I can has opinions please?
Hey guys,
I've been talking to people on the NaNoWriMo site and the overwhelming opinion seems to be that books in present tense appeal less to the reader. I can see how it would be awkward in some situations writing - as with action and stuff like that, but my book isn't going to be big on the action front at all. And when I write in present tense and read over it it doesn't sound awkward to me, but maybe that's just because it's my writing. So I thought I'd post a snippet here and see what you think. Would you read an entire book written in the present tense? Is it worth it to change now that I'm almost halfway through?
Short piece from Robbie's point of view:
Robbie taps his dry paint brush on his knee and hums quietly to himself as he watches people trickle out of their homes. Some seem familiar, some don’t, but he can’t be too sure anymore. He’s been here too long to tell the difference between faces that never look his way. He sighs, looking at his lap, his paints, his empty page and wonders what he’ll come up with today. He thinks maybe, maybe another misty morning scene full of silhouettes that are blurred against the background because he can’t distinguish them in real life, let alone on paper.
He shakes his head, blinking tiredly and raises the hand with the brush to rub at the back of his eyelids. Summer heat keeps him up at night. Heat and the faces that stare down at him from the walls. Faces of his own creation that he can’t stop thinking about simply because they’re there. They’re there, in his shabby apartment, and he can’t remember the last time he sold something worth more than ten dollars. He can’t remember the last time he sold anything at all.
At night Robbie will pull the blankets up to his chin and dwell upon the fact that the paintings he doesn’t sell are almost all he’s living on right now. He hasn’t had a job in months, and he knows better than anyone that nothing is ever, ever guaranteed.
And a (shorter) bit from Victoria's POV:
Victoria lays sprawled out on her bed, holding her hands up against the white ceiling and inspecting her fingers and the way their shadows fall across her sheets and clothes. She smiles to herself, admittedly a little dreamy, and lowers a hand to cover her face from the camera, only slightly thinking that whoever waits upstairs watching her might be able to see her thoughts and see her secret only by seeing her smile. Her grin doesn’t disappear, though, just sits pressed against her palm and she closes her eyes, shutting out the yellow light from the windows and the bedside lamp.
Thoughts, anyone?
I really don't want to change it. To me it sounds fine, but again that could just be because I'm the author...
Thanks :)
-Shawna
P.S. I'M GONNA BE IN CASH'S BOOK, GUYS! WHOOOOOOOT!!! :D
I've been talking to people on the NaNoWriMo site and the overwhelming opinion seems to be that books in present tense appeal less to the reader. I can see how it would be awkward in some situations writing - as with action and stuff like that, but my book isn't going to be big on the action front at all. And when I write in present tense and read over it it doesn't sound awkward to me, but maybe that's just because it's my writing. So I thought I'd post a snippet here and see what you think. Would you read an entire book written in the present tense? Is it worth it to change now that I'm almost halfway through?
Short piece from Robbie's point of view:
Robbie taps his dry paint brush on his knee and hums quietly to himself as he watches people trickle out of their homes. Some seem familiar, some don’t, but he can’t be too sure anymore. He’s been here too long to tell the difference between faces that never look his way. He sighs, looking at his lap, his paints, his empty page and wonders what he’ll come up with today. He thinks maybe, maybe another misty morning scene full of silhouettes that are blurred against the background because he can’t distinguish them in real life, let alone on paper.
He shakes his head, blinking tiredly and raises the hand with the brush to rub at the back of his eyelids. Summer heat keeps him up at night. Heat and the faces that stare down at him from the walls. Faces of his own creation that he can’t stop thinking about simply because they’re there. They’re there, in his shabby apartment, and he can’t remember the last time he sold something worth more than ten dollars. He can’t remember the last time he sold anything at all.
At night Robbie will pull the blankets up to his chin and dwell upon the fact that the paintings he doesn’t sell are almost all he’s living on right now. He hasn’t had a job in months, and he knows better than anyone that nothing is ever, ever guaranteed.
And a (shorter) bit from Victoria's POV:
Victoria lays sprawled out on her bed, holding her hands up against the white ceiling and inspecting her fingers and the way their shadows fall across her sheets and clothes. She smiles to herself, admittedly a little dreamy, and lowers a hand to cover her face from the camera, only slightly thinking that whoever waits upstairs watching her might be able to see her thoughts and see her secret only by seeing her smile. Her grin doesn’t disappear, though, just sits pressed against her palm and she closes her eyes, shutting out the yellow light from the windows and the bedside lamp.
Thoughts, anyone?
I really don't want to change it. To me it sounds fine, but again that could just be because I'm the author...
Thanks :)
-Shawna
P.S. I'M GONNA BE IN CASH'S BOOK, GUYS! WHOOOOOOOT!!! :D