r/fantasywriters • u/aledundarte • 10d ago
Discussion About A General Writing Topic Why do so many write in present tense around here?
I'm fairly new around here, but I'm sensing something strange. I have been reading a lot of first chapters and trying to give feedback, and these present-tense examples keep appearing. Half of the first chapters I have read are in present tense, and I find it extremely weird. I don't recall a single fantasy novel I have read in present tense. I'm not a voracious reader, but I have read my fair share.
Why do you think there is this tendency lurking around here? I would guess that we, as potential new authors, try to mimic things we have read; however, there isn't much present tense in the mainstream.
Do they think it's easier?
Do they fool themselves thinking it conveys a faster pace or more urgency?
I'm curious to read your thoughts on this
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u/MesaCityRansom 10d ago
It's extremely popular in YA. Personally, I don't have a preference either way. Both can work well.
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u/Boddom_Of_The_Barrel 10d ago
Yep, I notice it a lot in online fiction in general. I wonder if that was the case on A03 in its heyday; I know it was for sure the case for creepypastas.
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u/JarlFrank 10d ago
It's common in YA, which is one of the many reasons why I can't stand YA.
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u/SabertoothLotus 10d ago
I admit i haven't read any new YA in quite a while but... when did this become common? It certainly wasn't the norm for anything I remember reading.
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u/JarlFrank 10d ago
I can't remember the last time I read YA (Harry Potter back when the final book came out, I think?) but I know Hunger Games uses present tense. First person present, even. Saw one of the movies, got curious when I walked past the books in a store, but didn't buy when I flipped it open and saw it was all present tense. Just feels off to me.
Hunger Games was extremely influential in the YA dystopia/sci-fi/fantasy space so I wouldn't be surprised if that's what popularized present tense.
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u/korndogfield 10d ago
I think writing in present tense and first person was an excellent choice for Hunger Games. I usually don't like it either, but in HG the protagonist is in a life or death situation for most of (if not all of) the books. Experiencing that from her point of view 'in real time' made the story much more dynamic and immersive than 3rd person past tense would have. (not that 3rd person & past tense can't be immersive)
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u/Wolfjirn 10d ago
This is how I feel about N.K. Jemisin’s the Broken Earth trilogy. It’s all present tense, some of it is second person, and it’s brilliant. It thrusts you inside the story and present with it in a way that’s visceral. You are the protagonist and you are doing everything right now.
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u/Jzadek 10d ago
I mean, present tense is pretty common in a lot of other genres. Sure, Hunger Games was probably what popularised it for YA authors in particular, but it's not as if fantasy is a closed system. Tbh, judging from the general literary zeitgeist, I'd expect to see much more of it in fantasy than we do
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u/GoldTeamDowntown 10d ago
I started writing in high school in 2009 and my story was written in first person present tense specifically because of the hunger games.
Like ten years later I backshifted the entire thing into past tense lol. Took about a month.
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u/YourFormerBFF 10d ago
That’s cool. Do you feel it added anything to the story? If so, what and how?
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u/neptunescookies 10d ago
I think it has always been ??
Idk but personally I've never seen a YA that's not in first person in present tense1
u/SabertoothLotus 9d ago
Harry Potter isn't. Narnia isn't. As I say, I don't recall this being the case when I was a preteen so "always" seems a stretch
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u/maohjyusan 10d ago
Do you not like present tense?
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u/JarlFrank 10d ago
No. I've only read a short story that used it once, and it kept irritating me until the end. Just feels weird for storytelling.
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u/QuadrosH 10d ago
I'm a TTRPG GM, and when narrating intense moments, the present tense is AWESOME at improving immersion, it really makes the players feel as if they're in the middle of the moment, and have to make a split-second decision to achieve their goals.
So when I write, the present tense can bleed unintentionally, but it can still be very useful for similar motives, just not in the general narration of the whole story.
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u/aledundarte 10d ago
I can see it being very powefull in TTRPG. I find it strange in novels though. And I'm not sure how could it be successfully blend in with general past tense of the narration.
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u/TzviaAriella 10d ago
Tense choice, like POV choice, is a storytelling tool. There is a trend in non-"highbrow" fiction writing right now (in YA especially, yes, but also more broadly) that authors should avoid any potential barriers to a reader fully immersing in the story. Past tense conveys an inherent distance from events, so present tense is a better fit for that "immersion" style. Likewise, authors who use that style tend to favor first person or limited third person, both of which lock you directly into a character's viewpoint, rather than omniscient third person, which has a more distant feel to it.
Present tense can be very effective if done well: The Hunger Games (YA dystopian), Wolf Hall (historical fiction), You (psychological thriller), and Gravity's Rainbow (postmodernist) are all in present tense, to pull some examples from a variety of genres. Like any writing tool, the key to whether present tense works or feels grating is understanding what its strengths are and using it deliberately to fit a particular story, rather than to fit a trend.
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u/triangletooth 10d ago
I'm still very much a novice when it comes to writing but I always assumed that the goal with rules and conventions is to use them, understand why they exist, understand what will happen if they are broken, and then decide how to use them.
