First person present tense. Why all the anger?

I’ve written one novel in first person present, but later rewrote it as third person past. One problem was that the protagonist was slowly becoming an idiot. And worse, there were interesting things going on that she wasn’t aware of. So by going to third person, I was able to use a larger vocabulary and eliminate the clunky devices I’d used to get this other stuff in.

So my rule from now on: if the protagonist is an idiot, a drunk, or in any way bizarre, or has any secret she'd like not revealed, either for plot reasons or because the character herself refuses to accommodate me, I will not consider first person.

In any case, I prefer to write with dozens of viewpoints, with two or three interlacing stories. That many viewpoints in first person, that's just weird. And I'm sure not going to mix first and third!

As for present vs. past, present is too restrictive.

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EDIT (5 years later): My most recent novel has three first person POVs, all in present tense. And they are all, to varying degrees, bizarre. It was a breeze to write and is probably my best novel. So my new rule is...never listen to myself.

I think it's a matter of taste. Many people prefer to read past tense because they feel like they're reading a "story" (that has already happened). With present tense, they feel it's "real time" so it's unreal. It's harder to pull off for the author.

My first novel is written in 1st/present, and MOST of my readers don't have a problem with it. My editor didn't have a problem with that. Granted, my story does unfold in "real time" so it probably works out that way.

There are many novels written in 1st/present. As you mentioned, Fight Club is an example. The Time Traveler's Wife. House of Sand and Fog. A few of Stephen King's novels. So, they're out there and have become best sellers. I think as long as you do it right, there's no reason to abandon it. There are going to be people who "hate" it -- then again, people could hate anything. You write a story about elves and dragons, and some people will hate it. You write a boy-meets-girl story, and someone will hate it. I'll say, just do what you do and do it well, and don't worry about anything else.

maestrowork said:

I think it's a matter of taste.

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True enough. But there are those who hate first person, and those who hate present tense, yet I’ve never heard anyone say they hate third person past.

I'm not going to say it's always bad. Some great work is written in first person present. My own problem with it is twofold. First, I feel like I'm sitting on the protagonist's shoulder watching the person's every move. If that feeling works for the story, great, but sometimes it's tedious. Second, for whatever reason, unpublished writers often choose first person present. Therefore, it seems to be associated with less-than-ready writing. It probably needs to excel a bit more than usual to rise above the stereotype. Also, Maestrowork is correct. Although first person seems easier and attractive for its intimacy, it is technically more difficult to accomplish well.

Yes, although it feels "right" to write in 1st/present (we all do that when we tell stories: "So I walk to the door and I see this huge spider staring at me...") but in reality it's much harder to pull off.

There are a few things against the author: 1) First person heavily relies on the narrative voice -- if your voice is not engaging, you lose your readers immediately; 2) First person is intimate -- your readers are stuck with the narrator throughout the whole thing; it can get old fast; 3) First person limits your POV -- you can't observe things that the narrator doesn't know or can't experience; you have to tell the story entirely from his or her POV; 4) your narrator can't die at the end unless the story is told from beyond the grave (e.g. Sunset Blvd).

Then you add the problems with present tense: 1) It's told in "real time" so you can't jump forward in time or do anything like dramatic irony; 2) your narrator is semi-reliable because it's first person and it's real time; 3) it's absolutely impossible to tell things the narrator can't know unless it's in the past.

But when done well, 1st/present can be very exciting, because the readers are going for a ride alongside the narrator. Think of the narrator as a tour guide and they're going on an adventure. The readers got to experience everything the narrator does, including the emotional roller-coaster. So there are some stories that is best told through 1st/present. If you find a good match, it could be a wonderful experience for the readers.

My work in progress is written in close third person present tense, and there are a dozen of the protagonist's journal entries included which are written in first person past tense.

After four switches from various other tense and POV combinations, the final combination I decided on enhanced the story in ways no other combination could have. Early feedback has been positive, with one novel in progress win under my belt and a few short story and poem spin off's as well.

The single greatest point I've learned about POV has been to remain open to all possibilities of what may or may not work for any single piece. I'm one of those people who didn't like to read or write in present tense, and now here I am saying it WORKED for me

I like first-person narratives if the voice is unique and the narrative compelling. My novel is written in first person and combines both present and past tenses; any other way wouldn't have worked. My character's voice is strong and nothing like me at all. She was shouting to be heard and grabbed the story away from me. She wanted to tell it.

