Different chapters in different tenses, unpublishable?

ZaidSayeed

Registered
Joined
Jul 6, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I just started a science fiction novel set in the modern era. I wrote by the seat of my pants and ended up writing the main character, an amnesiac, cannibalistic anti-hero, in the first person present tense.

I'd like to go on to write the second chapter, POV of a by-the-book investigator in Canada's CSIS, in the past tense, and perhaps even third person.

Thinking back, I suspect I wanted the confused mind of the cannibal to have more of a visceral and immediate impact than the investigators' chapters.

My concern about proceeding like this is that it may result in a novel that's too different and unpublishable.

I'd appreciate any guidance on this issue.
 
Last edited:

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
It'll only make it unpublishable if you don't do it well.

Write it well, be original, be exciting, and you've got a great chance of finding a publisher.
 

Ari Meermans

MacAllister's Official Minion & Greeter
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
12,853
Reaction score
3,051
Location
Not where you last saw me.
Hi, ZaidSayeed, and welcome to AW.

There is no easy answer to your question without seeing your novel. Has it been done? Sure, almost everything has. How well it's done is another question entirely.

The answer to your question really hinges on another question: How well does your novel hang together? Each scene, each chapter has to be cohesive.

So, my advice is to finish your novel and send it out to beta readers. Then, ponder the feedback and advice and see what you can apply.
 

Cobalt Jade

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 21, 2015
Messages
3,289
Reaction score
1,439
Location
Seattle
It can be done. As others have said, it's all in the execution.
 

frimble3

Heckuva good sport
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 7, 2006
Messages
11,574
Reaction score
6,396
Location
west coast, canada
And, if you're worried that people won't understand the shifts in tense and POV, label the chapters with year and name of the POV character. If it turns out to be unnecessary, you can delete the headings.
 

ZaidSayeed

Registered
Joined
Jul 6, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
And, if you're worried that people won't understand the shifts in tense and POV, label the chapters with year and name of the POV character. If it turns out to be unnecessary, you can delete the headings.

Interesting idea, thanks. I was considering timestamps within Chapters, but haven't thought it out fully yet. And may not, this one is supposed to be my pantser book not my outlined one...

- - - Updated - - -

Hi, ZaidSayeed, and welcome to AW.

There is no easy answer to your question without seeing your novel. Has it been done? Sure, almost everything has. How well it's done is another question entirely.

The answer to your question really hinges on another question: How well does your novel hang together? Each scene, each chapter has to be cohesive.

So, my advice is to finish your novel and send it out to beta readers. Then, ponder the feedback and advice and see what you can apply.

"Just write" is usually good advice, and I suppose I should have known. Thanks for reminding me!
 

ZaidSayeed

Registered
Joined
Jul 6, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
It can be done. As others have said, it's all in the execution.

As long as I'm not shooting myself in the foot in the beginning, as in Agents/Publishers won't throw it out first thing. Sounds like they won't, though I haven't read much (or anything, I don't recall) in first person present.
 

pingle

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
575
Reaction score
84
Location
United Kingdom
I read The Cows recently, not the same genre at all, but three characters with alternating chapters, two were first person, the last third person. It worked well.
 

StoryofWoe

Sick and pale with grief.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 4, 2014
Messages
1,045
Reaction score
89
Location
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene.
As others have said, it's been done before, and how well it works is all in the execution. Is it possible that all this concern about one (easily reversible) factor is just a trick your mind is playing as a way to procrastinate because you're afraid the book won't be good overall? ;) Seriously, don't sweat it at this point. Write the book first. Worry about mechanics later.
 

Toothpaste

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 18, 2006
Messages
8,745
Reaction score
3,096
Location
Toronto, Canada
Website
www.adriennekress.com
Heck I have a friend who managed to get a major publishing deal with two different tenses and POVs:

- first person past
- SECOND person present

SECOND person, my friend. If she can get a deal with second person, you really have nothing to worry about :) .
 

chracatoa

COG: Sometimes, Heaven is Overrated
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 15, 2016
Messages
211
Reaction score
22
Location
Near Puget Sound, in the beautiful Pacific Northwe
"The Martian" is technically first person present, interspersed with third past scenes. In reality, it was more like first person past tense because those parts read more like log entries. The MC was describing stuff that had already happened.
On the other hand, that novel was initially self-published and only later acquired by a publisher.