I print out the email saying I musn't use first person present tense. I make sure to use nice soft high quality paper. I wouldn't want paper cuts like the last time.
I enter the bathroom, feeling confident that my morning coffee is doing its work.
There. There it is.
The writing advice... so soft, so cleansing. It flushes cleanly, its true mission accomplished at last.
I’m used to Version 2, so it’s familiar, but I can say Version 1 is more suspenseful. Version 2 is more detached (narrator survived at least to now), version 1 is more open-ended (a boulder could fall on the narrator any second now).
My problem with first person present is that as a critter I have critiqued a lot of writing that was written that way and they all failed. They would literally get the tents wrong. Which I rarely see with past tense.
Yeah, this is a common sentiment that I’ve even seen posted on Notes before and it is always coming from some trad publishing type dude who is just so EXHAUSTED from having to read all this present tense stufffffff hnghhhhh
They should get over it, a good story is a good story, sound writing is sound writing.
I think, at the end of the day, we must choose the style we feel best suits the story we want to tell. Whether or not it adheres to or breaks every rule. We need to be satisfied with the story we are telling otherwise we won’t enjoy the already harrowing process!
I try not to listen to someone who professes to be a guru about the topic of storytelling. We are all going to look at the same set of prompts and go about telling that story differently. That’s the beauty of a story. Everyone’s 1,000 words will forever be different. And even the person who claims to know all the rules will find that their story may not appeal to everyone but your version just might hit different for those same people.
I recently read the first page of every book on a Walmart end cap and the majority were first person present. I think this style is experiencing a renaissance!
I chose to write in first-person present-tense because I wanted a sense of immediacy I felt past-tense or third-person wouldn't give. Then, upon rereading some of my favorite works - that were all in past-tense, third-person (some with the dreaded head hopping!) I realized my goal was largely irrelevant. When I'm reading, it's in present-tense since I'm reading it in the present and I didn't feel there was a whole lot of difference between close-in third-person and first-person. However, I decided to stick with my original plan because I liked the conceit I was developing in my mind. The title pretty much sums it all up: "Diary of a Contract Killer." (Published here on Substack, btw.)
The developmental editor I initially used (shout out to Stephen Parolini; https://www.noveldoctor.com/) didn't really have many complaints about my choices, though did point out some poor writing, de rigueur for a first-time author. He did posit my story might sound a bit better as past-tense (but still first-person), but I elected to stick with my plan, though did make some tweaks. Of the manifold beta readers I had, I don't recall any (that enjoyed the story; it's very polarizing) that even brought up the person or tense.
My conclusion is thus: It makes no nevermind! Do what you enjoy!
Yeah - I’ve had the same experience that when reading past tense (good writing) you still feel like you’re right there. In this case - little girl just doesn’t live past tense. 4 year olds are all present tense! Everything is NOW!
Ok, honestly, I just skimmed over your last question about “which version do you prefer,” because I’d rather answer the bigger question about first person present tense w/this:
Fresh out of high school, I had a pretty nifty little children’s book I’d written & illustrated as a senior that some thought was worth trying to publish. Someone offered, “you should talk to _______ who’s published children’s books successfully!” So, I did. My story was about a couple of worms named Willy & Wendall (can you believe I remember this after nearly 50 years?). The published author I turned to for guidance totally dismissed my book because SHE wrote about children and THAT’S what people want to read. She actually said, “no one wants to read books with animals that talk; they’re not relatable.” Even as a 17 year old I was dumbfounded—umm, Disney? Countless faerie tales..? Shall I go on..? She never budged. When I went back to trusted adults with her advice they wavered in her favor because she was the only published children’s book author they knew and, well, she had to be right.
I gave up. Sigh.
People are a combination of brilliant and idiotic.
You have oodles of evidence to back your pronoun and tense choice. You know that. I know that. We ALL know that. Except the author you’re referencing. His ego seems to have caused some kind of blind spot.
Yup. Strange how the more successful you are (and it’s mostly men, grumble) the more entitled to an opinion you feel you are. Even if it’s in an entirely different genre for an entirely different audience.
I love books written in present tense. Especially memoir. Present tense puts the reader in the moment it's happening. I find it more engaging. "I'm Glad My Mom Died" (a memoir) was written in present tense. If I remember correctly she's about 8 years old in the first chapter. It totally worked. Great book. Huge success.
Wonderful piece about present tense even though it was written in past tense. Hehe.