I also don't mind present tense. For me, present tense often (not always) lends the work a little elegance of sorts.

Present tense

I won't say I always hate present tense, but in novel length fiction it annoys the heck out of me. My main problem, I think, is that present tense tries to make me believe a story is happening as I'm reading it, but I know that's nonsense, and it takes me completely out of the flow of the story. If something actually happened in the past I do not want the writer telling it in present tense. I just will not read that novel.

At best, present tense comes across as a gimmick, an unnecessary gimmick, at that. As much as I dislike second person fiction, I'd far rather see second person in present tense than I would first person.

First person, present tense, is a matter of taste, but it's a taste not many have, and I do think it can severely limit the audiance for a novel, and make for a tougher sell.

I think first-person present tends to carry better in a short story than in a novel (there are numerous exceptions, of course). And I think the present-tense is more of a problem the first-person POV (which works just fine in past-tense, too). First person present can get cloying, maybe because there can be a subliminal drift into figurative navel-lint picking at the expense of actual story.

Just don't use second-person future conditional.

caw.

I think the thing that most people have a hard time with is that there is no TRUE first person present tense. To have your character say,


"I'm walking through the door and a leaf from a potted plant is brushing my sleeve."

feels, just wrong. It reads stilted and makes the reader go . So near past is what most first person authors do because it's what readers want to see.

"I walked through the door. A leaf from a potted plant brushed against my sleeve."

Since my co-author and I write primarily in first person, we've tried it a number of ways, but always come back to near past.

JMHO.

Cathy C said:

"I'm walking through the door and a leaf from a potted plant is brushing my sleeve."

feels, just wrong. It reads stilted and makes the reader go . So near past is what most first person authors do because it's what readers want to see.

"I walked through the door. A leaf from a potted plant brushed against my sleeve."

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It's just how you've phrased it. How about--

As I walk through the door, a leaf from a potted plant brushes my sleeve. No, it isn’t a leaf...it’s a gun!

This is an excerpt of my opening scene from my WIP which is written in a close third person present tense.

"Tomorrow’s your birthday." Jack plunks a ceramic serving platter onto the exotic red marble counter. "What do you want?"

Jill lifts a sudsy goblet from the basin and then swirls it under a steamy stream of water—her fingers gripped so tightly around the crystal stem she fears it will shatter. Her words burst from her mouth like air from a balloon. "I’m making a vow of silence." She hands the goblet to Jack.

My use of present tense has nothing to do with trying to convince the reader that the story is happening in real-time, but everything to do with helping the the reader develop a relationship/understanding of my MC's conflict.

Just read the first chapter of my book (available on my site) and tell me if it grates you.

I also agree that not all 1st/present means it's supposed to be "real time." I think when people have that notion in their heads, they automatically reject it because they think it's "ridiculous." Well, it's no more "ridiculous" than a God-like narrator telling a story from 20 character's POVs. Or examining the inner thoughts of characters... like are you a psychic?

The point of 1st/present is to create that immediate intimacy and closeness to the character. That you're experiencing things and thoughts first hand. Likewise, 3rd person creates that invisible layer of separation for the readers and characters (even with 3rd close limited, you still have that distance) -- which feels safer for the readers. I think some people are uncomfortable with 1st/present is because of that lack of distance. They find themselves unable to step back and say, "hey, it's just a story someone else is telling." And when it gets too close, or when the readers can't identify with the 1st person narrator, some people can't handle it.

maestrowork said:

Just read the first chapter of my book (available on my site) and tell me if it grates you.

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I actually did read your first chapter when you first posted it, and you can count me in as one of your earliest fans of how you handled the tense I wasn't grated at all, it felt like you were in control of the story, and not trying to control the reader.

maestrowork said:

Just read the first chapter of my book (available on my site) and tell me if it grates you.

I also agree that not all 1st/present means it's supposed to be "real time." I think when people have that notion in their heads, they automatically reject it because they think it's "ridiculous." Well, it's no more "ridiculous" than a God-like narrator telling a story from 20 character's POVs. Or examining the inner thoughts of characters... like are you a psychic?