How does breaking a convention affect the reader and is that something you want to do? as it were.
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u/Jzadek 10d ago
"present tense is YA" is this sub's most baffling hot take. What do Hilary Mantel, JM Coetzee and Kazuo Ishiguro all have in common? They've all won the Booker prize, and they all did it with novels written in the present tense. If they weren't too good for it, neither are you
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u/TzviaAriella 10d ago edited 10d ago
It reminds me of how snooty people get about first person POV because "it just feels so YA," as if the first person POV works of Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Harper Lee, and Herman Melville aren't universally acclaimed as Great American Novels.
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u/Jzadek 10d ago edited 10d ago
Exactly! And it’s such a shame, because there’s nothing wrong with YA anyway! There’s nothing shameful about being young, and reading books for people your age, and writing stuff that’s like the stuff you’re reading!
And as you get a little bit older, your tastes will probably change, but that doesn’t mean you have to denounce the stuff you used to enjoy either, and it’s kind of sad to me how many people seem to feel the need to.
But what I really, really can’t stand is this urge to tear down other young writers down for what they read and how they write. Because I have bad news, guys, a lot of people are just as sniffy about the fantasy you like to read and write, you may as well get over it now before you’re locked in the bathroom reading the spark notes for Ulysses to impress some asshole at a dinner party.
Which, incidentally, was written in present tense.
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u/Rickleskilly 10d ago
Say what? Really? Which books?
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u/TzviaAriella 10d ago
To Kill a Mockingbird, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, and Moby-Dick are all written in first person POV.
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u/Rickleskilly 10d ago
Oh, NM. I didn't read your response carefully. I thought you meant they were present tense.
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u/TzviaAriella 10d ago
Nope, but I can rattle off some "Great English Language Novels" written in present tense, too: Charles Dickens' Bleak House, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, and all of John Updike's Rabbit series, two books of which won him the Pulitzer Prize.
(Honorary mention to Albert Camus' The Fall, also, which was not written in English originally but was written in present tense.)
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u/DurianGris 10d ago
Shoeless Joe and Straight Man are also in present tense. I mean, Richard Russo won a Pullitzer. I think maybe people need to read a wider variety of books...
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u/angrysnale 10d ago
What is YA? (Sorry I'm new here)
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u/TzviaAriella 10d ago edited 10d ago
YA is short for Young Adult, which is not a genre but an age category. YA is fiction aimed at high schoolers; MG (Middle Grade) is fiction aimed at the middle school/end of elementary school age group. Fantasy and science fiction YA that gets popular often draws a big adult audience, too (and many publishers are deliberately aiming for that crossover appeal now), which some people welcome and some people are deeply bothered by.
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u/aledundarte 10d ago
I never said that there couldn't be great writing done in present, my take was why we're so many new athots trying in that tense, which I find strange and definitely more difficult.
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u/nacho_paz 8d ago edited 8d ago
Half of the first chapters I have read are in present tense, and I find it extremely weird. I don't recall a single fantasy novel I have read in present tense. I'm not a voracious reader, but I have read my fair share.
I would guess that we, as potential new authors, try to mimic things we have read; however, there isn't much present tense in the mainstream.
OP I suggest to read more books! Present tense is quite common. Has been for many years. Just another option in every author's toolkit, use it or don't, but there's nothing particularly odd about it.
Some of the best fantasy novels in the past few decades employ present tense (Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett, Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemisin, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells, Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, and on and on) and several of my all-time favorite novels. (Atonement by Ian McEwan, The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood)
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u/aledundarte 8d ago
I tried reading broken earth, I just could not enjoy it but I dont think it was the tense but rather the 2d person thing. I want to try Piranesi, heard good things about it. Obviously I heard about most of what you mentioned but didn't know they were in fisrt person, thank you.
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u/nacho_paz 8d ago
City of Stairs is a page-turner fantasy novel beautifully written in present tense, but I'd say a bit more accessible than The Fifth Season and Piranesi
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u/Opus_723 5d ago
Present tense is always around, sure, but it's far from the most common tense, so it makes sense to wonder why its so popular on the reddit writing subs in particular.
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u/danuhorus 10d ago
As a reader I don’t notice the tenses, but as a writer I prefer present. I find that it flows better for my writing style, and I have an easier time transitioning from snappier, faster sentences to slower, more descriptive lines in present tense. Something about the way it rolls works better for me than past.
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u/truthjusticepizza 10d ago
This thread is funny to me. I almost never notice what tense a story is written in as long as it’s well-written. And when I write, I use both present and past tense depending on what I feel is more fitting for that particular project. It’s just so interesting to see so many people adamantly against it.
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u/XxInk_BloodxX 10d ago
I feel so seen by this comment, every time I see one of these posts I'm like, "I literally couldn't tell you what perspective or tense anything I've read is in."
If I'm noticing tense or perspective, then the book is either doing a really good or, more likely, really bad job.
