. Any present tense at all is nonstandard, but it can have a good effect when used judiciously.

u/Mister_Tulip [+2] (6 hours later)

Note: I'm not much of a writer; this is exclusively from the perspective of a reader.

Anyway, in my experience, either tense can work. As long as the story doesn't randomly change between tenses, I tend to be fine. However, an interesting pattern I've found is that it's much more jarring for me to read a past-tense story after spending a lot of time on present-tense ones than it is to read a present-tense one after spending a lot of time on past-tense ones. Kind of an interesting asymmetry.

u/OffColorCommentary [+2] (11 hours later)

I'm currently writing a story in second person present tense with occasional digressions into past and future tense, and it is the most enjoyable way I've ever written fiction.

My advice would be to slam out a couple paragraphs in each tense, making full use of the toys that tense gives you, to see which you enjoy writing in most. If you enjoy working with the constraints you set for yourself, it will show up in your work, and your enjoyment of the work will be infectious.

u/qznc [+1] Chaos Legion (2 hours later)

When I try to write in present tense, I constantly slip back into past tense. So to avoid errors, I just use past tense.

u/Anderkent [+1] (2 hours later)

I feel like present tense is much harder to pull off. It shouldn't be the default, you need good reason to use it.

u/blockbaven [+1] (7 hours later)

As with anything, the effectiveness comes down to the writer's individual skill. If someone knows what they're doing, they can do whatever they want. Present tense is great at invoking emotion and putting you inside a characters head. It's good at letting you know how things feel.

u/Farmerbob1 [+1] Level 1 author (7 hours later)

I write in past tense myself. I find it far easier to get a feel for what I write when I read it back to myself. Past tense is a storyteller tense, so I can imagine the story being spoken out loud, and pick out at least some of the awkward parts.

Nothing wrong with present tense, but it's difficult for me to deal with as check what I write.

u/callmebrotherg [+1] now posting as /u/callmesalticidae (a day later)

I think that past tense has its place, and perhaps it isn't a bad default, but all of the tenses and points of view should be used at least few times.

I prefer present-tense for a lot of my writing, but I think that just might be a side effect of liking to write in the second-person. I don't do it all the time, or even half the time, but it's pretty close.

u/vastlyoutplayed [+1] (a day later)

I see people mentioning that present tense is jarring but not why. (And jarring is the right word.) When you use present tense you're describing a succession of presents, like a slideshow, whereas setting something in the past necessarily gives it direction—"and this led to something".

And as eaglejarl points out below, present tense can make it difficult to anything but live visual description. Where's that pocket time coming from?

But there's definitely an unuseful stigma against shifting between tenses in a single work.

u/ishaan123 [+1] Sidebar Contestant (a day later)

I don't really understand why people try to consciously control tense use, or why it matters if you arbitrarily switch tenses when it feels right. I just go by instinct, do what feels natural. Usually, past tense feels natural, probably because everyone else uses it, but not always.

I think someone just decided one day that everyone aught to keep consistent tense, and no one questioned it.

I guess it's nice to be aware when you switch tenses so that you don't just arbitrarily shift due to lapses in attention or something (since the longer time scales involved in writing might contain accidental tense shifts which would be jarring and unnatural in a spoken conversation) but I don't think it matters that much.

u/Nighzmarquls [+1] (a day later)

Tense usage is one of many tools you can choose to use. I used second person intentionally as a kind of 'imposition of world view' in one of my stories.

This works DISTURBINGLY WELL for some audience members, to the point that I decided to stop using second person.

Present tense works a certain way, past tense works a certain way. First person, second person and third person all act on the audience in different ways.

The 'what feels natural' thing I find is something that generally has to be learned either from reading a lot of fiction or by really studying language.

So Consciously paying attention to tenses and trying out short hand easy rules as a kind of 'framework' to teach yourself effects can be usefull.

u/ishaan123 [+2] Sidebar Contestant (a day later)

I used second person intentionally as a kind of 'imposition of world view' in one of my stories. This works DISTURBINGLY WELL for some audience members, to the point that I decided to stop using second person.

explain

u/Nighzmarquls [+1] (7 days later)

When you consistently tell some one "you feel this way" or "you see this" and do it with intent of presenting them that consistent world view I noticed that it seemed to really 'get into the heads' of some of the audience members.

By about halfway through the story no one really was 'breaking character' at all from what I'd planned even though the entire project was built around the idea of user contributions and I intentionally made an effort to never ignore or waste ANY suggestion no matter how ridiculous.

I'm trying something a bit different in my tense usage now with my current project and It seems to be slightly better about that.

---