This is such an interesting peek behind the curtain of your writing process, Kate! I don't generally write fiction these days, though I have written a lot of micro fiction in the past which I often liked to write in present tense. I think present tense worked quite well for these as they are short fragments or sketches, rather than full-length narratives. I didn't notice any inconsistencies in your story!
A novel I might have recommended before that you would probably enjoy is 'This Should Be Written in the Present Tense' by Helle Helle. The title is ironic as the narrator recalls the story in a way that is detached from the present, but its simple style has a similar effect of immediacy to the present tense. It gives the impression that the narrator is trying to distance herself from recent events. Super clever and interesting! I also enjoyed Let The Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida, written in the present tense.
I would love to see some of your fiction sketches, Kate!
You did recommend this and it's still on my to-be-read list. That sounds really interesting - immediate but not present - a little like the French examples I mentioned, maybe? Annie Ernaux is good at this and this makes me want to compare the books I have to the English translations. I don't know Vida either. Excited to check them both out!
Haha, many of them are probably still online in various lit mags (if they are still running). I always find fiction so vulnerable to write! I admire everyone who shares it.
Yes! I thought of the book straight away when you gave those French examples!
I've just been reflecting on this for the follow-up to Lamb, where the current book is a current story (and therefore possibly present tense?) where Lamb was a reflection on the past. Have not decided yet, but always feel like there's no teacher like trying it out and seeing how it feels. Thanks for this, Kate!
Oh do try! You're so good at experimenting in this way. I find it hard because with voice, you have to try for quite a while to sort out what you want and then I get confused. But I guess the more I try on different ones, the more I know how it could feel with the follow through.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who struggles with this! I am using present tense for parts of my memoir. The first part is second person/present tense, which I think has some of the freedom you talk about with a third person narrator. In the second part I switch to first person/past tense, but there were scenes that I wanted more immediacy, so I inset and italicized those. I came to that after going randomly back and forth between past and present tense unintentionally I guess based on feel, lol. I actually had to write down my tenses and perspectives to keep it straight 😅
I love that you are switching! I really think you can make this work. I love the way Paul Auster writes his memoirs in second person/present tense as it creates a closeness both with his subject (not just himself; more his parents) as well as the reader.
I definitely have to write this stuff down when I'm drafting! Thanks for the comment, Kristi.
Love this question and your exploration. I’ve written the novel I’m serializing so many ways! First person past tense, third / omniscient past. It’s now in close third, present tense. I do love the immediacy. And the ability to set memories in past tense. That passage from Dickens is marvelous! Trying to think of a favorite book in present tense. I’ll get back to you on that. 🙃
I feel this so much, Julie! I've got drafts of two novellas I'm tinkering with (well, currently on hold, but they are there...). I keep doing this, too, and I'm having a hard time committing! I like what you've done with yours very much.
I heard Philip Pullman say that he refused to read any book in the present tense (and any book that begins with a personal pronoun)! Quite an extreme position indeed. And means you miss out on some great fiction, including one of my favourite novels, Wolf Hall.
Well, rules like that are just silly! It is controversial, though, I'll give him that.
Happy you chimed in about WH, Simon. This struck me! It has a similar quality as Dickens due to the third person nature I guess but it changes. You feel like you are right there with the close third person perspective, a little like a Mansfield story though I don't recall her writing in present tense at all. (?) Anyway, especially interesting choice for such a large work of historical fiction.
Interestingly, Mantel had already experimented with present-tense historical fiction with A Place of Greater Safety. But that one ran into complications due to overzealous editors who "corrected" some of it to the past tense, resulting in a slightly confusing mix of both.
Oh that is cool but how horrible of those editors! Especially to just go halfway in the edits. I don't get that. Happy she got her comeuppance of sorts.
Damon Runyon was famous for (among other things) writing about past events in the present tense. I recommend that all writers check out his stories. “The Snatching of Bookie Bob” is my personal favorite.
That's a great example. Interesting that Simon here mentioned Wolf Hall as well. Obviously historic (and large!) but likewise in present tense. I'll check it out. Thanks Doug.
yes, tell me what you think. It's kind of a special case, because I think he did it for a comic effect, but others may disagree about why he used present tense.
I'm writing my new book in the present tense, but it's non-fiction, so I guess it doesn't count. Present tense in journalism/travelogue is not all that strange.
I guess one of the "strangest" things I've ever read in this respect is Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City, a novel written not only in the present tense by in the second person.
I don't know this one but I can see how it would work well in second person due to the closeness or intimacy, rather. Auster does this in his memoirs and it works so well. Good luck with your book! I'm working on longer fiction where I keep going back and forth on the voice and just can't decide yet!
I am so looking forward to the play 🎭
How fun would this be? I have no idea what it’s about though! It will happen.
I second that; hoping for a seat at the premiere ; )
I'll be there! ✨
This is such an interesting peek behind the curtain of your writing process, Kate! I don't generally write fiction these days, though I have written a lot of micro fiction in the past which I often liked to write in present tense. I think present tense worked quite well for these as they are short fragments or sketches, rather than full-length narratives. I didn't notice any inconsistencies in your story!
