Comments on: JWAM reader request no. 24: Past tense versus present

By: Steve Ely

Steve Ely — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 01:20:01 +0000

Story syntax aside, I think you raise an interesting idea when you cite Delany’s idea that “the natural present tense in spoken English is not present tense, but present progressive.” This is true in varying cases, I suppose. In the case you cite, it seems very much that the present progressive is being used to tell a story that occurs in the past. I mention this because a pet peeve of mine is the present progressive being used in verbal English in contexts that the present tense actually would be more natural. If you want to know about something, why say “I am wanting to know…” instead of just “I want to know…”?

By: Amber

Amber — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:17:50 +0000

Hey! I’ve enjoyed reading all your posts this month, even though I didn’t ask any question (didn’t know I had half of them anyways!)
My mom doesn’t like first person pov and I don’t understand it. I love it and it’s my favorite!!
Your compulsive liar book sounds really good. I hope to read it sometime!

By: Glenn

Glenn — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:26:20 +0000

Thank you so much for the reply, Justine, it’s really appreciated.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:56:46 +0000

I tend to assume with past tense that the narrator already knows what’s going to happen; with present tense they don’t. But maybe that’s just me?

By: Diana Peterfreund

Diana Peterfreund — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:49:41 +0000

Oh dear. This is the nightmare result of that whole “was = passive voice” trainwreck. Passive voice does NOT mean using the word “was,” people! Passive voice ALSO =/= “not active writing.”

I have a headache now.

Present or past tense. Future if it floats your boat.

By: Carrie Ryan

Carrie Ryan — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:20:00 +0000

I love this question. I also think that there’s the idea that past tense is told through the influence of what has happened after — it’s not a true reflection of what’s going on in that moment. Of course, I also kind of think that’s bogus But one reason I liked writing my current series in present tense is that you don’t know how it will end — there are no guarantees. Not even the protag has to survive the end in order to tell the story.

By: Nicholas Waller

Nicholas Waller — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:16:59 +0000

One book I thought handled mixed tenses well wasn’t a novel, but anyway – it’s Michael Collins’s Carrying the Fire, his personal (non-ghosted) account of the first moon-landing.

For the parts concerning his past life, his early flying, the training and his previous spaceflight and so on he wrote in the past tense: “As I was spacewalking, unfortunately I dropped my Hasselblad camera, which floated away and was lost”.

For the description of the Apollo II mission as it unfolded, he used the present: “Neil and Buzz go into the Lunar Module and seal the hatch and we prepare for undocking. I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again.”

It sounds more immediate, as though he is talking into a dictaphone or the radio, and that he doesn’t know at that point if the mission will be successful or even if he will survive. Use of the past tense then would have given more of a sense of someone sitting back at home in his study recalling the events of years before (which in fact, of course, he was).

BTW these aren’t accurate quotes, just paraphrases from memory.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:27:23 +0000

I find a big thing about writing in present tense is about how well it’s done. A lot of time I’ll read something in present tense and find the tense makes the writing seem really unnatural and a barrier between me and immersing myself fully in the story. Other times I won’t notice it at all and I’ll love the book.

I also think that there isn’t necessarily a problem with tense-changes within a story as long as they’re appropriate. Random tense-shifts can be quite jarring and off-putting. For example I was reading a book (written in 3rd person subjective) where twice the tense, for no apparent reason, changed from past to present for a couple of pages before going back to past. Overall it was still an excellent book (one of my favourites), but I found that particular part a little off-putting…