TIME AND AGAIN – TENSE AND PERSON IN WRITING
Fiction books are traditionally consist of a narrative and dialog. The narrative is traditionally past tense and dialog is traditionally present tense (though there may be deviations in either part depending on timing, both absolute — in relation to the entire storyline — or relative — in relation to each element. This difference in tense helps the reader easily distinguish between the two, the narration of which is generally considered “fact,” and the dialog “opinion.” There are also traditional exceptions.
For instance, a diary or personal journal might be wholly narrative, written in the writer’s present, past, future (or other tense) as one might when writing day-to-day in a diary or journal. It’s generally believed that reading narration in the present tense can create a sense of current intrigue, as if one were reading something not meant to be read, or even voyeuring. Present tense has also been used to fix the action in the reader’s present, making it supposedly more “palpable.’. Similarly, narration in fiction is traditionally written in the third person (he, she, it), while dialog can appear in any person depending on the speaker(s) and the subject/object(s). Diaries are often in the first person.
More experienced authors tend to write for a broad target audience with traditional reading expectations. One interesting exception is science fiction/fantasy. By definition, it is in the future, therefore, technically it should be written in future tense; however, often it is written in traditional format to make the work an “easier read,” or in mixed tenses (e.g. perfect tenses) which, while they highlight a writer’s dexterity, are often anything but perfect for many readers.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor is a good example of a new genre of sci-fi (the author calls it “science-based futuring” or sci-fu) where not only does the entire storyline exist in the future, but it incorporates frequent present tense episodes, past tense flashbacks and future tense speculation as well as thoughts in addition to actual spoken dialog. The challenge in writing it was to utilize tense in a “clear, complete, concise and correct” manner so as to provide readers as much as possible with a “clean, easy read.” NOTE: Authors, editors and publishers often refer to the 3 (or 4) C’s — clarity, completeness, conciseness and correctness — as being of primary reading importance in that order. The goal with THE EDGE OF MADNESS was to create a balance of intriguing palpable present, factual past, speculative “future-future” all with a clear, clean, easy but mature read.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 – Kindle eBook on sale through September 2020!
For instance, a diary or personal journal might be wholly narrative, written in the writer’s present, past, future (or other tense) as one might when writing day-to-day in a diary or journal. It’s generally believed that reading narration in the present tense can create a sense of current intrigue, as if one were reading something not meant to be read, or even voyeuring. Present tense has also been used to fix the action in the reader’s present, making it supposedly more “palpable.’. Similarly, narration in fiction is traditionally written in the third person (he, she, it), while dialog can appear in any person depending on the speaker(s) and the subject/object(s). Diaries are often in the first person.
More experienced authors tend to write for a broad target audience with traditional reading expectations. One interesting exception is science fiction/fantasy. By definition, it is in the future, therefore, technically it should be written in future tense; however, often it is written in traditional format to make the work an “easier read,” or in mixed tenses (e.g. perfect tenses) which, while they highlight a writer’s dexterity, are often anything but perfect for many readers.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor is a good example of a new genre of sci-fi (the author calls it “science-based futuring” or sci-fu) where not only does the entire storyline exist in the future, but it incorporates frequent present tense episodes, past tense flashbacks and future tense speculation as well as thoughts in addition to actual spoken dialog. The challenge in writing it was to utilize tense in a “clear, complete, concise and correct” manner so as to provide readers as much as possible with a “clean, easy read.” NOTE: Authors, editors and publishers often refer to the 3 (or 4) C’s — clarity, completeness, conciseness and correctness — as being of primary reading importance in that order. The goal with THE EDGE OF MADNESS was to create a balance of intriguing palpable present, factual past, speculative “future-future” all with a clear, clean, easy but mature read.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 – Kindle eBook on sale through September 2020!
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