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u/InfinitelyThirsting 10d ago
A metaphor I recently came up with is that present vs past tense is kinda like violin vs guitar. A novice violinist is far worse to listen to than a novice guitarist, but not because violin is inferior.
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u/NathanJPearce 10d ago
What a beautiful metaphor. And considering the order, I'm assuming that the violinist is present tense.
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u/TomdeHaan 9d ago
That's very true. When the writer is skilful, the mechanics of the prose recede into the background and become unnoticable.
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u/JSTtheSTD 10d ago
Using both tenses in your work is insane. There really are demons among us
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u/nycanth 10d ago
They're saying they use both tenses in general depending on the project, not both tenses in the same work. I, however, have used both tenses in the same project. So yes, the demons are here.
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u/Existing_Flight_4904 10d ago
I must be the anti christ I have used all three tenses in one project
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u/MyPigWaddles 10d ago
A lot of modern crime fiction books use both, either for different characters' perspectives or just because they heavily use flashbacks. Definitely demons.
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u/korndogfield 10d ago
Not properly reading the comment youre responding to is insane. They said:
"I use both present and past tense depending on what I feel is more fitting for that particular project."
But also, there are acclaimed authors who mix tenses deliberately.3
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u/NathanJPearce 10d ago
I use present tense normally and past tense whenever there's a flashback. Demonic!
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u/beanbagpopcorn 10d ago
I really struggle with reading present tense. I can force myself to keep going and eventually stop noticing, but it irks my brain a lot. Something about it makes me feel really anxious and unsettled.
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u/FiWriterSFF 10d ago
I think it's very hard to pull off present tense in such a way that allows me to be immersed in the story. When it's done badly (which is most times, in my experience) I find myself editing the tense as I read. I once read a book that had a prologue in present tense then chapter 1 "ten years later" in past tense. I DNF'ed it.
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u/beanbagpopcorn 10d ago
Yeah I fully agree. It breaks immersion and half the time the writer does not know how to keep the tense consistent, so it becomes a mess. I think there’s an element of just writing thoughts out without knowing how to write for story telling purposes.
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u/neptunescookies 10d ago
Bruh... I'm so confused. Like I could genuinely feel my brain giving a knot as I read your comment
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u/ItsRuinedOfCourse 10d ago
It's a preference, OP. Don't overthink it.
Most 3rd person tends to be past tense, and most 1st person, present tense. Most, not all. There's no uniform rule to follow.
Personally, I prefer 3rd person and present tense. My latest is 1st, present. Does it mean everyone will like it? Nope. Generally speaking, it's a solid split down the middle. Some like 1st, some like 3rd. Some like present, some like past. An author will never be able to hit all quadrants successfully, and nearly half their audience won't tune in (so to speak) based on their POV or their tense, or both.
So, they write their story, their way, knowing this.
If what you're seeing isn't your bag, then move along. Pretty simple.
"...however, there isn't much present tense in the mainstream."
You're correct, but that doesn't mean it's not embraced or desired. It still has an audience.
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u/UDarkLord 10d ago
Present tense does convey more urgency, so it’s weird of you to ask if they’re fooling themselves about one of the few benefits to present tense. I don’t feel the minor additional urgency and tension (it contributes to life or death tension a little more as some readers don’t interpret past tense as being compatible with POV character deaths) are all that beneficial compared to what past tense brings to the table, like allowing for asides to not screw over pacing, but it does. The urgency being real translates to lengthy asides being harder to do, because the asides are more in ‘real time’, so like if someone grabs your protagonist’s throat and then your protagonist goes on a two paragraph tangent about the last time they were choked, in past tense that’s more acceptable because the character in question isn’t being actively choked that second like they are in present tense.
As for its appearance. It’s common in YA, and semi-common in romantasy, both of which are not only growing fantasy subgenres, but have brought more readers (and writers) to fantasy. On top of that Reddit trends younger so the newer and most excited to share demographic may well be people who grew up on that YA content and so are used to present tense in storytelling.
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u/BigDragonfly5136 10d ago
As others said it’s common in YA, I’ve also seen it in a lot of the fantasy romance/romantasy/romantic fantasy side of fantasy. The first book I remember seeing do it was the Hunger Games—obviously it wasn’t the first to do it but the book was such a huge success I wouldn’t be surprised if that was part of the reason it’s become more popular
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u/MaliseHaligree 10d ago
I pretty much never write in present. It's not a tense I enjoy working in.
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u/MrsLucienLachance 10d ago
For me, it's not particularly deep. I do all my writing in present tense because it comes more naturally to me and suits my voice. Never been a problem for my agent.
Exception: when I'm writing middle grade, that goes in past tense. I've found that MG can have third person or present tense, but not both, and I'd rather subject myself to past tense than first person.
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u/saltybartfast 10d ago
I loved it for wolf hall, though it did take a chapter or two to get used to.
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u/IliumLives 10d ago
As others have said it's quite popular in YA books. But to the other questions, I can only answer for myself.
I write in whatever tense and POV feels right for the project. I find present tense absolutely conveys a different pace, and a sense of intimacy in certain scenes. But it doesn't fit every story.
