Tenses and Point of View in Fiction: Is Present Tense More Desperate?

[melayneseahawk]

with examples from Stargate SG-1There are two conscious decisions an author must make before beginning a piece of writing-selecting the tense of the story and the point of view. These two things can set the tone of the piece, determining whether the reader is close to the action or further removed. The more immediate the action and the reactions

Comments

[haldoor]

Thank you for this; I found it really interesting. I tend to use third person limited a lot, and almost always write in past tense, which works really well for me. It took a while to get to the 'not jumping around' from one POV to another, but once I mastered that, it's worked really well. I like seeing things from a couple of characters' perspectives too, so have done a few longer fics with chapters in different POV's, although only touching upon some of the same scenes, and moving on, rather than boring people (I hope!) with too many instances of covering the same ground.

As for reading, I definitely prefer reading 3rd person past tense, so maybe that's why I write this way. I can deal with present tense, but I really can't read first person much or second person at all. I guess I'm one of those people who prefers to be a step away from it all! I also find first person to be a little arrogant in fanfic, I guess: 'how does the writer know that person so well?' kind of thing, if that makes any sense!

Thanks again!

[drama_llamas31]

Not saying that your personal taste is bad or anything, but as a person who writes in first person a lot, I have to say, there is no one a writer knows better than their own characters. Oh wait a minute, you're talking about using other people's characters. Fanfiction. Right. Yeah, it's just that in my own fanfiction, every single character I have been using is original. Just the world is the same, really.

Though I have a question. Are you opposed to reading original works in first person too? Or is it just fanfiction because of that inherent arrogance?

[haldoor]

Yeah, I get what you're saying - if it's your character, of course you're going to know them! And it's not primarily because I always think the writer who uses another person's character is arrogant; and most of that stems from my own reluctance to assume I know those other characters as well as the writer. I don't want to be in their shoes because I don't feel confident enough to assume I know them well enough. If I write them in third person, it's like I'm one step removed and maybe I can show them okay, if not as well as I feel I should in first person

[drama_llamas31]

So, um. I stared writing an epic length fanfiction in first person present tense while alternating POVs every chapter, between three characters. I did this because I felt like it. I don't even know. I've questioned my choices a lot since then (it's pretty much too late to change now) but now I feel like I made good choices, thanks to your article.

It's definitely more action oriented, but I wanted to focus on character development too, and leading the reader step by step through their growth now seems like the best thing to do.

Thanks for writing this!