No tense like the present
“I am only 16% into the book, and I am very, very irritated by the use of the present tense.”
Yes – it’s a review of my novel, Murder in School, taken from Amazon’s British website. (One star, naturally.)
I’m afraid I do write in the present tense, and ‘deservedly’ lose a percentage of readers!
But there is some method in this apparent madness.
It all began when I read John Updike’s Rabbit is Rich.
I became totally hooked by the long opening description in which car dealer Harry ‘Rabbit’ Angstrom watches contentedly from his showroom window as Middle America drives by, guzzling gas, soon to be queuing for his miserly Toyotas.
My reading experience could best be described as ‘filmic’ – I felt like I was in a movie, standing right beside Harry, watching, wondering what was going to happen next. I didn’t know, he didn’t know – but more intriguingly, neither it seemed did Updike.
Then the penny dropped. I thought, “Hey – this is the present tense!”
Like a blinding flash of light it struck me that here is the way to narrate a mystery. (Because, frankly, how can you honestly narrate a mystery in the past tense, when you know the outcome?)
I tried it – and made a second remarkable discovery. Not only as narrator can you convincingly pretend not to know the outcome – you don’t actually need to know it at all! You can wait until your characters provide the solution.
So, if you ever guess one of my whodunits in the first 25,000 words – congratulations! You beat me to it!
Yes – it’s a review of my novel, Murder in School, taken from Amazon’s British website. (One star, naturally.)
I’m afraid I do write in the present tense, and ‘deservedly’ lose a percentage of readers!
But there is some method in this apparent madness.
It all began when I read John Updike’s Rabbit is Rich.
I became totally hooked by the long opening description in which car dealer Harry ‘Rabbit’ Angstrom watches contentedly from his showroom window as Middle America drives by, guzzling gas, soon to be queuing for his miserly Toyotas.
My reading experience could best be described as ‘filmic’ – I felt like I was in a movie, standing right beside Harry, watching, wondering what was going to happen next. I didn’t know, he didn’t know – but more intriguingly, neither it seemed did Updike.
Then the penny dropped. I thought, “Hey – this is the present tense!”
Like a blinding flash of light it struck me that here is the way to narrate a mystery. (Because, frankly, how can you honestly narrate a mystery in the past tense, when you know the outcome?)
I tried it – and made a second remarkable discovery. Not only as narrator can you convincingly pretend not to know the outcome – you don’t actually need to know it at all! You can wait until your characters provide the solution.
So, if you ever guess one of my whodunits in the first 25,000 words – congratulations! You beat me to it!
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Thanks - that's a fascinating perspective and one that is much appreciated - it's not easy to obtain such an insight, and I shall take note.About characters: what I love about Holmes & Watson, Morse & Lewis, Poirot & Hastings... is entering their world - a little soap opera, cosy in a peculiar way... this, for me too, is a major (perhaps the major) attraction of such books.
What is true, though, is that I don't 'pre-plan' the plot. In the novel I am presently writing, I have just worked out a probable scenario, at the 25,000-word mark. I hope that this approach makes the conundrum less obvious for the reader (on the assumption that is what the reader wants!). Certainly, for me, it is much more fun to write this way - and perhaps this is reflected in the characters' energy? And, of course, it provides flexibility for a better idea to come along - having spent my professional career 'inventing' ads, I know that such things often arrive late in the day!
That's what you should have said in the first place. You should write in the way that makes you feel most comfortable. However, that's why present tense makes me feel uncomfortable. I have to imagine the narrator writing the story as it actually happens--actions, feelings, etc. A great burden for any narrator.Anyway, I do appreciate your explanation. I'm sure most authors would not have taken the time.
Thanks - and you're welcome, no trouble at all.
Present tense novels are very common for decades now. I don't see the big deal. Too many readers are stuck in a groove and not able to embrace the wide variety of storytelling out there. I find that very sad.
I'm doing my best to win them over! Thanks for your input.
Just a glance at the GoodReads list of popular present tense novels shows that they are wonderful at telling immediate and intimate stories, and that perhaps younger readers are more comfortable with them, having grown up with them. https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...I enjoyed this article about present tense novels in The Guardian, and it mentions how many writers of historical fiction reach for the present tense to bring the past into the reader's present, to make it seem more immediate, not so far away from the reader: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015...
Wow - what great ammunition - I shall certainly be forwarding these to my agent! Thank you!
If you want to use present tense, just do it, and stop feigning that it's anything more than a device to gain a measure of interest (good or bad) from your readers. I read the books despite your awkward use of the present tense. Hopefully, that should tell you something.