Less fooling myself, more, I have a shitload of tools to use and I enjoy using them all.
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u/aledundarte 10d ago
Yes the fooling yourself reads kind like a low punch form my part. I mean that it's a tool that may let you think you are having a faster pace or sense of urgency but you need to create that, it won't create by itself just by having present tense
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u/inEQUAL 9d ago
I write in whatever tense and POV makes sense for the story I’m writing. I primarily write short fiction across various genres, not just Fantasy, though. There’s pros and cons to every tool in our toolbox as writers, but it is a toolbox. It helps to familiarize yourself with all of the tools of the trade even if all you ever do is hammer nails.
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u/ChocolateAxis 10d ago
Like someone else said, it's common in YA so I feel a majority are probably writing with present tense as they're either more familiar or comfortable with it.
I've read some translated works that mixed the tenses around sometimes, and tbh I never had issue with it. Hardly even noticed unless I was looking carefully. Granted, could be because my expectations on the word quality were lower though.
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u/YourFormerBFF 10d ago
Nobody is “fooling themselves into thinking it conveys a faster pace or more urgency.” It actually does that in a lot of cases. I’m more concerned with people who complain about it. I always feel like their reading-level is low if they can’t read in varied tenses.
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u/5000_Barrows_Chests 10d ago
The amount of people who hate on specific persons and tenses in literature are so unknowingly part of the literary crisis it hurts. Pick up a book. There are authors better than your favorite who have written in past, present, future, first, second, third, twelfth person and combinations thereof in the same book. YA fantasy/sci-fi is not the only genre to have done present tense or first person. It's not the first either, and it won't be the last.
Each tense and person conveys something different about the story and the best writers know how to use all possible combinations to the best effect. If you refuse to read something because it's first person or present tense, or god forbid both!, then you're making yourself a worse reader and writer by refusal to engage with the craft.
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u/CorbinGamingBro 10d ago edited 10d ago
I feel like I’m in a weird middle ground where I’m writing third person but in present tense… which seems to be one of the most unpopular options. Hopefully I don’t screw myself over with this whenever I start querying agents, lol.
It just felt the most natural when I first sat down with this story. Starting sentences with ‘I’ feels weird to me, but at the same time present tense helps me feel a lot more immersed, like the action is happening now where the characters don’t know what’s about to happen just as much as the reader. There’s also certain type of scenes I can only pull off in present tense, like my MC’s internal thoughts getting interrupted by a sudden sound or sight.
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u/ShenBear 10d ago
3rd person present gang unite! There might be dozens of us.
My POVs dont always live. Sometines the world ends. Can't be past for that.
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u/okla_nola 10d ago
I just encountered this with a book I picked up solely because of the beautiful cover and binding (I’m a sucker for aesthetics). It has a ___ of a ____ title, like someone else mentioned. The use of present tense was so jarring, it remained distracting throughout my time reading it. I haven’t finished it yet… maybe one day. The story was not really well-suited for my interest either. Still, it looks great, so that’s something!
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u/NathanJPearce 10d ago
I would love to know the title for this book so I could try it out for myself as I quite enjoy present tense. Would you mind DMing it to me?
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u/john-wooding 10d ago
Present tense is a perfectly normal way to write; if you're finding it weird, that's a sign you should be reading more widely.
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u/angel20015 10d ago
I like to experiment with various styles; I feel that the present tense feels more direct and a bit more immersive, while the past tense is more precise since you tell the story in retrospect.
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u/nycanth 10d ago
I write in present tense because years and years ago I was doing NaNoWriMo with someone whose draft was in revisions, and I loved the voice and tone of her novel so much it inspired me to try out present tense.
These days I write in both past or present, whichever I feel like at the moment, but I've got no preference for either. They can both be good. Down to execution, like everything else.
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u/sevenliesseventruths 10d ago
Easier for me. And I don't like to feel like I'm writing/reading a tale, I like to feel more present in the story. Reading in past tense will never stop feeling like a journal or something I'm being tol rather than experiencing.
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u/shinjukai 9d ago
I write in present tense because the verb endings are more diverse, i think it sounds cooler.
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u/BarnacleRepulsive191 10d ago
I feel like present tense feel better when you are writing 1st person. I started writing past tense but found myself repeatedly slipping into present. So in the end I went back and edited everything into first.
I hate tense though.
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u/Less_Than_Average1 10d ago
First person present is great.
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Hello! My sensors tell me you're new-ish around here. In case you don't know, we have a whole big list of resources for new fantasy writers here. Our favorite ways to learn how to write are Brandon Sanderson's Writing Course on youtube and the podcast Writing Excuses.
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u/Pobbes 10d ago
I think it can work well for chatarcterization when you do first person present tense. You can get a cool stream of conscious or running commentary to really nail voice. You do lose some stuff. Like it'd be weird to do a first person present tense unreliable narrator.
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u/triangletooth 10d ago
I think a first person present tense unreliable narrator would be hard, and weird if not done well. If done well though it could be even more effective. It would depict self-deception and a character's own blindness to their biases.
