Which do you prefer? Which can you stomach, when it comes to reading and writing?
My Turn:
I am going to be honest. When it comes to reading, I never know because I struggle to pick on things enough as it is, so I am unsure. My mind wonders yet I am still able to pick on bits and pieces at a time, along with sticking with the story.
So, when I write my stories, my tenses are NEVER consistent. Yet, I believe I try to go for writing in present tense, because it is happening, but it’s actually past tense because my brain goes to that.
So, I am writing in the past tense not able to control my switching between past and present tense. When I am writing, I am just writing without any intention of editing or anything.
Present can feel overly gimmicky at times, past omniscent is my preference but I grew up reading a ton of myths and fairy tales, and still do, so it’s really just my preference.
I hate first person present in a lot of modern stories, especially when people write like this:
I wake up and I walk out into the hallway. I look down it, and I notice my mother standing there. She tells me that the coffee is ready. I don’t have a name, and I don’t have a clue how first person is supposed to work, so I keep overusing I, and also I overuse actions. I don’t put many of my own thoughts, or back story or information from the background into it, so I bore the reader. And I also never use -ing at the end of some words to break things up.
But if people use it properly, it’s much better. Give it some life, and don’t just list off what the main character is doing. Gosh.
I always wonder what makes the present feel that way. I honestly feel stupid because I think that when I write in the present tense, it’s happening oppose to past tense that is well happening in the past.
I write with the notion that it is happening now, but my mind gravitates to unsure. Honestly, I can’t write in present tense, I clearly don’t know what I am doing.
An entire book written in present tense would be aggravating to me. But if there’s a good reason for intermittent chapters in present tense, like a second storyline or second pov character, then it can be very effective for breaking up the narrative. __〆(．．)
That is something that I am now understanding which makes me feel stupid for not getting it sooner. A beta reader asked that and I was confused about what I wanted.
Let’s be real, when I was writing, I never pondered about making my tenses better because I was trying to focus on writing solely as a hobby that goes nowhere, publishing possibility wise.
Now, that I am trying to do something with it for future publishing. I need to grasp and understand that I am taking this seriously.
When reading YA and Middle Grade it’s different for me.
For YA, for some reason, I prefer reading third person past tense than first person present tense. In fact, present tense for YA throws me off overall unless the characters are very solid and/or relatable and therefore, I never notice the tense. For MG, I can go for anything, but I find that first person present tense works really well. I feel like I can get into the story more.
As for writing, third person past tense and nothing else. Occasionally, in the past, I’ve written in first person past tense and sometimes I dabble in it again, but it feels odd to me now.
Second person for anything is a big no. Idk why it even exists XD
I usually write in third-person past tense, though I’m practicing present tense with THfAS to break out of the comfort zone (first-person present too, which has been a bit tricky)
As for reading, I don’t mind if its past or present, and won’t even notice which if it’s written well enough for me to fully immerse myself in the narrative. I do read more third person than first, probably more past tense? I’d have to check my recent reads
Yup! The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern uses past and present tense, and first, second and third person pov for different sections. It was a huge success, and is supposedly being made into a movie, though it’s taking forever.
