Living in the Past (or, the Benefits of Past Tense)

Last time I talked about the benefits of writing in present tense, as I’ve observed them in my own reading. Now I’d like to go into some of the down sides, which translate into benefits for past tense.

In my opinion, present tense is suitable for some types of stories much more than others. Personally I think it works best for action-oriented genre fiction like thrillers, urban fantasy, some mystery, and some sci-fi. When used in certain other genres, or certain examples of those listed above, it carries a cost that may be too high. For example:

• Historical fiction. If your primary goal is to put the reader into the action, present tense can work, but it’s pretty likely to result in undue anachronism. People speak differently in each era, and that means they think differently as well. If any genre is more suitable for past tense narration, this is the one, I would think.
• Epic fantasy or sci-fi. I’ve noticed that books like The Lord of the Rings and Dune have a sort of weight to them, as if the events being described were fateful and of great significance. Present tense clearly detracts from this by focusing more on the narrative perspective and less on the import of the events. I just don’t think Aragorn’s or Paul Atreides’ heroic actions would feel as weighty and pivotal if they were written in present tense, though they might carry a little more excitement for modern-minded readers.

There are other down sides to present tense. I can’t list any particular book(s) I’ve seen these problems in, because the author would have no choice but to write around them, but from the perspective of a writer making the decision of which tense to write in, they’re clearly considerations:

• “Little did he know…” is right out. Dustin Hoffman in Stranger than Fiction pointed out the major implications of this construct. Of course, “little did he know” also carries a second issue, suggesting an omniscient narrator, which is a separate topic I brought up recently in another blog entry. But even diluted versions are unavailable in present tense: e.g., “It was only years later that she would realize the man her mother introduced as ‘Uncle Frank’ wasn’t an uncle at all.”
• Present tense makes it much more problematic to temporally rearrange chapters, a la Pulp Fiction or Asimov’s The Gods Themselves. Jumping around in time is awkward to begin with, and the troubles this technique brings are compounded by the sense that in present tense writing, like in life, there’s the sense that events happening now are becoming the past before our eyes. With past tense, it’s less of an issue because everything past is past—it’s only a matter of degree.
• Perhaps the most subtle issue with present tense derives from its primary power. This one is tricky, and maybe I’m imagining it, but bear with me. In my own experiments, I’ve come to believe that present tense can be so effective at bringing the reader into the action that it can serve to pave over mediocre writing. Early on in my own project, I wrote a first draft-level chapter in past tense, then let it sit for a few months. At that time I picked it up and translated it to present tense. The difference in the feel was remarkable. Here was a piece of writing that I knew was not even remotely tuned, and missing quite a bit of texture, and with far from perfect pacing. Reading it in present tense, these flaws were far less noticeable to me—and I knew where the issues were, or some of them at least. This experience was almost enough to convince me that if I do want my book to end up in present tense, I should write it in past tense, tune the hell out of it, and then undertake the painful translation to present tense.

In my own situation, I’ve got a whole first draft in past tense. I chose past tense because I view the genre of the book as epic fantasy, or more accurately, epic urban fantasy. On the other hand, the book contains quite a bit of physical action, and I really like present tense for that.

It’s a tough dilemma, and I don’t have the answer for my own project yet. I guess I’ll write the second draft in past tense and decide then whether to translate it to present tense. If I were writing a shorter form novel like, say, more typical episodic urban fantasy like the Cincinnati Hollows or Dresden Files series, I would very likely choose present tense. But as things stand for my current project…it’s still very much up in the air.