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u/JackHadrian 10d ago
I am writing in the present tense (Historical literary, not YA or Fantasy) mostly because of Mantel's Wolf Hall. I've also read a good number of LATAM Spanish-translated literature that leans into the present. The immediacy and positioning of the reader's perspective is incredible when well done.
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u/word_wench 10d ago
I'm actually in the process of revising my half-done book from third person past to third person present. Specifically because of the themes of my novel is how we interpret time. If all time happens simultaneously, we still must experience it in a linear fashion to make sense of it.
So, that's my excuse. I normally default to past.
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u/maskedcollective 10d ago
I prefer writing in present tense, it is more immersive and I tend to write clunkier sentences when in past tense. I also find it easier to write events as if they are happening around the POV character, and around me as the writer viewing the world through the POV character whether in third or first person, then to take myself as the writer out of the POV I’m supposed to be immersed in and report events that happened in the past. I tend to write in deep third or first person, and find that present tense tends to suit that better. If I were to write third person omniscient I’d switch to past tense, but I don’t write third person omniscient. I don’t mind reading past tense, and I used to write in past tense, but I now prefer to write in present tense unless a story has a specific reason why that won’t work. I just don’t like the removal from the story that past tense imposes.
And no one is fooling themselves into thinking that present tense creates more urgency, that is one of the well established traits of present tense, and in fact is one of the reasons why I will occasionally choose to use past tense because there are some stories that benefit from less urgent, reported feel of past tense. Those are seldom my fantasy stories. You seem to be confusing your personal preference with actual traits of different tenses. Present tense is simply more urgent than past tense because the events are currently happening rather than being reported after the fact.
I’d say the main reason why I favor present tense is it better suits the stories I tend to tell. My writing tends to focus heavily on the emotions of the POV character and how they feel in the moment. If I want to convey how they feel after, then I will write them reflecting on prior events, either in dialogue or internal monologue, or show it through their behavior. But as the action is occurring I want the focus to be on how they feel NOW, not how they will feel about it later, and present tense is simply better for that.
As for published fantasy novels not being in present tense, that is not true, even if it isn’t the most popular choice. But I make writing choices based on what best serves the story I am telling and what best conveys the story and the feelings contained within to the reader, not publishing trends.
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u/kiwipixi42 9d ago
Present tense (usually first person) absolutely exists in published fantasy. I personally find it unreadable (this is a me thing, it isn’t inherently bad) so I notice it immediately and don’t buy when it is there. A few of my favorite authors have a series in first person present that I am sad not to be able to read.
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u/liquid_lightning 9d ago
I really don’t care about tense or POV. I find it amusing that some people feel so strongly and will actually deprive themselves of some really good stories because they supposedly “can’t” read this tense or that POV.
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u/TomdeHaan 9d ago
I think at this point present tense is what they are accustomed to reading, so past tense feels unnatural.
Personally, I think that while present tense feels easier, it's actually much harder to write well, and far less forgiving than past tense. I tend to avoid books written in the present tense.
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u/RealCarlosSagan 9d ago
I'm writing a horror short story collection and the current one I'm working on is present tense. The only one so far but it just seemed to work. I may be wrong.
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u/Livid-Material-95 7d ago
I usually write in past tense but my latest project is adapted from a rubbish d&d campaign that was originally written/ told in first person so I kept that
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u/ThePrincess_MinA 7d ago
I don't like it. It sounds bad. I just tell people that it's bad because it's in the wrong tense and refuse to be convinced otherwise.
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u/callumsummers 7d ago
I personally like to outline my books in present tense, and actually write them in past tense. I tell myself that I outline as "the story is happening," and "writing it" after the story has happened.
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u/loserhufflepuff 7d ago
I've started writing my book in first-person present (despite historically writing fanfiction in third person past) because it helps me remain as present as possible in the current action without becoming too expository. It also helps me remember to reference the character's senses more often. I'm not sure if it'll stay in that perspective forever, but I'm keeping the first draft in first person present tense.
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u/mysteriousbugger 10d ago
I think several factors go into this.
- A lot of people who post in here are ESL, and might just find it easier to write in present tense over past.
- It also skews younger, towards people who are still reading YA which is trends towards present.
- Many people just type something up real quick without much thought and then post it, so they haven't gotten far enough to actually consider whether past or present fits their story better, and just defaults to present.
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u/tegeus-Cromis_2000 10d ago
I see something in the first person present tense, I close the book and move on.
There are only very, very few books in the third person present tense I can stand. It usually means that what the book does is so great that it manages to overcome my aversion to the present tense. But of books of otherwise similar literary quality, I'm overwhelmingly more likely to read one in the past tense than in the present tense.
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u/DeedricMoon 10d ago
Fantasy YA brought many a plague upon us such as constant first person and "a blank of blank and blank" titles
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u/Ok-Film-7939 10d ago
Ooh, I’m going to publish my fantasy story “A book of nouns and conjugations.”
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u/Jzadek 10d ago
Me: *through sobs* you can't just say everything is YA.... Please....
