Choosing Past or Present Tense—Brandon Sanderson

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[lindsaymorrison]

"And the truth of it is... It doesn't matter which one you pick."
Keeping it real 👏👏👏 Love blunt Brandon

[mlufii]

Native English speaker: can't choose between past or present tense

Me a non native English speaker: *laugh in language that didn't have a past tense or present tense

[antoinemonks]

Wow, after hearing 'always use past tense' for years, one of the genre's foremost writers says 'it doesn't matter.' Where has he been all my life?

[Rinzler.]

As an autistic person I find the idea of the book you mentioned to be very interesting. Not only do we see the world differently because our brains are wired in a unique way from all others, we also have trouble understanding others and expressing want we want. So in general communication of all types such as vocal or body languages can and do confuse us just like the changing of tenses in the book would throw the reader way off there thought tracks. It a good way to demonstrate the struggles of an autistic person like myself. Life is a struggle but we do have grand abilities and a strong focus for our special interests, I would always take the good with the bad because they make me who I am. To be honest I would never take the supposed fictional cure because I like who I am... generally it’s others who don’t, but why should I change who I am for others. Never as I am kind, caring, empathetic and strong focused on my passion for writing and my love of reading books. I just find making stories and hearing them comforting. They take me to a place we’re I feel that I can relate and even belong, where in the normal world it’s something often out of my reach and at times impossible to achieve and that is because other never accept who I am or the things which interest me. That said I would never take a cure for why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary.

[joshuasims]

Fun fact: in Mongolian novels, present tense is used for a sense of immediacy, but it is used alongside past tense, so you can get both in the same chapter or paragraph! I bet this is true in some other languages as well.

[EscuadronAlfa]

Other solution is write one saga of books in present, and other saga in past

[OtepRalloma]

I generally prefer past tense for writing, though in D&D I like present tense. Though in stories, if we're hopping between literal past and present, swapping between the two can fit

[wezul]

Thank you, I am so glad to hear this! I have been trying to write in first-person-present because I want to keep the story intimately focused on my main character's POV... but it's SO HARD for me, because my default writing voice is third-person-past. I've been fretting over it a lot! I finally started over with third-person-past because first-person-present was limiting my ability to describe the world in a way that made sense to readers. It's a totally different world, no humans or demi-humans, not Earth, so I really need the freedom to describe stuff beyond what the main character would think about. So I'm glad to hear that, in the end, I can just write in the voice that works best for ME, and it will still be okay for the STORY! :)

[monikastaron]

For me it is not really about the tense I use, but about the narrator. So if I, want a narrator-storyteller, I would choose third person, past tense (because he is telling a story he witnessed or just knows), but if I want to show my characters emotions I choose a personal narrator who gives me access to characters thoughts or first person. And here it gets tricky, because if I use present, I indicate, that it is happening now, in the moment of reading, which "kills" the omnious narrator or gives the impression, that the character is the narrator, but when I use past I usually try to say: my character/s went through something and is/are telling a story.

[seamuspautz]

The Warhammer 40k Horus Heresy novel "Know No Fear" is a great example of effective use of present tense narration in scifi-fantasy.

[PureMagma]

OMG! I am so glad that you brushed onto this topic. I have read a few books by an author (who is very popular right now... so I won't mention her name) but she occasionally slips between past and present tense in a single sentence! The first sentence of her most recent book does this using ten words: present tense words begin the descriptive, more present tense words mid-sentence and then past tense final thought. The book overall is very good, but the cadence disrupting descriptions take me out of a story. I use it as motivation to take out my 'work-in-progress story' and look more closely at my own word/structure choices.

[ppgoatc.j.watson]

Check out “Under Heaven” by Guy Gavriel Kay. Men are written in past, women in present. I think it might be a statement about how the world then perceives mens’ actions/lives/choices to have historical weight. While women are forced to contend with being mere implements, set adrift in their plans.

[TheAireaidLord]

I find my protagonist often dictates the tense. For example, an epic percy jackson-like adventure of heroism, and bravery, and a gauntlet of complex enemies and systems leans me into past because I feel my protagonist is retelling this epic tale at some point in the future and he/she can look back with sentiment or disgust (depending POV too). But if the protagonist has an arc that's mainly rooted in the character rather than a grand external stage, I like the immediacy of present tense.

[gowzahr]

First person present tense is immersion breaking. "He's pointing a gun at me." Stop talking to me and run.

[Kittsuera]

And suddenly the comment section became tense with thoughts on the past present and future.

[jimmychurch]

This is something I have to look out for, I’ll catch myself changing sometimes. I do all my direct thought in present and everything else in past. My thinking is that (in first person) the character is telling the story as if it just happened and the thought is currently happening. 🤷🏻‍♂️hopefully it reads well haha.

[nilsselbach]

As a non-native english speaker i would probably agree.I cannot remember what the last books i read used. But then again my taste is not really focused on such a detail. I mostly read for the story or characters and i have not come to the point where i could appreciate such things in english writing.

[Joka]

Anybody know which author he's talking about who switched tenses mid-book for no reason?

[Fonan]

Past, Present and Future Tense are overrated. Give me books told in the Conditional Tense.

[stevemarethyu]

I haven't read many books in present tense, but I remember noticing partway through Andrew Clements' Things Not Seen that the book was in present tense and that it was adding a sense of tension to the story for me. It worked well in that book, but I generally prefer past tense.