Past or Present?

[Lizzie]

I am not sure if there is already a thread for this, but if there is, it must be old because its not on the first page.

Okay.

Me and Lyk go to this club right? Its a creative writing club. Today one of our disscussions were about Past and Present tenses. This boy said he found it easier in present, but alot of us found it harder in present and prefered past. Also, present is very hard to keep going for a whole book. Its fine in a mini saga, but not in a full book unless you are an amazing writer.

So I wandered, as a whole, which one is better?

Your veiws?

[ScottyMcGee]

I'm not sure. I don't think either one is better per se. It all depends on what kind of story it is. I usually write in past tense. But I use present tense here and there in a few stories, mostly comedies. The thing with present tense is that it makes the reader feel as if he or she is witnessing it right now. But I hate when I write in present tense and I forget and use past tense later on. That gets annoying.

[Lizzie]

Yeah, that makes your editing painful. I feel it does make your reader feel more into the story, but to me, this is just my opinion, I cannot read present very well, it makes me loose track for some reason.

[DefJam101]

Present tense gives the narrative a sense of urgency that past tense simply cannot create. It puts you directly into the action and does not hold its punches. The 'problem' (Most people, including me, find this to be a potential benefit) with present tense is that creating a tone or mood is far more difficult. As the character/narrator is describing things that ARE happening, he/she rarely has time to think about what is going on or do anything more than describe what is happening. Most thought in present tense, therefore, takes the form of rambling or short anecdotes. This is why, say, detective novels, are almost always in past tense.

In past tense, the narrator has time to think before they narrate. In present tense, they do not. As such, present-tense novels are usually much more ambiguous, indirect, or bleak. I'm speaking purely from a first-person perspective. For third-person, I can't really say. It depends highly on the book in question and can often be changed at will without ruining the book. For a first-person novel, I think that a choice of tense is absolutely essential.

If you asked me which tense I prefer to write in, I would say present tense. Also, what is probably my favorite book (Fight Club) is in present tense.

[Lizzie]

A very nice arguement, and an un-biased one at that. I agree, but I sort of still agree with mine if you understand...