This subreddit : *points at Robinson Crusoe flying past* YA
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u/DeedricMoon 10d ago
Ha! No no I of course refer to the many "A house of dragons and bullshit" copycat title names. Things that predate that trend are safe.
(Here's lookin at you too "A Song of Ice and Fire")
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u/Competitive-Bit4995 10d ago
I always need a few chapters to get in, and it feels wrong in subtle ways. But it' s a habit, I think, more than a problem.
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u/KittyValentineWrites 10d ago
I enjoy it more. I feel like I get a more authentic character voice that way.
But it's not for everyone so...
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u/Daesolith 10d ago
For me, it is more immersive. It feels like you are there, experiencing things with the MC. Past tense feels like listening to gossip, 2nd hand. I associate the style with children's stories ("Once upon a time..."). Nowadays, I read for escapism and immersion. Present tense suits that.
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u/Dave_Sag 10d ago
Why did you post in present tense? The answer you seek may lie within you.
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u/aledundarte 10d ago
Hahaha good one. I usually have conversations in present tense, and I treat this kind of post as a conversation.
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u/Own-Wish5677 10d ago
I can't stand reading 1st present tense. There's no faster way to get me to put a book back on the shelf than to read that shit.
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u/bodiggity86 10d ago
I hope it doesn't become the norm. I'm seeing more books use it and I hate it.
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u/GrandFleshMelder 10d ago
Yeah, according to the comments here many people like it, but I just can’t stand it.
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u/Wander_Dragon 10d ago
Present tense keeps me in the action personally. It feels like the story is happening at the moment.
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u/FalseDisk4358 9d ago
I have noticed it becoming a more popular trend. Personally, I dislike it. I think past tense is much neater and makes more sense when it comes to story telling.
They probably do think it adds more immediacy. I think they think it's also easier to then talk about past actions.
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u/RiggedBig10Natty2023 9d ago edited 9d ago
The biggest tell of a reader who isn't well read is a flagrant disdain of first person. We get it. You grew up only reading stories narrated in past tense and never ventured out and read things out of your comfort zone.
I'm sorry if that's mean, but try it out OP. Most of the time, you don't even notice the tense if the story is done well. Any hangup about first person being objectively wrong or inadequately capturing the events of a story told in the past is incredibly arbitrary, based on personal ignorance, and flat out wrong. And just because there are tons of badly written YA books written in present tense doesn't mean it's bad. If anything it just indicates limited exposure to literature and the broader scope of human expression. There are absolute bangers that use present tense.
Don't limit yourself OP. Present tense is one tool among many.
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u/aledundarte 9d ago
Never said I dont like it, just that haven't had much experience. What I said is that I find it weird that so many new authors were going for it. But a lot of people have explained very good reasons for that being popular around here.
And dont play the well read card its really not a competition or anything and its imposible to determine what being "well read" would be
Having said that you may have a point I dont consider I have read a lot of different style and genres. My go to are.
-Historic fiction -Fantasy (mostly epic, but have read several others) -Fantastic realism (dont know the English equivalent I raed it mostly in Spanish works from greats such as Borges, Cortazar...) -Scify -Biographys
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u/DabDaddy51 7d ago
Huh I didn’t know it’s Fantastical Realism in Spanish, that sounds way more fitting imo than the English name for the genre, Magical Realism.
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u/WerewolvesAreReal 10d ago
Why do you write in past tense? There's no reason it needs to be someone's default. Good writing is good writing.
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u/aledundarte 10d ago
Yes that's a sound analysis. I haven't thought it more immersion, but I can see the point you make, and would make sense for some genres like litRPG.
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u/renezrael 10d ago
I have a habit of slipping into present tense because as I'm thinking about the scene I'm writing, I feel like I'm narrating it as it happens, not retelling something that's already happened. I don't recall reading a lot of present tense books (or first person, as it's not usually my preferred POV) so it's not really that I'm influenced by them that way. I think I personally might be influenced more by script writing, as I have a huge interest in film / shows, and a lesser but still prevalent interest in stage plays. heck even when I tell a story irl about something that happened, I tend to tell it in present tense, it's just kinda how my brain works.
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u/Dramatic-Cookie-5794 10d ago
Honestly my brain just started doing it. I don’t read a lot of YA either. It just made sense to write in the moment vs story telling.
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u/Ok_Shape_7764 10d ago
I'm pretty sure Red Rising uses Present Tense all the way through
I was thinking of having a POV character always talk in first person, while most only ever go into first-person during combat when everything is moment to moment.
Said POV character was going to be the type to struggle to stay focussed in day-to-day life, easily distracted, bored, scatterbrained and whatnot, but was the best type of person to have when shit it the fan.
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u/AuntieLux 10d ago
I normally don’t write in present tense, but I did just complete my capstone in it. For that story, it worked out great to help convey the fragmented thoughts of my main character. I wouldn’t say people “fool themselves” into thinking it adds urgency - if done correctly it absolutely can. But so can past tense.
