Very probable that this is the stupidest question ever, alas, r/o please

PurposefulGirl · Aug 11, 2008

What is the correct tense for a story set in the future?

I just had an hour-long argument about this question.

Someone actually said present tense with dialogue in past tense .

Someone else said that the past tense makes it passive.

Mercy. :rant:

What say you?

Clair Dickson · Aug 11, 2008

Correct tense is about what the author thinks the story needs.

I'm not sure what you mean by "set in the future" but if you mean something like, the story is set in 2050 or something, it can still be written in past tense (as many stories are) or present tense if so desired. The setting is the "current" time and place for the characters. The setting alone does not dictate the tense of the stroy. A story set in the past (like the 1800s) could still be written in present tense, if the narrator is telling the story as it is/was happening.

Past tense and passive are completely different animals. One has spots. You can write past tense without ever using passive voice. You can write present tense and still use passive voice. (EX: The ball is thrown. The ball was thrown. Both passive sentences, but in different tenses.)

Matera the Mad · Aug 11, 2008

A closer example for the tense/voice challenged:

Joe threw the ball. [past tense, active]
The ball was thrown. [past tense, passive]

All of the great classics of science fiction -- that I know of -- were written in the past tense, no matter how far in the future they were set. People who argue otherwise probably haven't read much.

PurposefulGirl · Aug 11, 2008

Matera the Mad said:
A closer example for the tense/voice challenged:

Joe threw the ball. [past tense, active]
The ball was thrown. [past tense, passive]

All of the great classics of science fiction -- that I know of -- were written in the past tense, no matter how far in the future they were set. People who argue otherwise probably haven't read much.

Your post was pretty much my argument in a nutshell. The majority of the folks who didn't agree with me all held various advanced degrees. I was baffled!

Bartholomew · Aug 11, 2008

Edit: I misread the OP, but I'm leaving my post intact. I though she was asking about future tense, not future settings. Any tense at all is appropriate.

#

Stephen King uses the Future tense a bit in 'Salem's Lot, which I'm rereading.

Here's an example of how I'd use the Future tense.

Joe glared at his alarm clock, and if he could have exploded it from across the room, it'd already be in chunks. Alas, he crawled from his blankets (so like the primordial ooze he'd read about last night), trudged to the clock and silenced it's aharmonious, emotionless bitching.

Already up, damn it. Crawling back into bed would be just as much hassle as crawling into the shower. But the water will wake you up, Joe. And awake, you'll throw on your clothes and make that meeting--the one about reversing the donut holes or whatever they're going to waste your time about--and you'll look damn good for that Harkell girl.

alleycat · Aug 11, 2008

PurposefulGirl said:
Someone else said that the past tense makes it passive.

You can stop listening to this person's advice, at least as far as tense and voice are concerned.

I agree with Matera the Mad.

Williebee · Aug 11, 2008

various advanced degrees.

How many of them write fiction? Most of them, I would bet, write in academic style (I'm married to one of those). It just isn't the same thing. Or, as I kid my wife, both may be factual, but only one is intended to be readable.

Dawnstorm · Aug 11, 2008

From:

Geoffrey Leech, Meaning and the English Verb. Third Edition:

...because the Past Tense deals with past events, it is the natural form of the verb to use in narrative, whether the events are true historical events or the fictional events of a novel. There has grown up a convention of using Past for narrative even when the events are supposed to take place in the future, as in science fiction:

[snip: example]

We are invited, by this convention, to look at future events as if from a viewpoint even further in the future. Narrative typically assumes, in the narration, such a retrospective view.

Note that this doesn't mean you cannot use other tenses for narration. This section merely occurs in the chapter about the Past Tense, so that's what he's talking about. This is § 22 (pages 22 and 23), if anyone wishes to check in a library.

blacbird · Aug 11, 2008

PurposefulGirl said:
What is the correct tense for a story set in the future?

Someone else said that the past tense makes it passive.

What say you?

Whoever said these things is in desperate need of hard drugs or therapy. Forget you ever heard them.

Some famous stories set in the future:

The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
The Gunslinger, Stephen King
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter Miller
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut

Some famous stories told in past tense:

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway
Cannery Row, John Steinbeck
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M. Cain
Brighton Rock, by Graham Greene (and every other novel he ever wrote, I think)
Every Nero Wolfe mystery, by Rex Stout
Every Travis McGee thriller, by John D. MacDonald
Every Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee mystery, by Tony Hillerman

I could make this list a lot longer, but read all of these, and they will not only put to the grave the misconceptions you have just expressed, but make you a better writer.

caw

maestrowork · Aug 12, 2008

Tell your friends to read a few science fiction set in the future, and then get back to you.

If they still don't know what tenses are, ditch them.

shebitme · Aug 12, 2008

maybe they just misunderstood the question.

you're right that all standard fiction is written in past tense, even if it is set a thousand years in the future. example:

"Roger picked up the newspaper from his lawn and read the date: August 5, 2034. He frowned, realizing that his wife was going to kill him if he forgot their anniversary yet again. He blinked an pulled up the visual internet HUD using his ocular implants. A few glances and blinks later, he had ordered a boquet of flowers that would be delivered to his wife's office. Catastrophe averted. He blinked again and the HUD disappeared from his vision, and he was back in his front yard. Roger stuck the newspaper under his arm and walked inside to make breakfast."

Judg · Aug 15, 2008

Advanced degrees in what? Certainly not linguistics, or literature.

My husband has a Ph.D. and I often edit his writing for him. And his grammatical knowledge is better than most, because he's multilingual. He still needs a copyeditor, big time. Having an advanced degree doesn't make you an expert on any other subject.

JennaGlatzer · Aug 15, 2008

Now it's my turn for a potentially stupid question: what does r/o stand for?

Dawno · Aug 15, 2008

read on?

maxmordon · Aug 15, 2008

For some reason a story made just in future tense makes me think will sound like this:

Crisswell: Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future

Bartholomew · Aug 15, 2008

I assumed it meant ripped onions. To be used like an expletive.

FennelGiraffe · Aug 16, 2008

JennaGlatzer said:
Now it's my turn for a potentially stupid question: what does r/o stand for?

I'm so glad you asked. I've been wondering about that myself.

read only?
roll over?
rub out?
rock on?
red orange?
rotten octopus?

ETA: Oh, of course: ripe olives

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Aug 16, 2008

Right on!

Very probable that this is the stupidest question ever, alas, r/o please

PurposefulGirl

Clair Dickson

A dark core to every cloud

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

PurposefulGirl

Bartholomew

Comic guy

alleycat

Still around

Williebee

Capeless, wingless, & yet I fly.

Dawnstorm

punny user title, here

blacbird

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

shebitme

Judg

DISENCHANTED coming soon

JennaGlatzer

wishes you happiness

Dawno

Shiny!

maxmordon

Penúltimo

Bartholomew

Comic guy

FennelGiraffe

It's green they say

Ol' Fashioned Girl

Hand? What hand?