Topic: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

Hi. The novel I'm working on and posting on this site is written in the first person but, recently, I've begun to question my decision to write it in present tense. Over the next little while, I'm going to be exploring which tense serves me best. I'll start by rewriting at least one of my existing chapters in past tense and see how it feels.
Like two of my favorite first-person novels, Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye, my main character is young - 17. Huck is written in present tense and he's 13. Catcher is in past tense and Holden's 16. I'm thinking my older character will have the ability to say more in past tense. As my character and I develop and mature side-by-side, I'm becoming interested in "reflecting" through her. Seeing as past tense is the "reflective" tense, I suspect I'll choose it for this book but, meanwhile, I wondered how you more experienced writers on this site choose your tenses.
Thanks for sharing!

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

It's more natural to tell a story in the past tense. I find it easier, and in reading other stories on this site I notice some writers struggling with tenses when they write in the present tense. Though a story that unfolds to the reader as though it is currently happening has a certain power to it. It really depends on the story you want to tell and how you want to relay it to the reader.
With past tense the reader knows the author survived his/her ordeal, at least long enough to tell the story. Present tense, is more mysterious.
Either way, good luck.

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

I've said this before, I think, on this site, but I avoid present tense. Purely personal, because I've found it too easy to make tense errors using present, in that past tense is usually required in parts of the story, as when a character is referring to a past event, for example. But that's just me. The only disadvantage of first-person past tense, IMO,  is that the reader will know the main character will survive whatever peril you put him in, or else he couldn't be doing the narration! smile

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

I see C J got in ahead of me to state the disadvantage of first-person past tense, and that the easier route is writing a story in past tense. We obviously think alike, C J! Gray Martin does a good job writing in present tense. Perhaps he'll enter the discussion.

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

I appreciate all the feedback above.
I was just in the middle of reworking my chapter and found a problem with past tense. Something I didn't realize fully before: many things are a mystery to my young protagonist. In fact, one of the main resolutions is that she finds clarity. If she already knows what's going to happen, as she would in past tense, it takes the mystery out of things for her.

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

If that were true, you could never have a mystery story in the first person past tense.  But it's been done, over and over.  The narrator, telling the story, separates her past from the present in which she is telling, and you are reading, the story.

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

Exactly, NJC.

8 (edited by Don Chambers 2017-05-13 19:55:08)

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

I'll throw in my dime (adjusted for inflation). As others have said, wiring in first person present is tough to do without making tense mistakes, since we are used to past tense in writing. However, with some work, it becomes easy. I've written several novels that way. One benefit is that I find it allows the author to better express action of the moment and keeps the flow dynamic. I think this is one reason it has grown popular among YA authors -- the readers like to think this story is happening to them as they read it, as if they are truly experiencing it -- not reading a memoir of the events later.

With that said, one of the drawbacks is you are sometimes tied too deeply into a single character. Some try to fix this with alternating first person voices. This can work, if done properly. Where it doesn't work is when you throw in too many first person perspectives. Then it just gets confusing. Third person is much better for that.

I'm actually in the process of rewriting a scientific thriller into third person past tense because some of my trusted beta readers hated the first person tense, even though they liked it in another novel I wrote. After reading both pieces, I think third person past does work better. So sometimes you need to experiment both ways and see which one speaks to you and your audience the most.

Don't know if that helps any, but there it is.

Cheers,
Don

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

I personally prefer third person past tense. I admire anyone who can pull off first person in either past or present tense. Read some of Gray Martin's material.

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

Don Chambers wrote:

I'm actually in the process of rewriting a scientific thriller into third person past tense because some of my trusted beta readers hated the first person tense, even though they liked it in another novel I wrote. After reading both pieces, I think third person past does work better. So sometimes you need to experiment both ways and see which one speaks to you and your audience the most.

Don't know if that helps any, but there it is.

Cheers,
Don

Absolutely. Don! Although the present tense lends a certain immediacy to the story, making it especially useful for action-adventure stories, it is ultimately up to the reading audience to decide which is most appropriate. That's why it's so important to have beta readers. For a full-length novel, it is too easy to make mistakes, which is where good editing comes in. You're the author; you're in charge of what goes into your story, but you need the input from others to do your best work.

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

So beta readers? Writing groups? Friends who read for you?

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

Beta readers are some friends who aren't on this site who read the near final draft and give me their overall opinion before I publish.

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

K L van Kriedt wrote:

Huck is written in present tense and he's 13.

Hi. I'm not sure what you mean by this, but the novel itself, Huckleberry Finn, is not written in present tense, although as a narrator Huck often uses "says" rather than "said" in dialog tags; generally however all of the narration is given in past-tense.

14 (edited by K L van Kriedt 2017-05-15 19:54:09)

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

Regarding stating that Huck Finn was written in present tense, my mistake in trusting the internet. I did a quick search back when I was considering the question and got this:

What point of view is Huckleberry Finn written in?
Transcript of Huckleberry Finn: Point of View. The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn is told in the present tense. The narrator tells us what is happening while it happens. Due to the fact that we experience the story through the eyes of Huckleberry Finn, we know that it is in the first person.