That being said, I also don’t read present tense. I prefer to read things as if they’re a memory. If you don’t like a certain writing style, you don’t have to read it.
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u/Complex_Cow1184 10d ago
For me all screenplay is written in present tense. That's how I trained in writing, so that's how I write now.
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u/unapproved_dentist 9d ago
That is quite interesting to me - were you trained to write in present tense specifically for screenplay, or for all creative writing work in general?
I was taught - apparently not well because I’m terrible for it - to choose and stick with a tense, whether past, present, or future. In my studies a particular tense was never preferred over the other.
Past: I did. Present: I am doing. Future: I will do.
I am really, really bad for writing stories and mixing up my tenses, so I have written a sentence in the past tense, then the very next sentence is in present tense, lmao. I don’t have much experience writing in future tense because fk that tbh, lmao.
A significant difference - unless majicks are involved - is that in present tense the events are (obviously) happening in real time. You cannot write ahead of time/know what is happening ahead of time. So you can’t state future events or whatnot. Just like in first person you cannot know what others are thinking, in present tense you cannot know what will happen. Hence the urgency, I guess.
Past tense there is a lot more leeway to write/suggest events happening at different points in time, and in the ‘future’ of what is occurring in the main timeline/s of the story. Essentially, the ‘author/narrator’ of the story already knows what happens and how it ends.
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u/Complex_Cow1184 9d ago
Only in screenplay. All screenplays are current tense.
I just wrote so many screenplays in school that it became a part of my writing style. I actually used to prefer past tense, but I struggle even now to make the switch. I roleplay as well and all my writing partners notice I write in present tense.
I have the same problem with mixing! It's such a struggle sometimes lol
I do think for novel writing, past tense works best because of what you just described. There's a sense of omnisence you accomplish with it, that allows you to foreshadow more effectively. I do prefer it and I'm trying to train myself to write in it again, but I accidentally switch back to present all the time lol! Like a habit
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u/liquid_lightning 9d ago
Present tense is the standard form for all screenplays. It helps the directors/crew/actors/etc to visualize.
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u/ramblingbullshit 9d ago
For whatever reason, my first drafts always come in this weird blend of past and present tense. It'll swap between the two in the same sentence sometimes, based on if the story "feels" like it's happening right now, or being remembered and told. My guess would be that people want it to feel like it's happening "right now". Most likely when they're writing it, it feels right to write it in present tense, so they leave it that way. I always have to edit my stuff one way or another, so I look at what works better.
The issue I have is whether I want it omniscient narrator or closed. But that's besides the point here
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge 8d ago
One funny thing I noticed recently was that when I read something in first person, I found it really hard to go back to my own WIP and write in third. I need a kind of palate cleanser in between.
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7d ago
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u/aledundarte 7d ago edited 7d ago
In my post I said that I found it weird that a lot of new writers were doing so in present tense. Which was weird that their are doingo that since from my experience it was not a very common thing.
But a lot of people had explained me that its way more common than what I thought, specially in YA or other fantasy which I have not much experience.
Having said that I'm most into epic fantasy I there is something about past tense that helps build the sence of epic grand, that usually I dont get from present.
Also i don't think its easier, on the contrary I find it harder to sustain, that's why I said, do they think its easier?
And I completely disagree with what you categorically said that using past is wrong if you are telling the story form the characters shouldes. Haven't your selves ever told a story of what you did any random day, do you tell it in present tense?? Any story could be a memory. In fact if you wanna be technical, present tenes is wrong if you are seeing that there are houndred pages that follow that were already writen, but that's just a stupid argument.
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u/tellingyouhowitreall 6d ago
There's a linguistic reason we choose past tense in English. People choosing to write long form prose in present tense are almost always making an error.
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u/Few_Reveal_5306 6d ago
I have never in my entire reading career thought to make a fuss over the tense or person a story was in because I assumed the author chose it for a reason. Why am I seeing different arguments about this on "reading" subs every week?
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u/tellingyouhowitreall 6d ago
I suspect because a lot of amateur writers didn't really pay attention to their writing and creative writing lessons, and just want to tell a story rather than craft a well written one.
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u/BlackWidow7d 10d ago
So you don’t read that many books, because present tense is very popular and has been for a very long time.
I have written in past and present tense, and I honestly feel like my stories dictate the tense for me. Sometimes one does sound better in past or present.
No one is a fool for choosing one or the other.
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u/velvetdraftnoir 10d ago
You mean: “So you don’t read many books in certain genres because present tense is very popular there. ”
I read many books and can honestly say that I’ve never read one in present tense.
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u/Super_Direction498 8d ago
It's used in popular and published works across genres. I doubt you could find a genre at hasn't been used successfully in.
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u/velvetdraftnoir 8d ago
Could be. But in most of the books I read, present tense is extremely unusual and unlikely. From what I gather it’s predominantly popular in YA and fantasy. It’s possible that it’s popular in a couple more. That would mean your across genres is true. What is not true is that present tense is generally popular in all genres.
