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Post by ScintillaMyntan on Nov 27, 2021 19:13:08 GMT -6
Past or present tense? First or third person? Any second-person future tense edgelords here?
I've never seriously written fiction in present. Past tense is a tradition I haven't seen the need to subvert. I know, though, some people argue that first-person past in particular spoils that the narrator probably lives to tell the story.
I'm sometimes tempted to write all the plot events of the story in past, but still keep ongoing facts in present to give the sense that the characters are still living and stuff is still happening. Like, "Then I approached the door. Back then, I used to be afraid in situations like these; now I'm much braver…" —something along those lines. I don't know if there's a term for that.
Person is a bigger decision for me. I like either first person or a limited third from the point of view of the protagonist or protagonists, since I like the sense of subjectivity and the ability to explore character by seeing what they're thinking directly. I do get the appeal of limited third where readers aren't in on what the protagonist is thinking. There's probably a lot of room for interesting ambiguity in what the protagonist meant by their actions, but I've yet to come up with a story idea where that would be relevant. And it would feel constraining. I like being able to call something beautiful and have it implied that it's the characters thinking that, not me or some extra narrator person intruding upon the story.
The choice between first and close third is probably kind of subtle. I often switch between the two when starting a new piece before I settle on one. I would say first emphasizes more that the reader's understanding of what's happening is limited by the protagonist's understanding of what's happening. In some stories I'd want a little more of that, some a little less. First person also lets me have fun writing in the voice of the character. On the other hand, third makes the piece slightly 'prettier,' in that you can appreciate the story as an artistic thing more when you're a tiny bit more zoomed out, and there's more room for writing in a pretty, elevated way that the protagonist wouldn't think of themselves.
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Post by Alatariel on Nov 28, 2021 0:40:11 GMT -6
I've written in both past and present. Lately, I've taken a liking to doing short storied in present tense BUT it's hard going back and forth. I slipped up in my last contest piece a couple times because I couldn't remember which tense I chose when I'd come back to write the next day. But present tense is fun and can be a challenge, especially when remembering something from the past. Then it can get dicey but I like the challenge. I've never heard that writing in past tense gives away that the narrator lives at the end....I assume if someone is a narrator it means they survive, no matter the tense. As for POV, I have a strong preference for writing in third person limited. I'll read books in both POVs and don't have a preference, but when I'm the author I always default to third. I've written a few short stories in first, but it's rare.
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Post by RAVENEYE on Dec 6, 2021 12:36:47 GMT -6
Past or present tense? Past First or third person? Yes, please Any second-person future tense edgelords here? Never.
I guess I tend toward old-school, traditional forms and default to Past 3rd, with an emphasis on intimate 3rd, not omniscient. Though, on occasion, I love to write in 1st, and more rarely in present. Present 3rd. I'm not sure how I decide, though. I know I consider how many POV characters there will NEED to be. If there's ever more than one, the story must be in 3rd. Other than that, I guess I just start writing, and it's very possible some of my stories would be stronger if I had chosen a different POV from the start. *shrug*
Does anyone write in Present 1st? That sounds weird.
2nd person is an invasion of a reader's brain, IMO. I loathe it. And what the hell is future tense? "You will do this, and you will do that?" That sounds horrible to read, like a drawn-out prophesy of doom, and a bullshit one at that. Eesh. I'm not sure my brain could make the leap and believe that story.
Is there an example of future tense I might peruse?
Anyway, I'm starting to struggle with our current trend of avoiding an omniscient POV, meaning our instructions to avoid head-hopping. While I DO see the purpose of it, sometimes I am also frustrated by the limitations it imposes on characters and how intimate 3rd can drag out word count. To illustrate, I'm currently reading Tepper's sci-fi novel Grass. She head-hops all over the place within a scene. It bugged me at first, threw up a huge red flag -- until I released that "hard and fast rule" as just a "preference" and got over it, then I began to see the effectiveness of it.
We're told that head-hopping makes a reader's head spin and/or keeps us from intimately knowing the key characters. Blah, blah, blah. This is simply not true. While the narration doesn't feel as tight, it's more like we're skating on oil, moving effortlessly from one character to the next, as the events are happening, and so we learn MORE about the key characters in the moment--which prevents the author from having to contrive more scenes, dragging out word count, just so another character's perspective ON THE SAME EVENT can be included.
If done well, a head-hopping omniscient form of narration makes for lush storytelling. So I'm gradually being converted, even if publishers these days may never let me get away with it.
