I had a quick question about tense. I wrote a story for WotF, and it came out in present tense. That's just how the voice of the story came out, which is also the voice of the MC since the story is in first person. However, I know that present tense, while it seems to be catching on in some places, has not been the most popular of m.o.'s. I know about five years ago, there were some professional magazines who, if they were interested in your story, insisted that you change it to past tense before they would publish it.
Do you guys think I should change the tense for safety's sake? Has anyone noticed WotF having a preference?
Thanks!
Melanie
However, if you truly believe it is the right form for your story, then stick with it. But it's very likely that it will receive some rejections purely based on its form. As for WotF? I'm not certain, but I doubt that's their thing.
I had a first person present tense story once and it piled up many rejections before I retired it. But if yours is brilliant (mine was not) then be the artist that you are and put it out there and hopefully someone will like its uniqueness enough to take a chance with it.
I've read some short stories in first person present, and they really could not be any other way; it was just so integral to the experience of the story. But i think that is the key. It should be integral, not just "there." Especially if I want a specific market for it.
Thanks
Melanie
quote:
And then he says, "What are you doing here?" And I tell him I don't remember. And he says, "Well, we've got to get out of here, right now!" And I don't know what to think, because I don't remember who he is either.
[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited April 13, 2011).]
The suspense in that thing was excruciating, and probably spoiled me for any subsequent books--hence the fact that I have not been able to find a book "I couldn't put down" since.
(Plenty of books I've been anxious to get back to, such as the one I'm currently reading--Jo Walton's AMONG OTHERS--but none that I couldn't put down. I blame that also on having learned, over time, a lot about writing and good storytelling.)
I mean, my story has a different voice from that . But it has a certain cadence to it that is lost in past tense. I didn't want to have the story fail before anyone read it, though, by having it in present, you know?
Thanks guys!
I kind of think you should trust your instincts. IMO you wrote it in presense tense for a reason even if you don't understand why. Send it out to a few readers and see what they think.
Good luck.
However, once in a while something just wants to be told that way. If it's right for the story, it won't smack the reader in their timesense, and it'll feel natural to itself. That's the key, I think -- let the viewpoint be natural, rather than trying to force it into any particular mold.
I'm pretty sure the wildly successful series HUNGER GAMES is a present-tense story, 3rd person I think?
A lot of the story is physical action and present seems to work perfectly for that.
Good articles on the subject:
http://www.sff.net/people/jsfancher/htmfiles/boxes/WriteBox/writebox.htm#VP
http://www.sff.net/people/jsfancher/htmfiles/boxes/WriteBox/Morevpt.htm
The second article is all my own objections in a nutshell. And you can pretty well substitute "present tense" for "first person" and all the same observations still apply.
The book is available for free through feedbooks:
http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/14338/night-of-knives
My WOTF winning story was third person, past tense. I don't know that you can generalize a rule from that, though.
First person definitely requires a different writing style. You would never say, "I stood there with my eyebrows raised" (Unless you were in front of a mirror). But you could say, "Kathleen stood there with her eyebrows raised" (when she read Wordcaster's poorly crafted post). Anyway, imo they are not interchangeable.
First person present? That's a tough one to pull off, I imagine, but annoying would not be an adjective I would use to describe such a story if written well.
The ONLY thing I get distracted reading is second person, because I feel like someone is telling me what to do. That's MY opinion.
I've read 1st person Past and Present, and have liked and disliked both. Why? The same reason I've liked and disliked 3rd Person Omniscient Past and Present; 3rd Person Limited Past and Present; 3rd Person Multiple Personality Limited Past: It worked or it didn't. It was used well, with skill, or not. It is easier--sometimes--to tell how skilled a writer is in 1st person, period. I don't think the tense is the qualifier, but the skill with which it is wielded.
Again, my opinion.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited April 15, 2011).]
quote:
Veronica feels strong hands on her arms, dragging them behind her back, pulling them together. Then she feels rope against her wrists. A bolt of panic surges through her.
Well, no wonder it was a tough read... it does the same thing I see over and over from novices in present tense: it TELLS everything, as if we're watching it in stop-action via some topdown display, with little "emotion balloons" above each character's head. Which as I've said before, is a fault encouraged by present or first -- which actually require a lot more skill to get right than do 3rd or past. This one sounds like the product of a trip through a writing group where everyone has just learned all the Rules Of Writing.
I'd have done something more like [this is already from Veronica's POV, no need to use her name here]:
quote:
Strong hands grab her arms and wrench them behind her. Rope tightens around her wrists. She thrashes against the bonds.
[This message has been edited by Reziac (edited April 15, 2011).]