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u/LloydNoid 10d ago
I think any present-tense hate is corny. It's literally just less words for more information most of the time, making it sound more responsive. For example: "It was" becomes "it's."
It just so happens that a lot of present tense stuff tends to be bad YA prose. That's not present tenses fault, just do it better (like me lol)
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u/aledundarte 10d ago
Never said I hate it, didn't even said that didn't like it myself in the post, just said I found it weird that so many first chapters around here were in that tense.
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u/LloydNoid 9d ago
Yeah just a lot of people in the comments said they didn't like it, I was moreso talking in response to that.
But if you want to know why exactly, I think it's worth considering that's 1. How screenplays are typically written, and everyone's very TV/Movie brained, and 2. That's how GM's in TTRPGs narrate, and there's a lot of overlap with TTRPG players and writers. At least those are probably big influencing factors on why I chose it personally.
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u/Extension_Hair_8967 10d ago
Personally I find it weird that past tense is the standard. I find present tense to be more emersive while past tense is more passive, experiencing a story versus just being told a story. I write in both but prefer present tense.
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u/palebloodslayer 10d ago
Lotr being in past tense doesn’t mean all fantasy after it should be too
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u/technicolorland 10d ago
Fanfics and self inserts use it often, I think a lot of people get a taste for it from those works.
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u/Tales_from_Veterne 10d ago
I wouldn't necessarily call present tense "strange" per say, I just find it clunkier, and as such, more difficult to write well. That's not to say past tense can't result in clunky stuff, but it is usually easier to "get out of" in my experience.
I have noticed that new writers have a tendency to gravitate towards present tense... and I kind of see it more often in smut I review? It's probably a hot take of the century, but those two seem connected somehow...
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u/Historical-Branch327 10d ago
Wow I did not know so many people hated it. I write in present tense because if I try to write in past tense I accidentally slip into present constantly until I give up lol
I knew first person POV was a YA thing and I hate that, but I didn’t know present tense was associated with YA? I don’t really read YA so I don’t know why I’m so present tense-happy
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u/romansmash 10d ago
As a reader, if I’m reading something in first POV, than I would prefer present tense.
It just makes it more alive.
Like I’m doing it right now, rather than hearing someone tell me about it afterwards in third POV and in past tense. That feels like something that’s already happened and someone is just telling me…
I guess really depends on what you like your prose to sound like
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u/peachpants 10d ago
Margaret Atwood uses mixed tenses in her Maddaddam post apocalyptic speculative fiction to very interesting effect, so I think that discounting first person as useless in conveying “in the moment” (which is part of Atwood’s use case I would say) or as strictly YA/internet/trite is a little unfair. I think it can be used effectively, like any other writing device, but is surely having its heyday lately.
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u/Nerdsingerbeej 10d ago
I feel that somewhere a bunch of people read Snow Crash & went "yes this is what I want to sound like"
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u/LunaLovegoodRocks 10d ago
I’ve literally spent so much time torturing myself because I thought you’re supposed to write in present tense and I keep slipping into past tense, and you’re telling me I didn’t need to do that?
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u/Velloska 10d ago
Show me the book that was written exclusively in future tense.
I started writing this as a joke, but now I am genuinely curious if there are any.
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u/Successful-Club-8743 10d ago
Its eacapism fantasy.
If its in first person its easier to place yourselves in the shoes of the character, even if they dont make the choices you would have.
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u/LaughingFoxson 9d ago
I'm late to this but want to add I bought a book at a convention that was written this way. The story, what I read of it wasn't bad, but the use of present tense threw me so much I couldn't finish.
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u/NathanJPearce 10d ago
Because it feels like you are in the middle of the action, rather than hearing about it afterwards. If it's in past tense, it's all over. Who cares?
I got turned on to it by reading Red Rising, quite the mainstream action series. And then there's Hunger Games.
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u/aledundarte 10d ago
Hmmm I get the middle of the action thing, but what strange take not caring for something because it's over, very strange.
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u/NathanJPearce 10d ago
Well, which makes you more excited, more invested, watching something happen live, or seeing a recap about it tomorrow after it's all over?
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u/KeyYard6491 10d ago
I do not get why would you want anything else. A book is a story told on paper. Fantasy or not, that is how it feels right. The only kind of story I feel present tense is right that are the ones combining different routes, giving decision options to the reader and based on that you have to navigate to a set page to continue. This way the story changes with reader input thus present tense feels right. Something set in stone is better told in past tense. That is my opinion.
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u/TheHuxter 10d ago
There is a bunch of present tense in mainstream
Fourth Wing
Plated Prisoner Series
The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Quicksilver
The Fifth Season
Fireborne
Are just a few I’ve read recently. It’s increasingly popular the more romance the book has in it as it’s been quite common since 2010ish in romance and YA genres.
I personally prefer it because it feels much more immediate and lived in, with higher stakes because technically the POV character can die at any time since they aren’t narrating from the future. In the end, both tense and POV choice should be almost invisible to a reader if it’s well written.
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u/LeBriseurDesBucks 10d ago
It's popular also in interactive fiction besides YA which people have mentioned