Do you like to read fiction in the past or present tense? Why? Why would a writer choose one versus the other?
I enjoy either if it’s well told. But it’s harder to tell good story in present or future tenses than in it is in past tense. Here’s my hypothesis about why this is so: except of a few experimental, literary, and highly-stylized exceptions, most writers want their prose to sound “natural,” which means semi-speech like. Of course, it’s never exactly like speech, but the idea is to make the reader feel as if he’s sitting around a camp fire, listening to a storyteller spin a yarn. The more a writer strays from that—the further his writing veers from speech—the more readers notice the style. That’s not necessarily bad. Certain kinds of writing, such as poetry and (as I said) some literary and experimental works, purposefully draw the reader towards the prose. But in most cases, writers want readers to focus on plots, characters, settings, and themes, so they try to make the writing serve the subject. Writers mostly write stories in past tense because spoke stories are mostly told in past tense. Why? Because fiction grew out of reporting, and when we’re reporting, it’s of stuff that happened in the past: “I went to the bank, today, and guess who I met? …” Imagine sitting around that camp fire, hearing a storyteller say, “I’m packing my suitcase, getting ready for my trip to paris. The phone rings. I pick it up, and it’s Amy. She’s pleading with me not to go….” There’s something just a little bit odd about it, because he’s clearlynot packing his suitcase and talking to Amy. He’s sitting around a camp fire with you. Yes, it creates a kind of urgency, but there’s also an odd contradiction. It seems a little … mannered. It feels more real if he says, “Last month, I was packing my suitcase, getting ready for my trip to paris, when the phone rang…”
Do you like to read fiction in the past or present tense? Why? Why would a writer choose one versus the other? Profile photo for Marcus Geduld Marcus Geduld , Published author, lifelong reader. Updated Nov 25, 2019 I enjoy either if it’s well told. But it’s harder to tell good story in present or future tenses than in it is in past tense.
Here’s my hypothesis about why this is so: except of a few experimental, literary, and highly-stylized exceptions, most writers want their prose to sound “natural,” which means semi-speech like. Of course, it’s never exactly like speech, but the idea is to make the reader feel as if he’s sitting around a camp fire, listening to a storyteller spin a yarn. The more a writer strays from that—the further his writing veers from speech—the more readers notice the style.
That’s not necessarily bad. Certain kinds of writing, such as poetry and (as I said) some literary and experimental works, purposefully draw the reader towards the prose. But in most cases, writers want readers to focus on plots, characters, settings, and themes, so they try to make the writing serve the subject.
Writers mostly write stories in past tense because spoken stories are mostly told in past tense. Why? Because fiction grew out of reporting, and when we’re reporting, it’s of stuff that happened in the past: “I went to the bank, today, and guess who I met? …”
Imagine sitting around that camp fire, hearing a storyteller say, “I’m packing my suitcase, getting ready for my trip to Paris. The phone rings. I pick it up, and it’s Amy. She’s pleading with me not to go….” There’s something just a little bit odd about it, because he’s clearly not packing his suitcase and talking to Amy. He’s sitting around a camp fire with you.
Yes, it creates a kind of urgency, but there’s also an odd contradiction. It seems a little … mannered. It feels more real if he says, “Last month, I was packing my suitcase, getting ready for my trip to Paris, when the phone rang…”