Using 'now' in past-tense narrative

[MillieDynamite]

Well, now that tore it. Hum, don't sound right, do it?

 

[HelenL]

While I am quite grateful to the volunteer editor I work with for having been so supportive along my journey, he and I do still have a bit of an ongoing friendly debate. Namely: Is the word 'now' acceptable to use in narratives presented in past tense?

For example, in a sentence such as:

or:


He contends that it means 'the present moment', which a past-tense narrative certainly is not.

I argue that it has two meanings, the first being 'the present moment', and the second, 'a circumstance different from a prior one'.

Now, I have a friend who has suggested that all writers have a series of literary 'tics', as it were, subconscious patterns they end up overusing, and that 'now' might be one of mine. (I also just realized how this paragraph started, so I think my friend may be right.) Anyway, my friend thinks it might benefit me to treat 'now' as, at the very least, an indication that a sentence could use some closer attention.

The fact remains, though, that I don't see anything inherently wrong with using the 'circumstance' definition, even in past tense, and there are just some sentences where trying to avoid using it entirely leads to some (in my opinion) very awkward presentation. My editor insists on reminding me on every story I send him anyway.

So... who's right?

I remember my English teacher being absolutely adamant that "now" was never appropriate in fiction, which was set in the past. (He probably wouldn't admit that present tense narrative existed, and he loathed e e cummings with the passion of a thousand suns, so it may be fair to say he was very traditional.) Also, today, yesterday, or any other present-relative terms are verboten.

Anyway, due to his advice, I find myself trying to use "the previous day," or "a few minutes earlier" rather than yesterday or a few minutes ago. And honestly, I think it sucks. I always switch back to now/today/five minutes ago because in context is isn't jarring, where any unit relative to the narrative requires you to consider that it is narrative, which you're trying to avoid.

Now is used regularly in contemporary fiction, and I think the reason that isn't more obvious is that it slides so well into narrative reception. So yeah, I'll probably have a hangup forever about using "now," but I'll use it anyway, because it's the best option.