Past tense or present tense?

Question

This has probably been asked before, but given the popular choice for writers to use present tense, which do you prefer when writing a short story or novel? Do you write mostly in present tense, reserving past tense for flashbacks and historical narration (family history, etc.) Do you prefer to write in present tense even though the story's events have already happened in the narration? Do you prefer to stick with past tense, not bothering with present? And if you write in present tense, how do you deal with gaps in time passage (ie: when finishing one scene, you decide that the very next scene thakes place two weeks later)?

Answer 1

Thinking about what I've written, I guess I jump between past and present tense in different pieces. When I wrote for a paper, that was in past tense, since what I wrote about had usually just happened. Even for interviews, though the person interviewed would often have something to say that was in present tense, I would quote them in present tense and then go back to past tense for general description in the article.

Present tense can be much more immediate, more accessible to readers... and yes, past tense can then be used for historical narration; past tense in this case should be used carefully though, so it doesn't bring down the buoyancy of a story told in present tense.
When writing in present tense, I find that I do jump ahead in time if the story warrants it. Example: "I am so tired now, so beat up and knocked down by life I'm ready to sleep for at least a week. I know I can't, but that's what I want. (paragraph) I don't often get what I want, but I have slept a good long time during the past week, and I feel renewed..."
Along those lines (but better) for jumping ahead in present tense, and of course even in present tense a character can think about things that have already happened. (past tense)

Most of my stories are in past tense, with several in present tense, too. I enjoy writing both, and I still find all writing of short stories to be a challenge, so I rewrite quite a bit. I have an editor as well who points out what should be obvious to me but never is... and I thank heaven for her! It's good to have someone you trust read a work you consider finished to find out whether it really is or not...

Answer 2

It's a relatively rare popular fiction novel that's in present tense. Past tense, third person limited, is by a huge margin the most widely used. Picking up the books in this room, I'm not seeing a single present-tense approach.

It does lend an immediacy to the story, and opens up the possibility that the narrator/POV character does not survive, whereas past tense, he'd have to have lived.

The way you deal with leaps in time is the same whether you're writing in past or present.

...and so I toss and turn, not finding sleep until near dawn.

* * *

Two weeks later, I see Mrs. Dupree at K-Mart.

or

...and so I tossed and turned, not finding sleep until near dawn.

* * *

Two weeks later, I saw Mrs. Dupree at K-Mart.

The scene break (centered asterisks) tells the reader some time has passed, and the narrator tells how much.

Answer 3

It depends on the point of view I'm telling the story from. If my narrator is a character, then it dpends on if he/she is telling the story as it happens or after it happened.

If the narrator is omniscient, then I usually tell it in past tense.

Answer 4

present tense is best.
write mostly in present tense, reserving past tense for flashbacks and historical narration (family history, etc.)