Present tense. Do you like it?

[Bramblethorn]

Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is an example where, IMHO, present tense works fine:

I’m mopping near the ward door when a key hits it from the other side and I know it’s the Big Nurse by the way the lockworks cleave to the key, soft and swift and familiar she been around locks so long. She slides through the door with a gust of cold and locks the door behind her and I see her fingers trail across the polished steel – tip of each finger the same color as her lips. Funny orange. Like the tip of a soldering iron. Color so hot or so cold if she touches you with it you can’t tell which.

It reminds me of a passage in Kingfisher's "What Feasts At Night":

I sometimes think the fundamental disconnect with civilians is that they think a war is an event, something neatly bounded on either end by dates. What anyone who's lived through one can tell you is that it's actually a place. You're there and then you leave, but places don't stop existing just because you aren't looking at them. The war's still there. I don't live in it anymore, but it's right over there, just on the other side of...I don't know. Something. ... And sometimes, for a little while, I slip over into that other place. The war.

IME, present tense can be an excellent way of evoking that kind of immediacy. Things that are in the past but experienced as if they're still happening. Kesey's narrator may no longer be in the psychiatric ward but he's going to carry it with him in his head.

(Kingfisher doesn't actually use present tense that way, or not that I can recall; the war slip-over sequences in that book are in past tense same as most of the other narrative. It just seemed like a good quote for explaining that timelessness.)

Present tense isn't my default writing mode and I would generally prefer past tense unless the writer has some specific reason for present. I don't think I have any stories here that are written primarily in present. (Occasional passages, yes, for one reason or another.)

But it's not something that causes me a lot of discomfort and I probably won't even remember the author's tense choices a few months after reading.

 

[ronde]

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?

I've never written anything in present tense. I think it's full of pitfalls because it would always be dated. I can write a story about what happened today, but by tomorrow or a week or a year later, it would be difficult to relate to because everything has changed.

I also think there is some confusion about what present tense really is. While I believe some languages do have a different usage of present tense, in English, present tense is the narrator in any POV speaking directly to the reader about what is happening now and requires the use of present tense verbs. While dialogue in a work may seem to be present tense, it's the narrator relating what was spoken at some time in the past. For instance, the line, "She said, 'I am at the store'", is not present tense. It's the relating of a statement of a character made at some point in the past, and therefore is still past tense because the narrator is speaking in past tense.

While I absolutely detest anything written in second person, that's really the only POV where present tense is appropriate. I don't like second POV because the author is telling me what I think and feel. It's fine in a private chat room if that's your thing, but as far as I'm concerned, has no place in normal writing. I mean, if you're a woman could you relate to or get any enjoyment when reading how long and thick your cock is? How about a story where the author tells you, a man, that your clit is as big as an acorn?

 

[YmaOHyd]

While I absolutely detest anything written in second person, that's really the only POV where present tense is appropriate.

I think it can work in 1P when the story slips from the narrator relating events that occurred to speaking directly to the reader. "When I went away to school, the extent of my ambition was to find a rich husband. I think that's every girl's dream, don't you? But that's not what I found." But that's something best used sparingly if at all.

 

[PennyThompson]

When I first started writing I disliked both first-person and present-tense, and wrote exclusively in Close-3rd-Past.

But after reading one of these topics about story PoV I decided to try writing a first-person story, what became Full Moon Blues. And for some reason, without even thinking about it at the time, it ended up coming out in present-tense as well. Maybe because the story is basically werewolf-as-metaphor for drunk-dialing an ex, which kind of needs to be told with immediacy or it loses its edge. It probably helped that it was very short, barely more than a Lit-page.

But I've used First-Present several times since then, mostly with my Scout stories, and have gotten pretty great feedback on them! The character is very introverted and reflective about their emotional state, while also being kind of cynical and snarky like a noir detective, so it felt like a natural fit!

 

[old_prof]

It's interesting to me about how much hate for both 1P and present there is in this forum. And some people off the forum, like my son's partner. But so much published literature, both recent and older, is one or both. I write almost exclusively 1P present for my stories, although I'm starting to try to move away from it. I've gotten overall good ratings with it, including a prize this summer. The only comment I remember getting about it on any story, was on a relatively unpopular story. And that person complained that I was in first person present, quoting a sentence 10K words into the story. Apparently it had not bothered them for the first 9.99K words, but suddenly was untenable. Maybe I screwed something up in that story. It got a notably worse reception than other stories I wrote around the same time frame.

As I said earlier, I can read either just fine, as well as it's done consistently and correctly. Apparently, so can the bulk of the readership here and in the greater world.

 

[AG31]

Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is an example where, IMHO, present tense works fine:



It reminds me of a passage in Kingfisher's "What Feasts At Night":



IME, present tense can be an excellent way of evoking that kind of immediacy. Things that are in the past but experienced as if they're still happening. Kesey's narrator may no longer be in the psychiatric ward but he's going to carry it with him in his head.

(Kingfisher doesn't actually use present tense that way, or not that I can recall; the war slip-over sequences in that book are in past tense same as most of the other narrative. It just seemed like a good quote for explaining that timelessness.)

Present tense isn't my default writing mode and I would generally prefer past tense unless the writer has some specific reason for present. I don't think I have any stories here that are written primarily in present. (Occasional passages, yes, for one reason or another.)

But it's not something that causes me a lot of discomfort and I probably won't even remember the author's tense choices a few months after reading.

I guess I'd have to re-think my post. Maybe it's just 3rd person present tense that I find always annoying.

 

[AG31]

When I first started writing I disliked both first-person and present-tense, and wrote exclusively in Close-3rd-Past.

