I find it interesting how different texts require different tense. I don't know how other writers decide on which tense to use in a particular work they're working on, but for me it just sort of happens. Although sometimes I will later change the tense to see whether the past functions better if it was originally written in the present or vice versa. And sometimes the change will prove to be the better choice. But when I start writing, it's like the tense is already determined without me having any say in it.
I know some people abhor present tense in any kind of fiction, but when I write short stories I very often use it. It feels as if this tense that creates a sense of immediacy goes very well with the short, compact form of stories. Together they work to create maximum impact on the readers. It happens now, here, and then bam! it's all over in just a few minutes. One of my professors agreed about its impact and said that she prefers for short stories to be written in the present tense. I feel the same.
But when I started working on my novel for children, I wanted to use the present tense to create the same effect. However, as soon as my focus shifted from the tense to characters or plot, I inadvertently started using the past tense. So I had to keep going back and correct the tense. Finally, after thirty pages I had enough. I re-read a couple of pages and it sounded all wrong. This feeling of wrongness was so strong that it was ridiculous. I tried finding a reason for it, but I couldn't. I mean, there is no rule that says that children's books shouldn't be written in the present tense, is there? Still, I just couldn't use the present tense.
So I decided to check the books I used to read as a child and see which tense they use. It turned out that they were all written in the past tense (at least the ones I still have at home). So I'm thinking I'm just so used to reading children's books in the past tense that I can't imagine writing one using the present tense.
It's funny how sometimes you have no say in how certain aspects of your work are written. Certain things are simply meant to be, or not. You can't force it. And if you do, it reads wrong.
I agree! I usually write in past tense, but lately I've started writing in present and it seems to work for the story I'm telling.
ReplyDelete@Talli I sort of felt that fiction should be written in the past tense because the majority of works I'd read were written in that tense, so I was used to it. But then I read some very good short stories in the present tense and that convinced me that fiction works equally well in the present t. So it all depends on the story you're telling.
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