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It is perception, but first prson, present tense does come across to me as considerably more ridiculous than a God-like narrator. It doesn't matter whether or not it's "supposed" to be real time, that's the way it reads to me, and that's what I'm stuck with.

Now, I'm not a psychic, but reading the thoughts of characters isn't something I do, it's something the narrator does, and I'm perfectly willing to believe it.

But the real reason I reject first person, present tense is that no matter who the writer is, it always, without exception comes across as a poor gimmick to me, and I've yet to read a first person, present tense novel that I didn't think would have been far, far better written in past tense.

I've simply never seen any logic at all in using first person, present tense, and it does get very, very tedious when done over novel length.

Jamesaritchie said:

I've simply never seen any logic at all in using first person, present tense, and it does get very, very tedious when done over novel length.

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Again, it comes down to taste. Personally, I find omniscient POV tedious, but many novels have been written "successfully" that way, and many more will be.

The logic for 1st/present is to create that ultimate intimacy -- there's no more intimate than that. Certainly it's not for everyone.

JAlpha said:

T
My use of present tense has nothing to do with trying to convince the reader that the story is happening in real-time, but everything to do with helping the the reader develop a relationship/understanding of my MC's conflict.

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That's your intent, but as a reader, to me your intent doesn't matter. It still reads, to me, as if the story is trying to make me believe it's happening right now. That's simply how it is. A writer's intentions are always secondary to a reader's perception.

And there's simply no way I'm going to have a relationship with these characters. For me, present tense takes away from any relationship I might have with the characters, especially in novel length fiction. The only help I need in developing a relationship with characters is if you make those characters realistic and interesting. One of the resons I don't like present tense is because it makes it much harder for me to develop a relationship with the characters.

Novel length present tense, whether first person or not, just reads poorly to me, and it's so tedious I'm highly unlikely to finish the book, and certain not to buy it. If I pick it up at all it will be from a library, or I'll receive it as a gift. Present tense simply tires me out, and that's not why I read fiction.

It's no accident that so few published novels are in present tense, especially outside of literary circles. There simply aren't very many readers who prefer present tense, and huge numbers that don't like it at all. Because of this, agents and editors are seldom impressed with it, either.

I simply see no logical reason for writing a novel in present tense, and I've yet to see a present tense novel that I didn't think would have been infinitely better in past tense.

The only question that matters is "Does it work?"


You can do anything provided you do it well enough. The bar for "well enough" is set at varous levels for various styles in various genres.

There are many 1st/present novels out there that is not "literary." Many are best sellers -- so definitely people are reading them. For example: Fight Club. I foresee that there will be more in the future, as it becomes more and more popular.

I guess it's kind of like color vs. B/W movies. Nowadays you can say people are comfortable with color and it's unnatural to watch a B/W movie. But once in a while you catch recently-made B/W film like "Good Night, Good Luck" and some people would say it's pretentious -- there's no reason why that film can't be made into color -- then again, when it's a good movie, it's a good movie. IMHO, the B/W actually adds to my enjoyment.

It all comes down to personal bias.

I can't think of one novel I've read written in present tense. It just doesn't seem natural to me.

When I first started writing, my short stories were written in 2nd person present tense "You walk through the door and see..." before I was told (by who, I forget) that you shouldn't write like that.

I guess because of that I abandoned present tense also.

I don't read 2nd person/present tense at all. But I suppose it could work for some genre (action/adventure, maybe?). It just reads like role playing games to me. "You walk into the room and see a sword. You pick it up." I expect to get 500 bonus points for that.

If you want a good example of a present-tense book (a first novel, unagented writer, bought out of the slush pile), you can pick up Bad Magic by Stephan Zielinski.

Incidentally, while I seldom write in present tense outside of short stories, I write in first person pretty darned frequently.

James D. Macdonald said:

If you want a good example of a present-tense book (a first novel, unagented writer, bought out of the slush pile), you can pick up Bad Magic by Stephan Zielinski.

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I’m not too sure this is a good example of present tense, as it’s different in so many other ways, like the short, choppy sentences, and the Harlan Ellison feel to it.