Present Tense? What the???

It's not exactly brand new (I remember Paula Danziger's 1970s/80s books were in present tense), but it's definitely seen a massive increase in popularity in the YA genre. If you took the top 20 selling YA novels in the last few years, I'd guess half have been in the present tense.

But: it's not necessary. If you're not comfortable writing present tense, don't write it -- it won't count as a strike for or against you, at lease how things stand now.

Writing present tense well is tricky. The best thing to do is write in the tense and POV you're most comfortable with, and which works best for your story.

About half the YA books in first person on my book shelf are in present tense. YA writers are used to it ('cause they have read a lot of YA novels ), but I noticed during the Miss Snark's First Victim Secret Agent contest that a lot of writers had problems connecting with it. Though most of them wrote adult books not YA.

I tend to write it when the plot is such that the MC needs to discover things at the same time the reader does. Its immediate. (If that makes sense) Alyson Noel writes first person present really well! (Evermore and Blue Moon)

My Rastas, just started this morning, came out in 1st person, present tense. I didn't even think about it. First time I wrote anything of substance in present tense was an FF last Sunday (pass is 'flashed' if interested). It's was a cool experience, and I definitely wanted to do it again. And now I have.

The reason it came out is cause this character (Jordan) came out really strong, even if he is paralyzed (info dump issue there), sort of dead, living in a dystopian world, and caught up in actions he can't control and doesn't want to.

The way I structured on of my books is really interesting. First person present tense when reflecting a day's events, past tense with "flashbacks." The first person present tense is almost like a journal basically.

I hope I don't run into the problem of confusion, but I posted a question about it before and apparently it was ok.

I agree with everyone on here. It's getting a lot more popular, but it is very tricky. But just because it's difficult to write doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. It's always good to try new things after all.

KC36 said:

The way I structured on of my books is really interesting. First person present tense when reflecting a day's events, past tense with "flashbacks." .

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Mine's just like this too!

JamieB said:

Mine's just like this too!

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Nice! Would you like to critique what I wrote? I posted that in YA SYW, To Find Love. Maybe I can have another person's view on it that does the same thing?

Not sure if this helps...but I write dark/horror and in the first person you get the 'thrill' and 'tension' needed for the plot to be 'felt'. If that makes any sense. lol

I enjoy working in that tense, but I do notice that when I go back and begin to edit that I have to slow way down to check things to be sure I stay in that. (It's easy to slip up.)

From the reading side....I love the here and now. To me it is the best way to show...and not tell. Too many times I notice lots of info dumps in the other tenses. But this is only my two cents worth....so take it or leave it.

KC36 said:

Nice! Would you like to critique what I wrote? I posted that in YA SYW, To Find Love. Maybe I can have another person's view on it that does the same thing?

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Sure! I'll head over there!

I had difficulty in switching tenses, for some reason. First person and present tense seem to work well, but for my current WIP I kept going between present and past, which was a problem. I decided that most people are more comfortable with past tense, though, so I switched it all to that.

YAwriter72 said:

I tend to write it when the plot is such that the MC needs to discover things at the same time the reader does. Its immediate. (If that makes sense) Alyson Noel writes first person present really well! (Evermore and Blue Moon)

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That's actually the reason I chose it for one of my WiPs even though I'm naturally inclined to write past.

GhostAuthor said:

Thanks for answering all! I was just wondering since I started running into it everywhere.

As far as this old dog is concerned - no new present tense tricks for me - it hurts my brain to read, there's that internal editor screeching, "change it to past tense NOW!!!"

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I think that actually depends on the writer. I often don't like how it reads but some writers are so masterful at it that I barely notice. Nick Hornby uses it amazingly well in High Fidelity, for example. And Break by Shady is an excellent example of it being used masterfully in YA.

My current WiP is the first thing I've ever written in first person present tense. I like the immediacy-- like you're right there with the mc-- and the ability to let my heroine act first and think about the repercussions of her actions later. To me this sometimes feels more contrived in past tense, a venue where the character has the benefit of hindsight. Present tense feels less like someone is telling me a story, and more like I'm hitching a ride in their brain. Malkovitch, malcovitch malcovitch.

I have read some published novels in present tense where I felt like I could barely breathe (I'm looking at you, Sophie Kinsella-- but I love you anyway), but one of my recent faves (Collins' Hunger Games, of course) used the tense masterfully, and really dragged the reader along with the mc for the ride.

I think the reason it doesn't always connect with older readers is that it can feel rushed when a reader wants to take their time with the book. It can also seem insincere, especially if the main character isn't one that's easy to relate to. For teens I think it might be easier to absorb since they see the world more in "present tense" as opposed to past.

Boy, now that I read this back, it sounds rambling and confused, but I stand by my reasons to use it to write my WiP.

I only write in present tense. Love it. While it's not a totally new thing, I think the recent surge in popularity is probably due to methods of internet communication. How often do we type "Crying" or whatever to show feelings...always in present tense. Message boarding and texting make us that much more comfortable with the tense.

Plus it's great for tension.

PLUS...YA is so much about immediacy. I don't want my characters looking back on the errors of their way and pondering, I want them living and experiencing. (Not that you can't do that with past, but...)