I am just trying to get people's opinion about writing styles and how enjoyable they are to read them. Present tense writing seems a little bit annoying to me because not too much is written this way, and I'm just not used to it. I've been trying to write using the present tense but would like to know other's opinions before I get too far.
2006-10-07 14:54:42 · 9 answers · asked by ScareBear 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Being that we live in a society of fast readers and people who want to jump right to being involved in the story, it would appear that the more present tensely related they are, the readers seem to feel connected to the here and now. The problem that sometimes arises is confluency and consistency in the writing. The best thing to do is to write as the incident is occurring in the writer's mind so that the readers will feel just as enraptured as you were when you wrote the story. It is a better way to relate to characters.
2006-10-07 15:01:19 · answer #1 · answered by Inda Mist 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think I've ever read a book written in the present tense. It might be annoying...lets see:
It's a Saturday night. I'm sitting at work (aka hell) trying to kill some time on the internet. The darkness surrounds my office & the full moon smiles at me, warning me this wil be another crazy October night...
Ok no I guess it would have a certain immediacy. It would have to be in the first person though...
She walks across the street toward her car. She catches a whiff of the drunken male passed out on the lawn. Just another night downtown...
Hmm I don't know. Good luck though! It can't hurt to experiment!
2006-10-07 22:03:08 · answer #2 · answered by amp 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the storyline and the pov. It would work better from first-person than third-person, I'd think. I've read a few present tense stories, and I find them to be rather a breath of fresh air--something different than what I'm used to.
2006-10-07 22:43:26 · answer #3 · answered by willow oak 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the story is good- why not!
Make your own path and since you probally have your own style like most writers.
I'm working on a book written in first person- a little egocentric but in todays world I've been told by teens that they are egocentric so why not!
2006-10-08 00:57:11 · answer #4 · answered by LostInTheCrowd 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I feel the same way. I much prefer books written in past-tense...
2006-10-07 21:58:55 · answer #5 · answered by Haven 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They have to be pretty damn good to suit me.
If you write present tense, the narrator's standpoint is much less secure. It makes it harder to use irony of the "little did he know that" type.
2006-10-07 23:50:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I despise it. Just something about it doesn't sound right in my head. I have tried again and again but just can't get into them. I have a brand new book sitting on my shelf, unread, that I stopped within 10 words because it was.
2014-01-23 06:10:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't like it either. I remember thinking how distracting it was when reading Less Than Zero back in the 1980s.
Edit: Oops, I just remembered it was the "second person" narrator that irritated me in Less Than Zero.
2006-10-08 02:28:30 · answer #8 · answered by mistersato 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It would not bother me any if it was a good story.
2006-10-07 21:57:59 · answer #9 · answered by redunicorn 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