The problem with present tense in ANY person is keeping it up. I have tried and it is just too easy to slip into past tense. Heck, I once tried to write a novella where every chapter was in first person present by a different character - it was stressful (and sadly lost in a head drive crash). It can be a thing of beauty if it works but it is a very hard field to hoe.
Having recently spent weeks shifting a whole novel from past to present, I'm convinced the present tense is more immediate - I writer horror, so that's important for me.
I find if I'm not paying attention I write slow scenes in past tenses and action scenes in present, which probably says something about where they are feel 'right'.
For what it's like worth, I prefer your scene in the present tense too!
Do it the way you want! I mean, you’re already refusing to niche down so why the heck not? (Thoroughly with you on this, by the way.) On my docket today is a rewrite of a first draft penned last week. Most of my work is in first person past tense (because it’s a diarist), with the occasional third person past tense story. The draft is first person present tense and the rest in its series is third person past. Something has made me duplicate the file instead of just editing over it. I mean, it came out in first person present for a reason …
This is the Substack guidance I use (especially after a public confrontation with a Big Name Author who didn't seem to understand or care that their openly declared abhorrence of the present tense would only lead to yet more eager gatekeepers clutching at their comfort bag of rules) : https://open.substack.com/pub/awritersdiary/p/the-complete-guide-to-pov
My take remains: What works, works. What doesn't, doesn't. The same as with breaking every other writing 'rule'. The problem is that the number of people you can ask an opinion of or who are required to take a professional view are very few. Subjective random chance is always the name of the game, even if it's a tedious one. I wrote two versions of my prologue (yes, gasp, another 'rule' broken) - one present 1st person PoV, the other the 'correct' way. Guess which one my betas preferred (and later a few award-givers)?
So, 120k words later, I remain happy about my choice, despite the potential criticisms, which can often be valid. The first few thousand of my 1st person PoV present tense words start here, if you wish to tell me how dreadful you find them: https://consilienceseries.substack.com/p/ingression-1-1-first-time?r=wtpo
I print out the email saying I musn't use first person present tense. I make sure to use nice soft high quality paper. I wouldn't want paper cuts like the last time.
I enter the bathroom, feeling confident that my morning coffee is doing its work.
There. There it is.
The writing advice... so soft, so cleansing. It flushes cleanly, its true mission accomplished at last.
Oh I’m howling at this one!
I’m used to Version 2, so it’s familiar, but I can say Version 1 is more suspenseful. Version 2 is more detached (narrator survived at least to now), version 1 is more open-ended (a boulder could fall on the narrator any second now).
My problem with first person present is that as a critter I have critiqued a lot of writing that was written that way and they all failed. They would literally get the tents wrong. Which I rarely see with past tense.
Yeah, this is a common sentiment that I’ve even seen posted on Notes before and it is always coming from some trad publishing type dude who is just so EXHAUSTED from having to read all this present tense stufffffff hnghhhhh
They should get over it, a good story is a good story, sound writing is sound writing.
And apparently it’s always a dude. Interesting that…
I think, at the end of the day, we must choose the style we feel best suits the story we want to tell. Whether or not it adheres to or breaks every rule. We need to be satisfied with the story we are telling otherwise we won’t enjoy the already harrowing process!
I try not to listen to someone who professes to be a guru about the topic of storytelling. We are all going to look at the same set of prompts and go about telling that story differently. That’s the beauty of a story. Everyone’s 1,000 words will forever be different. And even the person who claims to know all the rules will find that their story may not appeal to everyone but your version just might hit different for those same people.
Ignore and enjoy your story! Screw the rest!
I recently read the first page of every book on a Walmart end cap and the majority were first person present. I think this style is experiencing a renaissance!
I chose to write in first-person present-tense because I wanted a sense of immediacy I felt past-tense or third-person wouldn't give. Then, upon rereading some of my favorite works - that were all in past-tense, third-person (some with the dreaded head hopping!) I realized my goal was largely irrelevant. When I'm reading, it's in present-tense since I'm reading it in the present and I didn't feel there was a whole lot of difference between close-in third-person and first-person. However, I decided to stick with my original plan because I liked the conceit I was developing in my mind. The title pretty much sums it all up: "Diary of a Contract Killer." (Published here on Substack, btw.)
The developmental editor I initially used (shout out to Stephen Parolini; https://www.noveldoctor.com/) didn't really have many complaints about my choices, though did point out some poor writing, de rigueur for a first-time author. He did posit my story might sound a bit better as past-tense (but still first-person), but I elected to stick with my plan, though did make some tweaks. Of the manifold beta readers I had, I don't recall any (that enjoyed the story; it's very polarizing) that even brought up the person or tense.