I now know that it is written in the Immediate Past tense, Huck reporting to us what happened immediately after it happens.

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

My two cents:

The present tense is good for high-action, fast-paced stories where the author wants the reader to be running by the MC's side. Objects fell onto the reader as well as on the MC, and situations take place before the reader realises what's going on. Despite how bad it is written, and how weak the story is, IMO, the usage of present tense is one of The Hunger Games key features leading it's success, because of the "immediate" feeling. E.g., Emilio Salgari's Sandokan, another very fast-paced story, should have been written in present tense.

On the side of the cons, first person present tense (as K L van Kriedt is writing) allows little to none second thoughts. "Had I known" is an impossible expression in present tense. Foreshadowing is also impossible. A large set of techniques possible in past tense are impossible in present tense, because the narrator is clueless about what will happen, contrary to writing in past tense where the narrator knows the outcome. The argument that the reader never knows whether the MC will die has no grounds. If the MC die, the story would be abruptly stopped, which would make no sense--that's one of the reasons why The Hunger Games is soooo poorly written IMO. There's no way Katniss would end up dead, so there's no actual suspense there.

Writing in first person present tense is also difficult because the POV needs to be deep. I.e., in past tense, you can write: "I opened the door and wondered if he was hiding there in the kitchen";  in present tense it's almost foolish to write: "I open the door and I wonder if he is hiding here in the kitchen". Of course, you can put it that way if you like, but it sounds almost idiotic. Because the action is taking place RIGHT NOW, the thoughts have to pop-up immediately: "I open the kitchen's door. Is he hiding in here?" You don't write a thought in italics when you're writing in first person present tense, because you place the narrator's thoughts within the prose itself (like in the previous example), otherwise the feeling of "immediate" is broken. Mastering this way of writing is kinda tricky, but it can certainly be done.

Past tense allows  forbidden techniques and expressions in present tense  (foreshadowing, "had I known", "now I regret the decision I made back then", "the surprised that followed..." etc) to be used. Also, it allows greater introspection and it's not that tricky to write--all of us have read tonnes of stories in past tense, so we're more used to it. I disagree with those who state first-person present tense brings the MC closer to the reader. A close relationship can be easily achieved using past tense. 

Finally, K L, I would like to point to the fact that your story takes place back in the 1960's. At least for me, it's difficult to think of your story as happening right now. Many YA stories are written in present tense nowadays, but, also, they are supposed to take place by the time the reader reads the story,  either if the reader reads it in August 2016 or in May 2017. The Hunger Games takes place in an unknown future. The usage of the present tense makes that unknown future more real and allows a greater suspension of disbelief. I'm sure about a story taking place in the past (1960's).

In the end it's your decision. I'm not a pro writer, of course, so take my advice as limited as it is: I would write your story in first person past tense if I were you.

Kiss,
Gacela

16 (edited by K L van Kriedt 2017-05-16 17:32:28)

Re: How to choose Present tense or Past tense?

Thank you, Gacela. I always appreciate your input. You bring up many good points and make me think.
However, I tried moving a chapter into past tense and it didn't work for me. It's difficult to put into words. The best I can do is this: I lost my MC's ability to make discoveries which, it became starkly clear, is essential to the story. Liz is learning by example and, hopefully, carrying the reader gains insight along with her.
As far as depth, I'm structuring the novel in the picaresque style. Liz will meet many characters, each with their own compelling story, and she'll have the opportunity to reflect on what she learns from each experience. Liz is hungry for understanding. She watches, listens and learns.
It's interesting that you brought up "regret." That is exactly what Liz is attempting to avoid. If I write in past tense, she will already know regret is unavoidable.
Regarding foreshadowing, I'm actually finding it easy to do. Of course since I've posted so few chapters, my foreshadowing is not yet obvious -- oh, except in the case of Rudy. Here, for instance, the reader is going, no, no, don't trust him, while Liz, in her inexperience, does trust him, at least enough to have a life-changing experience.
Regarding timeframe, this is a story about Liz, not about the sixties, although the sixties provide background of course. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think the story has to be happening in the current century to be written in present tense, it's happening "right now" for my MC, it's her life, and hopefully the reader will be carried along.
By the way, I changed my genre on this site from YA to Literary Fiction based on this quote: "literary fiction, by its nature, allows itself to dawdle, to linger on stray beauties even at the risk of losing its way". Lingering on stray beauties is exactly my intent in this story about a 17 year old finding her way.
Liz's story is certainly not high-action or fast-paced. Yet, for me so far, present tense is working. Perhaps I'll do an experiment and follow Huck's example of Immediate past. For the moment though, I'm moving on to my next chapter.
Thanks again for your input! Kiss! Karen

I appreciate everyone's input!!! This was an experiment on my part. I was sitting here at my computer, my mind full of questions and no one to turn to help me sort through them when I thought, Ha! I'll try this blog thing. And it worked. Thank you all!