Author in a quandary - should I use past tense or present tense in my novel? Big decision. Big difference.
Deirdre F. Baker's thoughtful article about the effect of past or present tense in novels appeared in the January/February issue of Horn Book.
"Present Tensions, or It's All Happening Now" is an interesting take on the relationship between tense and the author's role:
"The past tense shows the narrator, perhaps even the author, quietly admitting responsibility for the way the story is told, admitting that it's a product of looking back and seeing the threads of cause-and-effect. It's a silent declaration on the author's part: this is an act of interpretation, of art, with what I see as the meaningful bits included in the story."
So what about prose written in the present tense?
"Of course the story in the present tense is also shaped, but the present tense hides that influence. We don't have the past-tense assurance that the narrator has made sense of what's happening. . . In this way the present tense is a layer of concealment over the writer's influence on the way the story is told . . . The present tense is reportage or live drama."
Deirdre Baker also points out that present tense is the tense of Twitter, Facebook and the video culture of You Tube. "Re-viewing makes the past present." I never thought of it that way. Fascinating.
In addition to tense, of course, the author needs to choose a POV. I tend to prefer past tense no matter what the POV or subject.
Do you have a favorite combination of tense and POV? And how much does subject matter control these decisions?
Friday, March 16, 2012
Past Tense, Present Tense - Pros & Cons
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Your post on "Present Tensions" and the consequences of the author's choice of verb tense IS fascinating.
ReplyDeleteUse of the present verb tense with the action happening "right now - live and in color!" to the characters (and to the engaged reader)is incredibly effective when done well - but so hard to do.
I agree with Eileen-- present tense is incredible when done well, but it seems like it can be very challenging to do well. I don't like it when I notice the tense a novel is written in. If I notice it, then something isn't working. I loved how I read The Hunger Games and didn't even notice it was written in present tense. But that present tense gave me an incredible sense of immediacy. Now that is present tense done well.
ReplyDeleteIn my own writing, I often write in past tense-- but I noticed that most of my rhyming manuscripts are in present tense. It just seems to fit naturally in most of those manuscripts.
Tense decisions, for me, make themselves. When I begin a new manuscript, I let my fingers fly across the keyboard and see what happens. When I have a beginning, then I take a good, hard look at the tense I subconsciously chose and find it's always the right one. And I guess the reason is, is my choice to have the character live through the story, or to have the character tell the story.
ReplyDeleteBut even if the story is told in past tense, it must be recent past. Once an adult sensibility is tied into the manuscript, it's no longer MG or YA. If an adult is telling the story, it's adult fiction.
Usually present tense annoys me by bring too noticeable. I want to melt into the world of the book, not worry about the tense. I hate dialect for the same reason. But sometimes it can be very effective. The first time I remember liking a book in present tense was Hugo and Josephine by Maria Gripe. There is a scene in which Josephine is being bullied and it's agonizingly close, partly because of the tense. I also liked the use of present tense in Emily Neville's It's Like This, Cat (Newbery Wnner, 1964) which has a kind of flat, laid back quality, like the first person narrator. Maybe what present tense does is to magnify the qualities of the narrator because it brings you closer? I didn't even remember that Hunger Games was present tense but that is part of its immediacy, its intimacy.
ReplyDeleteUsually present tense annoys me by bring too noticeable. I want to melt into the world of the book, not worry about the tense. I hate dialect for the same reason. But sometimes it can be very effective. The first time I remember liking a book in present tense was Hugo and Josephine by Maria Gripe. There is a scene in which Josephine is being bullied and it's agonizingly close, partly because of the tense. I also liked the use of present tense in Emily Neville's It's Like This, Cat (Newbery Wnner, 1964) which has a kind of flat, laid back quality, like the first person narrator. Maybe what present tense does is to magnify the qualities of the narrator because it brings you closer? I didn't even remember that Hunger Games was present tense but that is part of its immediacy, its intimacy.
ReplyDeleteEileen, Brianna,Judy, Ariel,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking time to comment. Seems as though we all agree that present tense, when well done, is a plus. I liked Brianna's comment about how it's best when you don't even notice the tense.
Yes, Ariel, I've always thought highly of "It's Like This, Cat" - I think it was way ahead of its time.
I think I tend to prefer past tense because of my love of folktales. I like that storytelling feeling even in fiction.