My conclusion is thus: It makes no nevermind! Do what you enjoy!
Yeah - I’ve had the same experience that when reading past tense (good writing) you still feel like you’re right there. In this case - little girl just doesn’t live past tense. 4 year olds are all present tense! Everything is NOW!
Ok, honestly, I just skimmed over your last question about “which version do you prefer,” because I’d rather answer the bigger question about first person present tense w/this:
Fresh out of high school, I had a pretty nifty little children’s book I’d written & illustrated as a senior that some thought was worth trying to publish. Someone offered, “you should talk to _______ who’s published children’s books successfully!” So, I did. My story was about a couple of worms named Willy & Wendall (can you believe I remember this after nearly 50 years?). The published author I turned to for guidance totally dismissed my book because SHE wrote about children and THAT’S what people want to read. She actually said, “no one wants to read books with animals that talk; they’re not relatable.” Even as a 17 year old I was dumbfounded—umm, Disney? Countless faerie tales..? Shall I go on..? She never budged. When I went back to trusted adults with her advice they wavered in her favor because she was the only published children’s book author they knew and, well, she had to be right.
I gave up. Sigh.
People are a combination of brilliant and idiotic.
You have oodles of evidence to back your pronoun and tense choice. You know that. I know that. We ALL know that. Except the author you’re referencing. His ego seems to have caused some kind of blind spot.
Yup. Strange how the more successful you are (and it’s mostly men, grumble) the more entitled to an opinion you feel you are. Even if it’s in an entirely different genre for an entirely different audience.
I clicked on this so fast bc I’m currently writing third person present tense and loving it but feeling insecure!
I love books written in present tense. Especially memoir. Present tense puts the reader in the moment it's happening. I find it more engaging. "I'm Glad My Mom Died" (a memoir) was written in present tense. If I remember correctly she's about 8 years old in the first chapter. It totally worked. Great book. Huge success.
Wonderful piece about present tense even though it was written in past tense. Hehe.
10000% agree!
The problem with present tense in ANY person is keeping it up. I have tried and it is just too easy to slip into past tense. Heck, I once tried to write a novella where every chapter was in first person present by a different character - it was stressful (and sadly lost in a head drive crash). It can be a thing of beauty if it works but it is a very hard field to hoe.
I’m the opposite. I’ll start past tense and at some point t hop to present tense.
Having recently spent weeks shifting a whole novel from past to present, I'm convinced the present tense is more immediate - I writer horror, so that's important for me.
I find if I'm not paying attention I write slow scenes in past tenses and action scenes in present, which probably says something about where they are feel 'right'.
For what it's like worth, I prefer your scene in the present tense too!
Do it the way you want! I mean, you’re already refusing to niche down so why the heck not? (Thoroughly with you on this, by the way.) On my docket today is a rewrite of a first draft penned last week. Most of my work is in first person past tense (because it’s a diarist), with the occasional third person past tense story. The draft is first person present tense and the rest in its series is third person past. Something has made me duplicate the file instead of just editing over it. I mean, it came out in first person present for a reason …
Circling back and … yep, third person past REALLY didn’t work. Leaving it as it is. Well, I mean I did edit it and clear up some clunky bits.
I think Version 2 sounds more powerful than 1, but I also like writing in 1st pov.
This is the Substack guidance I use (especially after a public confrontation with a Big Name Author who didn't seem to understand or care that their openly declared abhorrence of the present tense would only lead to yet more eager gatekeepers clutching at their comfort bag of rules) : https://open.substack.com/pub/awritersdiary/p/the-complete-guide-to-pov
My take remains: What works, works. What doesn't, doesn't. The same as with breaking every other writing 'rule'. The problem is that the number of people you can ask an opinion of or who are required to take a professional view are very few. Subjective random chance is always the name of the game, even if it's a tedious one. I wrote two versions of my prologue (yes, gasp, another 'rule' broken) - one present 1st person PoV, the other the 'correct' way. Guess which one my betas preferred (and later a few award-givers)?
So, 120k words later, I remain happy about my choice, despite the potential criticisms, which can often be valid. The first few thousand of my 1st person PoV present tense words start here, if you wish to tell me how dreadful you find them: https://consilienceseries.substack.com/p/ingression-1-1-first-time?r=wtpo
I am an either/or... As long as it is not in second person, I think we're good with whatever the heck feels right for the story.