tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post2594800018314301562..comments2023-11-02T06:57:11.400-04:00Comments on BookEnds Literary Agency: Writing TenseBookEnds, A Literary Agencyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06287278822065839469noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-88087614723493648512011-12-03T07:41:46.900-05:002011-12-03T07:41:46.900-05:00Excellent response the question of present tense a...Excellent response the question of present tense and first person narrative.Deborah Serravallehttp://deborahserravalle.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-59306172431819868422011-11-29T14:36:21.925-05:002011-11-29T14:36:21.925-05:00This is one of those things I was struggling with ...This is one of those things I was struggling with too. I originally wrote my book in first person, present tense then read how this was some horrible "no-no" that turned agents off. So I rewrote in first person, past tense. <br /><br />After working with a freelance editor and seeing her comments at first past (and her telling me write with confidence), I rewrote the entire manuscript a third time. I believe the story is stronger in first person, present tense because the reader (hopefully) experiences the emotions as the character does. And (hopefully) the reader sees how the character's perspective and thinking shifts as story develops.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08527762200993175239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-55998022075452605802011-11-29T12:27:19.459-05:002011-11-29T12:27:19.459-05:00The Hunger Games is a perfect example of first per...The Hunger Games is a perfect example of first person present tense well-written. The story calls for that immediacy, that tension that grabs the reader by the neck and puts her in the middle of that strange world. It's a fast paced story and one that is hard to put down. I don't think it could have been written any other way. <br />What Jesica said is right. Respect the story and the story will present to the author the one best way it should be told.Robena Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389730409379890816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-3520419182268312152011-11-29T01:37:11.960-05:002011-11-29T01:37:11.960-05:00Your advice is well received Jessica, thank you. I...Your advice is well received Jessica, thank you. I'm a new author in search of a great agent like yourself, to representation my completed unpublished fiction manuscript and happen to have come across your question. I believe “present tense in a novel,” is the question. My own personal opinion on the subject is that, to take a phase from a great novelist by the name of Colin Wilson-- if I may-- “Once upon a time…” This is the correct starting point for any novel. Mr. Wilson said for once the storyteller has induced this feeling in himself, he has induced it in the reader. The storyteller must now visualize his vision with such clarity that he/she develops a feeling of actually being present in whatever he/she is describing. The storyteller should actually put himself into the scene that is being shared, to the point of actually seeing, smelling and feeling each description.<br />I get the feeling that something you are reading is missing the proper, “time and space.” Whether the story is told in the past, present or future tense it should be reminiscent of that time. Your question suggests that, “Once upon time,” has been forgotten.Novelisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07176900804232304525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-62955804627045158702011-11-28T20:40:25.115-05:002011-11-28T20:40:25.115-05:00I know this sounds stupid but I don't like rea...I know this sounds stupid but I don't like reading present tense because it makes me nervous...I keep waiting for a tense-error.<br /><br />Hum...tense-error, sounds like someone needs a massage.Carolynnwith2Nshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18394998702410764388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-12820544145639033482011-11-28T19:42:07.395-05:002011-11-28T19:42:07.395-05:00I like present tense best when it's used as a ...I like present tense best when it's used as a framing device. Example: Patrick Rothfuss' THE NAME OF THE WIND, where the framing story is told in the present tense and the main story-within-the-story in past tense to differentiate them. It does lend a sense of immediacy to the framing story and a sense of history to the interior story that way. But I've certainly read enough present-tense novels to know it can be done well on its own, even if it would feel a bit unnatural for me to write one that way.<br /><br />(I did write a second-person present-tense story in middle school, once. THAT was strange!)Kristin Laughtinhttp://kristinlaughtin.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-38030669919814416802011-11-28T17:56:48.766-05:002011-11-28T17:56:48.766-05:00One of my novels is written in present tense. That...One of my novels is written in present tense. That is how I heard the story and every time I tried to write it in past tense, I got stopped. I think some stories call for present tense, and as a writer you have to trust the process to write the best story you can.Bonnie Dodgehttp://bonniedodge.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-26554183983672528132011-11-28T14:52:48.623-05:002011-11-28T14:52:48.623-05:00I gave up reading "The Hypnotist" after ...I gave up reading "The Hypnotist" after 3 pages because the 3rd person present tense writing drove me up the wall. Looking at the online reviews of this international best-seller, I see people were divided into two extreme camps, but I mostly found it annoying and gave up. Not sure if it was the translation's fault, or whether the writing would have suffered the same fate in its native Swedish.Anne-Mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960236584908811801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-1249769144570085362011-11-28T14:49:09.108-05:002011-11-28T14:49:09.108-05:00I've been reading a lot of sci-fi/fantasy YA l...I've been reading a lot of sci-fi/fantasy YA lately, and it seems like a lot of the most recently published books in this genre are first-person, present tense.Julie Nilsonhttp://julienilson.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-35264708860391623462011-11-28T13:51:05.396-05:002011-11-28T13:51:05.396-05:00I think it's important to learn the "rule...I think it's important to learn the "rules" and learn them well. Then, I think it's important to break them. Try anything, and if it works, great! If not, try something else.Monica Marlowehttp://www.monicamarlowe.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-75149220497801531982011-11-28T13:39:03.555-05:002011-11-28T13:39:03.555-05:00I find it hard to get into a story that is happeni...I find it hard to get into a story that is happening as I read it because I don't get the sense that there is a story (which is really telling about something that has already happened) so much as a travelogue of actions happening now. It's hard to feel like there is any known meaning to something which hasn't been completed yet -- even though of course we all know that it is fiction. Perhaps it's my love of history that colors my view.Betty Boltehttp://www.bettybolte.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-86723194055741867022011-11-28T13:32:46.477-05:002011-11-28T13:32:46.477-05:00I read the first chapter of "The Hunger Games...I read the first chapter of "The Hunger Games" and wondered, Is this in the first person present tense?? I found it fascinating to read phrases like, "Now I walk toward the woods.." or "I prop myself up on one elbow..."