Bruce Beckham's Blog - Posts Tagged "john-mullan"
The present tense
I'm currently reading How Novels Work by John Mullan.
It's a detailed treatise on structure and style and that sort of thing. Quite interesting though.
Something I've come around to is writing in the present tense. Not everyone's favourite, I know, but it's such a relief as a writer not to know the outcome!
Of course, you might know the outcome - but in past tense narration it's obvious to the reader that you must. Writing (and reading) in the present tense is a more filmic experience - events unfold in real time and can take both parties by surprise.
Mullan refers to this 'much rarer' tense, and cites as a good example John Updike's Rabbit novels - near the top of my all-time favourites list, and a collection I must now revisit.
It's a detailed treatise on structure and style and that sort of thing. Quite interesting though.
Something I've come around to is writing in the present tense. Not everyone's favourite, I know, but it's such a relief as a writer not to know the outcome!
Of course, you might know the outcome - but in past tense narration it's obvious to the reader that you must. Writing (and reading) in the present tense is a more filmic experience - events unfold in real time and can take both parties by surprise.
Mullan refers to this 'much rarer' tense, and cites as a good example John Updike's Rabbit novels - near the top of my all-time favourites list, and a collection I must now revisit.