But after reading one of these topics about story PoV I decided to try writing a first-person story, what became Full Moon Blues. And for some reason, without even thinking about it at the time, it ended up coming out in present-tense as well. Maybe because the story is basically werewolf-as-metaphor for drunk-dialing an ex, which kind of needs to be told with immediacy or it loses its edge. It probably helped that it was very short, barely more than a Lit-page.

But I've used First-Present several times since then, mostly with my Scout stories, and have gotten pretty great feedback on them! The character is very introverted and reflective about their emotional state, while also being kind of cynical and snarky like a noir detective, so it felt like a natural fit!

Yup. Maybe my dislike is confined to 3rd person present tense.

 

[PennyThompson]

Yup. Maybe my dislike is confined to 3rd person present tense.

I would agree that Third-Present feels weird. I can't think of any examples of it off the top of my head, even highly propulsive action scenes that I can recall reading are either in Third-Past or in some variation of First-Person

 

[YmaOHyd]

I also can't think of a 3P present scene.

 

[PennyThompson]

oh hey, maybe like nature documentaries?

The ibex cranes her head up from the grass, listening intently, before returning to her grazing. She has no idea that the three lionesses have successfully surrounded her, crouched just a few meters away, preparing to strike.

 

[VerbalAbuse]

there are great examples of 3P present tense literature. Admittedly, they are not that common. One is the aforementioned Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union. There are others, don't get mistaken about it.

 

[YmaOHyd]

oh hey, maybe like nature documentaries?

The ibex cranes her head up from the grass, listening intently, before returning to her grazing. She has no idea that the three lionesses have successfully surrounded her, crouched just a few meters away, preparing to strike.

Or alt-text, but in both cases it's narration accompanying an image. It's common in song lyrics, too:

She knows what it means to be evergreen
She's seen more than some eyes will ever see
Glad with green gracefully she reaches for winter sun
She's the lucky one

I can't think of a story written that way, is what I meant.

 

[VerbalAbuse]

a story in present, 3P or 1P, will not work if the story and how it's told don't match the tense. present is great, but like any tool, it has its uses. you don't use a hammer to brush your teeth.

 

[PennyThompson]

Or alt-text, but in both cases it's narration accompanying an image. It's common in song lyrics, too:

She knows what it means to be evergreen
She's seen more than some eyes will ever see
Glad with green gracefully she reaches for winter sun
She's the lucky one

I can't think of a story written that way, is what I meant.

I guess someone will just have to write an erotic nature documentary in Present-Third then, about a plot bunny being hunted by a cougar

 

[YmaOHyd]

I guess someone will just have to write an erotic nature documentary in Present-Third then, about a plot bunny being hunted by a cougar

The problem is that I'd read it in David Attenborough's voice, and I'm not sure I want to hear a 100 year old man say but this cougar hasn't come here for food. She's here... to breed in a Literotica context.

 

[PennyThompson]

The problem is that I'd read it in David Attenborough's voice, and I'm not sure I want to hear a 100 year old man say but this cougar hasn't come here for food. She's here... to breed in a Literotica context.

"Narrated by Helen Mirren"

 

[XerXesXu]

This question came up yesterday in another context - had I ever written in IP present. I remembered a story, 'Squealers' that might have been, but I couldn't remember whether it begins with 'He did.' or He does.', so I looked it up. I have written in 1P Present, but that's just the way it came out when I wrote it; I didn't give any thought to how I should write it, that just seemed the natural way in the moment. By preference I default to 3P Omniscient.

 

[YmaOHyd]

"Narrated by Helen Mirren"

 

[NuclearFairy]

Only time I even notice the tense that something is written in is when it suddenly shifts on me. Like some authors in the wilds of lit like to do for fight or sex scenes. It's been a while since I've run into them, so I can't quote any names.

The problem is that I'd read it in David Attenborough's voice, and I'm not sure I want to hear a 100 year old man say but this cougar hasn't come here for food. She's here... to breed in a Literotica context.

I dunno man, he has a pretty sexy soothing voice.

 

[old_prof]

The problem is that I'd read it in David Attenborough's voice, and I'm not sure I want to hear a 100 year old man say but this cougar hasn't come here for food. She's here... to breed in a Literotica context.

I was telling my wife this conversation (because she wanted to know why I laughed). She says she would gladly listen to porn read by David Attenborough. She thinks he's kind of sexy (she has been married to me for four plus decades, so I've set a low bar I guess). Then she added, "It might ruin nature documentaries..."

 

[TheLobster]

oh hey, maybe like nature documentaries?

Pretty much, yes.

3P present in inherently invasive. It's as though you are telling the characters' story, and all its intimate details as they happen, from a perfectly obscured and protected vantage point where you are never threatened to be discovered and punished for your voyeurism. It's exactly like humans watching animals go about their business, narrating their behavior for the amusement of a human audience.

3P past doesn't have this effect. The events have already happened; You are simply recounting them. You are retelling history instead of intruding upon it while it's still unfolding.

 

[RocketGrunt]

3rd person present is like a sport commentator describing the action for the viewers at home. Whether it's appropriate or not for your story can be summed up with "How much is the story you want to tell like a football match?"

 

[ThanksForAllTheFish]

Hard no. I think because I didn't read any of it growing up, it feels a bit amateurish to me even if it's done perfectly. Really takes me out of the story

 

[redgarters]

I switched from past tense to present tense in my Winter Holidays entry, 'The Do Over'. The switch serves a purpose in the story and I was rather happy with how it worked out. Still, I'm not sure I'd write a whole story in present tense. It somehow feels weird reading a whole story/book like that.

 

[StillStunned]

Present-tense narration is like a fart in a closed room: unwanted, intrusive, and only the asshole who did it thinks it’s justified.

Only a Sith deals in absolutes. Or calls other people assholes just for having different tastes.