A novel I might have recommended before that you would probably enjoy is 'This Should Be Written in the Present Tense' by Helle Helle. The title is ironic as the narrator recalls the story in a way that is detached from the present, but its simple style has a similar effect of immediacy to the present tense. It gives the impression that the narrator is trying to distance herself from recent events. Super clever and interesting! I also enjoyed Let The Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida, written in the present tense.
I would love to see some of your fiction sketches, Kate!
You did recommend this and it's still on my to-be-read list. That sounds really interesting - immediate but not present - a little like the French examples I mentioned, maybe? Annie Ernaux is good at this and this makes me want to compare the books I have to the English translations. I don't know Vida either. Excited to check them both out!
Haha, many of them are probably still online in various lit mags (if they are still running). I always find fiction so vulnerable to write! I admire everyone who shares it.
Yes! I thought of the book straight away when you gave those French examples!
I've just been reflecting on this for the follow-up to Lamb, where the current book is a current story (and therefore possibly present tense?) where Lamb was a reflection on the past. Have not decided yet, but always feel like there's no teacher like trying it out and seeing how it feels. Thanks for this, Kate!
Oh do try! You're so good at experimenting in this way. I find it hard because with voice, you have to try for quite a while to sort out what you want and then I get confused. But I guess the more I try on different ones, the more I know how it could feel with the follow through.
(Can't wait for the sequel!)
I think I will at least try, as you did, and it will become clear quickly if it's working. :)
I’m glad I’m not the only one who struggles with this! I am using present tense for parts of my memoir. The first part is second person/present tense, which I think has some of the freedom you talk about with a third person narrator. In the second part I switch to first person/past tense, but there were scenes that I wanted more immediacy, so I inset and italicized those. I came to that after going randomly back and forth between past and present tense unintentionally I guess based on feel, lol. I actually had to write down my tenses and perspectives to keep it straight 😅
I love that you are switching! I really think you can make this work. I love the way Paul Auster writes his memoirs in second person/present tense as it creates a closeness both with his subject (not just himself; more his parents) as well as the reader.
I definitely have to write this stuff down when I'm drafting! Thanks for the comment, Kristi.
I have not read anything by him yet. Do you have a favorite that you would recommend?
And yes, that is the effect I’m going after: that closeness, almost like it’s happening to the reader.
I’m a super fan but for this context would try Winter Journal. Hope you love it!
Thanks, Kathleen!
Love this question and your exploration. I’ve written the novel I’m serializing so many ways! First person past tense, third / omniscient past. It’s now in close third, present tense. I do love the immediacy. And the ability to set memories in past tense. That passage from Dickens is marvelous! Trying to think of a favorite book in present tense. I’ll get back to you on that. 🙃
I feel this so much, Julie! I've got drafts of two novellas I'm tinkering with (well, currently on hold, but they are there...). I keep doing this, too, and I'm having a hard time committing! I like what you've done with yours very much.
The immediacy of present tense is hard to beat. Maybe that's why all screenplays are always in present tense.
It makes sense! And why they could be fun to write…
All writing is fun - The Screenplay. ;)
Richard Walker uses the present tense to great effect in his memoir, which I wrote about here (also includes an interview with Richard): https://open.substack.com/pub/jeffstreeter/p/sort-of-a-highlife?r=1h6yf6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Very cool. From your excerpts, it’s as if we move through life with him.
As a language and culture, French contains so many elements of grace. Right down to verb tenses!
You know it well!
I heard Philip Pullman say that he refused to read any book in the present tense (and any book that begins with a personal pronoun)! Quite an extreme position indeed. And means you miss out on some great fiction, including one of my favourite novels, Wolf Hall.
Well, rules like that are just silly! It is controversial, though, I'll give him that.
Happy you chimed in about WH, Simon. This struck me! It has a similar quality as Dickens due to the third person nature I guess but it changes. You feel like you are right there with the close third person perspective, a little like a Mansfield story though I don't recall her writing in present tense at all. (?) Anyway, especially interesting choice for such a large work of historical fiction.
Interestingly, Mantel had already experimented with present-tense historical fiction with A Place of Greater Safety. But that one ran into complications due to overzealous editors who "corrected" some of it to the past tense, resulting in a slightly confusing mix of both.
Oh that is cool but how horrible of those editors! Especially to just go halfway in the edits. I don't get that. Happy she got her comeuppance of sorts.
Damon Runyon was famous for (among other things) writing about past events in the present tense. I recommend that all writers check out his stories. “The Snatching of Bookie Bob” is my personal favorite.
That's a great example. Interesting that Simon here mentioned Wolf Hall as well. Obviously historic (and large!) but likewise in present tense. I'll check it out. Thanks Doug.
yes, tell me what you think. It's kind of a special case, because I think he did it for a comic effect, but others may disagree about why he used present tense.
I'm writing my new book in the present tense, but it's non-fiction, so I guess it doesn't count. Present tense in journalism/travelogue is not all that strange.
I guess one of the "strangest" things I've ever read in this respect is Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City, a novel written not only in the present tense by in the second person.
I don't know this one but I can see how it would work well in second person due to the closeness or intimacy, rather. Auster does this in his memoirs and it works so well. Good luck with your book! I'm working on longer fiction where I keep going back and forth on the voice and just can't decide yet!
I know. They look like minor details, yet they can change the final outcome completely.