Art by Alison Hunt
Even though most books are written in past tense, new authors continue to wonder if that is the way to go. It is very easy to see why. Since we are raised reading past tense books almost entirely, that is what our brains believe is correct. Present tense comes off as clunky and ‘wrong’ to someone who has never read it before. It isn’t even a conscious thought by the reader. All they can tell is that it is really strange. Apparently, we are fine with hearing things in present tense, but reading/seeing them in such a state is off-putting. Not entirely though because you can expose yourself to both and never have any issues. I’ve found that people who read a lot of graphic novels and comics will take to my books without sensing that there is something different. Yup, I am a present tense author. Not only that, but a present tense third-person author, which means you get a variety of perspectives in real time. Present tense does lend itself better to first-person POV in some sense, but third-person can still create a great story. As one person put it when reviewing Beginning of a Hero, it was like reading a television show or movie in a good way.
Some people might be rolling their eyes what I just said. I have a brief story for you, which I believe shows how the mind works with past and present tense:
A friend of mine has been reading my stuff since high school. Back then, I jumped tenses in the middle of sentences until a teacher told me I had to choose one. I thought present tense was the smarter choice since I saw the events in my head. Didn’t realize it was uncommon until nearly 20 years later when I began publishing . . . Again, my friend has been reading my stuff for that long. His wife never did until she picked up my first book. They had very different opinions here. She found my work weird and difficult because something didn’t feel ‘right’. They realized it was the tense and his reasoning was ‘that’s just Charlie’. You see, he already had a lot of exposure to present tense through me and other series he found with that style. She did not, so it took her a little while to get her mind to adapt to the change in tradition. I feel that this shows how readers will be more comfortable with past tense, but it doesn’t mean using present tense is wrong or pointless to attempt. In fact, I think we are seeing more of the latter types of stories, so you will find more readers who can jump the mental tense tracks with ease.
I have a theory about why writing is more in past tense than present. Something I like to trot out to get other authors thinking about the origins of the trade:
Legends of Windemere 
Will be glad to hear your theory!
Ninety-eight percent of the MG and YA books I’ve seen recently were written in first person present tense or third person present tense.
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That’s interesting. I wonder if my style is now popular. Means my lack of sales comes from something else. 😁
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I think your style is popular.
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Dang. I was a man before his time then. 😦
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I wrote my novella in the present tense because I wanted it to feel strange and urgent, and I felt like it was appropriate. It was about serving the story in the end for me! Definitely outside my comfort zone though.
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Urgency is definitely there with present tense. I always find it strange that others feel present tense is strange.
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Absolutely will do!
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Thanks.
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OK, so you’ve always used present tense, so this doesn’t apply to you.
I think that writers want to try something new. Hence the avantgarde who do incomprehensible things, like writing a novel with no punctuation, or (extreme, probably never done, but who knows) writing without using, for example, the letter t.
I think that present tense is a fashion.
I read, and enjoyed your books, Charles, once I got used to the tense. But I don’t agree (here in the UK) that people use the present tense when talking about events in the past. That is, except for historians. They speak of things that happened hundreds of years ago in the present. (I call it ‘the present historic’. I think it is perceived as making it more ‘relevant’.
However, I’m more comfortable with the past tense, both reading and writing.
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There’s a psychological reason you’re more comfortable with past tense. It’s why present tense is designated a fashion or fad instead of a solid style.
I will also have to disagree with your disagreement. People usually talk about the past using past tense. I’ve never heard anyone say things like ‘the Crusades are a mistake’. They talk in past tense.
Here’s the truth. We are raised to read in past tense while hearing in present. Nearly every book you’re made to read in school is past tense. This causes our minds to use past tense as our comfort zone unless we expand that through exposure.
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I don’t know about in the US, of course, but here, historians will say something like, ‘William the Conquerer discovers where King Harold’s camp is, and surprises him,’ when describing the start of the Battle of Hastings.
But this happened 957 years ago.
That is what I meant when saying people use the present tense for historical events. Or, to take your example, in explaining the Crusades, a historian might (or probably would) say ‘The Christian army is made up of men from many countries, and they are riding out to confront the Infidel at Constantinople.’
I find it grates on me when talking about actual historical events.
I didn’t mean to imply that the present tense in storytelling is a ‘fad’. Simply that it’s a change in style. And styles change.
Take Jane Austin, for example. She does a lot of ‘telling’, passive voice, extremely long sentences, long paragraphs and lots of semicolons. All things we now no longer consider to be ‘good writing’. The style has changed since she was writing.
Use of the present tense in telling stories is a change in style. It takes a while to get used to it. Maybe it will last, maybe it won’t. Is it a fashion? That remains to be seen.
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I think present tense serves a purpose nowadays because of other media. The urgency and ‘now’ of present tense mimics watching a movie or show. I’ve been told that my books have the same sense, but without pictures.
As for the historian thing, I’ve never heard of that even from my UK friends. They always used past tense. Same with everyone I’ve met from other countries. Do you mean it’s specific to the historian job?
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Yes. It seems to be historians when making documentaries ot being interviewed. I think that they think it brings it to life. But for me, it’s an irritation.
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Every author finds their own voice, and you should do what works for you. (Which obviously you do.) But I think the roots of past tense being dominant are that the roots of storytelling lie with folk tales and religious mythology. Unlike journalism, for instance, where you detail current events happening to real people, traditional stories talk about things happening long ago and to strangers. It’s really pretty recent that we have fiction writing as a thing at all.
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The theory I go into after this section touches on that. Writing also started as a way to catalog history and lore. Guess I picked a good teaser.
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You picked a good topic here, Charles. It generated quite a bit of discussion.
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Thanks.
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Hopefully it worked as a teaser to sell the book coming out in July.
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I hope so, too.
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