<br /><br />A very interesting POV! Not sure if I could pull it off, but it appears many authors do it successfully!<br /><br />Great post!<br /><br />Best,<br />RuthRuth Douthitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02210433378863401466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-42355292932314795712011-11-28T13:25:36.714-05:002011-11-28T13:25:36.714-05:00I write my hypnotic audio stories in present tense...I write my hypnotic audio stories in present tense. I do this because I want my listeners to experience the action as I describe it. But for regular fiction, I write in past tense. It really is easier to read.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06947369627662687721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-46983929576060488842011-11-28T12:44:25.427-05:002011-11-28T12:44:25.427-05:00The trick is, of course, to do it well, and that a...The trick is, of course, to do it well, and that applies to anything you write no matter what tense or POV.<br /><br />If you do it well, you can break any "rule" you want.<br /><br />If your writing skills are still developing, you might follow all the standards and still not produce a work people want to read. Well, that can happen even if you're a brilliant writer, too.<br /><br />Bottom line, write what you want, the way you want. Whether it sells or not is out of your hands. Put in your best effort, finish it to the best of your ability, revise, and then move on to the next novel.<br /><br />It's the only way to stay sane.Elissa Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10727748060605823895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-89907720000150401262011-11-28T12:28:08.309-05:002011-11-28T12:28:08.309-05:00I just find it so much easier to write in present ...I just find it so much easier to write in present tense, but my writing group hates it! ha ha. I say just do what you think will work.i'm erin.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13729541389129887477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-22695168519837953212011-11-28T12:04:30.805-05:002011-11-28T12:04:30.805-05:00Amen to not listening to people regurgitate every ...Amen to not listening to people regurgitate every last writing "rule" they've ever heard. Doing things differently (and doing them *well*) is how new doors get opened.Rachel Searleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09413906883952940334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-7045783008469157842011-11-28T12:03:01.054-05:002011-11-28T12:03:01.054-05:00I wrote my novel Friend of the Devil in first pers...I wrote my novel Friend of the Devil in first person present tense, because it was the best way for the protagonist to tell the story. IT was work. The readers I got liked it just fine. My agent liked it until my editor didn't, which meant I lost both. Subsequent agents and editors hated it. I had to self publish on Kindle. Most months the royalties take care of my Starbucks bill for about a week. I still wouldn't do it any other way. My current fiction project is more conventional, but only because it's that kind of story. I'm sure the agents and editors will hate it just as muchBrendan McNally, author of "Friend of the Devil," and "Germania"https://www.blogger.com/profile/13242966803017023128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-74556932697208143292011-11-28T11:56:45.972-05:002011-11-28T11:56:45.972-05:00Good stuff. I do believe many things can be done t...Good stuff. I do believe many things can be done that are the so-called "Taboo" of the industry. If this were not true, I think you would have many writers--great writers--creativity stifled; bearing all the charisma of an African Bullfrog. I spend my ten bucks because I like the story and it is clear and rings true in my head. Past or Present Tense.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03292993989533333828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-71263780536633445122011-11-28T11:28:07.854-05:002011-11-28T11:28:07.854-05:00The first book I wrote in present tense was my sup...The first book I wrote in present tense was my superlong Russian historical novel, which I started writing on 31 January 1993. I was inspired to use the present tense after reading Ida Vos's 'Hide and Seek.' It was like a revelation to me to discover a book could be written in the present tense. It made the action seem so much more gripping and immediate, as opposed to reading or writing in the past tense and knowing everything has already been resolved.<br /><br />Another of my family sagas (contemporary historical fiction) is also written in present tense, probably for much the same reason. My Atlantic City books are still in the past tense, though. I began writing them in 1991, when I thought you HAD to use past tense. It just seems right, since I've always written them in past tense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-36025771670315315762011-11-28T11:11:42.953-05:002011-11-28T11:11:42.953-05:00I think you've nailed it--first person and pre...I think you've nailed it--first person and present tense are harder to do well, possibly because they are easier to do without thinking much about it. I find both harder to get past--they distract me from the book unless they are REALLY done well, but if they are (for instance, Hunger Games) it can suck you right in.Hart Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17599570189253229318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-88805782265446216242011-11-28T10:56:20.802-05:002011-11-28T10:56:20.802-05:00I honestly don't like writing in the present t...I honestly don't like writing in the present tense. In fact, I hate it because I feel too confined. But I have done it and the stories and books that were published in the present tense have always surprised me, with regard to good sales. I always wonder if other writers experience this. It "seems" that readers do like the present tense, which in this case makes it hard for an author to trust his or her own judgment sometimes.ryan fieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13361694356025572544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-71584907711621616072011-11-28T10:12:17.978-05:002011-11-28T10:12:17.978-05:00This is perfect! I agree with JeffO, no advice see...This is perfect! I agree with JeffO, no advice seems to be a blanket statement of do's and don'ts. The bottom line is, it has to be done well.Julie Daineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08350205936357263571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-27300793755442647722011-11-28T09:06:01.388-05:002011-11-28T09:06:01.388-05:00Great advice. I think advice authors give to other...Great advice. I think advice authors give to others often comes across too much like 'don't do this, ever' and ends up being far more discouraging than it's probably meant.JeffOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07947660745120963286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-86287385506130429762011-11-28T08:51:18.561-05:002011-11-28T08:51:18.561-05:00Thank you for this. Of course anything can be done...Thank you for this. Of course anything can be done, provided it's done well and carries the reader into the story rather making the journey of reading too much of a challenge.Jenny-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10080031161234270423noreply@blogger.com