In this story, the reader gets to experience what it’s like to be an object in a competition. Still, you weren’t prepared for the rows and rows of strangers – in different sizes like the Russian dolls the girls play with. The girl told you the gymnasium would be big, bigger than the barn you practice in, and she warned you the room would be full of people. The drone of the crowd echoes around you. You’re perched at the top of your contraption, your steely roundness nestled in a small hole carved into a disposable wooden ice cream spoon. Here’s how Lezly Harrison uses present tense in “With a Cherry on Top” from Flight: A 30th Street Fiction Anthology: In second person, you’re telling the reader what they’re “doing” as they do it instead of what they have already done. It’s the only point of view that uses present tense more often than past tense. Second person works ever better than first person in present tense because the reader is the character. This is a frantic, urgent event, and the use of present tense mimics how the characters are feeling. By using first person present tense, the reader is experiencing the lockdown in real time with the characters and doesn’t know who will make it out alive and who won’t. Shooter is a Breakfast Club meets a school shooting book. I guess she hit her head harder than I thought (8). “What are you talking about?” Izzy looks at her like she’s crazy. Nerd Girl finally shuts up, but she’s still swaying a bit as she backs up to the door. This is the case for Shooter by Caroline Pignat. In that case, first person present tense might be the best choice. Or the events of the story need to be shown in real time. Sometimes you create a character who is so narcissistic, self-centered, or flustered that they are telling the reader what’s happening as it occurs. Present tense works best in first or second person narratives. In these cases, present tense adds to the urgency and tension and increases the story’s pace. Think of those Twitter threads where people tweet out a dramatic event in real time or announcers who describe a live sports event for listeners. However, sometimes we do relate a story as it happens. This is not typically how people tell stories. Maybe it’s because past tense is the traditional and most used tense or maybe it’s because present tense means the author or character is telling the story to the reader as it is happening. When you write in present tense, readers notice. If changing tenses is a tendency of yours, you might need to read through your manuscript only to correct your verb tense. Even then, switching tenses can confuse a reader, so make sure you’re clear and consistent once you make the switch. You shouldn’t be switching between tenses unless you’re switching points of view or pulling the story into the present. Regardless of which tense you choose, you need to be consistent. A good, quick definition and example of those can be found at A Guide to Verb Tenses: 5 Tips for Using Tenses Correctly. There are subcategories of these tenses such as past perfect. In creative writing, future tense is rarely used, so we will focus on past and present tenses. Present tense is when the action is happening right now.įuture tense is when the action hasn’t happened yet. Past tense is when the action has already occurred. Is the action happening right now? Has it already happened? Or will it happen in the future? Tense in creative writing refers to the ending of a verb that conveys when that action took place.
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