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Post by Caulder Melhaire on Dec 6, 2021 18:20:24 GMT -6
Until this moment, I was not aware that future tense was a thing and now I'm dying to try it LOL. 3rd person limited, past tense is GOAT. Started with 3rd omniscient, but grew to love the ability to shape the world through the eyes of one character at a time. Also keeps my raging info-dumper from downshifting at inappropriate times. I've also done a lot of past 1st, even though, yeah, supposedly it gives away that the narrator lives. But honestly, I don't think I've ever not felt suspense while reading a story on account of that? I guess I just consider the narrator to be a given part of any story, and if them living or dying is important to said story, it will be made clear(er) by other means along the way. I tend to struggle with second person in general because I always feel cheap while writing it. It requires such a massive suspension of disbelief that needs the reader to be open and willing, and your writing to be just that damn good and frankly, I feel weird using "you" that many times in rapid succession. Weirdly, I've found it's much easier for me to write when I direct the story at the character, instead of the reader. My Legends entry - though I never actually finished it - was going to be in second person, but it wasn't so much drawing the reader into the shoes of the character as it was the ghostly specter of me as narrator haunting the character from afar. It's a very small distinction that may not actually be a difference, but it's the only way I can trick my brain into pulling it off. It's also very fun because it makes you feel like an accusatory ghost jabbing fingers from the beyond. I've written a few little things in present 3rd tense, and while I like it, I find it incredibly difficult to end the tale. It always feels very much like saying "and then they did this and the story ended." I've been spoiled by other tenses in that it feels easier to exit the story with a mystical cape flourish than when you're standing there as the curtain careens directly down at your head.
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Post by Alatariel on Dec 6, 2021 19:23:14 GMT -6
Does anyone write in Present 1st? That sounds weird. Hunger games is first person present tense. It's not super common but I like it, generally. The action feels very immediate, which works great for a book series like Hunger Games. "When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping." Not too weird, imo.
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Post by RAVENEYE on Dec 7, 2021 11:53:48 GMT -6
Does anyone write in Present 1st? That sounds weird. Hunger games is first person present tense. It's not super common but I like it, generally. The action feels very immediate, which works great for a book series like Hunger Games. "When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping." Not too weird, imo. Oh, yeah! That sounds nice, engaging. Ok, I can buy into that.
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Post by whaleworkforfood on Dec 24, 2021 0:51:51 GMT -6
As a reader, I don't have a preference for past or present tense. When I write, I'll go back and forth between past and present until I settle on a tense that "feels" correct/natural for the story, though I would not be able to tell you why. I don't think I've ever read anything written in future tense, but I would sure love to just to see how they pull it off. When I read, I again don't have a preference for POV. But I'm probably the odd duck here in that I love playing with 2nd-person. Choose-your-own-adventure books were a big part of my childhood, and one of my favourite novels ever, Italo Calvino's "If on a winter's night, a traveler" is written in 2nd person. I'll always entertain (no matter how briefly) the idea of using 2nd person POV when I write, just to see what it would feel like. I do write in 1st person POV, but almost never in 3rd person. Anyway, I'm starting to struggle with our current trend of avoiding an omniscient POV, meaning our instructions to avoid head-hopping. While I DO see the purpose of it, sometimes I am also frustrated by the limitations it imposes on characters and how intimate 3rd can drag out word count. To illustrate, I'm currently reading Tepper's sci-fi novel Grass. She head-hops all over the place within a scene. It bugged me at first, threw up a huge red flag -- until I released that "hard and fast rule" as just a "preference" and got over it, then I began to see the effectiveness of it. We're told that head-hopping makes a reader's head spin and/or keeps us from intimately knowing the key characters. Blah, blah, blah. This is simply not true. While the narration doesn't feel as tight, it's more like we're skating on oil, moving effortlessly from one character to the next, as the events are happening, and so we learn MORE about the key characters in the moment--which prevents the author from having to contrive more scenes, dragging out word count, just so another character's perspective ON THE SAME EVENT can be included. If done well, a head-hopping omniscient form of narration makes for lush storytelling. So I'm gradually being converted, even if publishers these days may never let me get away with it. I agree with this so much. I also dislike this modern snubbing of omniscient POVs (I mean, Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse" is written in omniscient). There's no inherently "inferior" POV. Different perspectives have different strengths and traits, and I think discouraging writers from exploring certain POVs or instantly labeling a work as "bad" when they use a certain POV does nobody any favours.
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