Comments on: Present Tense and Missing Titles http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/ America's Mad Professor of Fiction Writing Mon, 21 May 2012 04:08:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.3 By: Christophe Desmecht http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-15985 Christophe Desmecht Fri, 21 Jan 2011 07:46:35 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-15985 Oh, go on! I like a good contest :) Oh, go on! I like a good contest :)

]]> By: Christophe Desmecht http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-15988 Christophe Desmecht Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:42:03 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-15988 I'm not sure why, but sometimes I find myself writing something in present tense, for no apparent reason. I don't think I've ever made the conscious choice of using present or past tense. There's a very distinct difference in how the writing "feels" and when I read back what I've written, it also reads differently. I don't have an explanation, and I for one would love to learn more about the difference between the two. If I had to take a wild stab in the dark, I would say that present-tense stories tend to feel more "real" or realistic. I don't think, for example, that fantasy novels in present tense would ever work. This is certainly food for discussion. I'd love to hear what others have to say on this subject! I’m not sure why, but sometimes I find myself writing something in present tense, for no apparent reason. I don’t think I’ve ever made the conscious choice of using present or past tense. There’s a very distinct difference in how the writing “feels” and when I read back what I’ve written, it also reads differently.

I don’t have an explanation, and I for one would love to learn more about the difference between the two.

If I had to take a wild stab in the dark, I would say that present-tense stories tend to feel more “real” or realistic. I don’t think, for example, that fantasy novels in present tense would ever work.

This is certainly food for discussion. I’d love to hear what others have to say on this subject!

]]> By: Alastair Mayer http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-15992 Alastair Mayer Fri, 21 Jan 2011 10:41:16 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-15992 Personally, I hate present tense. Especially third person present, which reads (to me) like stage direction. In first person a skilled author can pull it off, (Jeanne Stein's Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles come to mind -- it fits her voice) but otherwise it just raises the bar. As for titles, I have a terrible time with them myself. For short stories with a twist ending I'll try to put a pun in the title that only becomes obvious in retrospect, but that's hard to do and doesn't work for longer stories or novels. However, a "working title" is good enough for a novel; as you said, chances are the publisher will change it anyway. Personally, I hate present tense. Especially third person present, which reads (to me) like stage direction. In first person a skilled author can pull it off, (Jeanne Stein’s Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles come to mind — it fits her voice) but otherwise it just raises the bar.

As for titles, I have a terrible time with them myself. For short stories with a twist ending I’ll try to put a pun in the title that only becomes obvious in retrospect, but that’s hard to do and doesn’t work for longer stories or novels. However, a “working title” is good enough for a novel; as you said, chances are the publisher will change it anyway.

]]> By: James Thayer http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16000 James Thayer Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:08:57 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16000 John Updike's 1959 novel Rabbit, Run, may have been the first novel written in the present tense, but Updike says two other writers were first: Damon Runyon and Joyce Cary. Updike said: "In Rabbit, Run, I liked writing in the present tense. You can move between minds, between thoughts and objects and events with a curious ease not available to the past tense. I don't know if it is clear to the reader as it is to the person writing, but there are kinds of poetry, kinds of music you can strike off in the present tense." Here's a terrific example of the present tense, from Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup (originally titled Q&A): "Now Godbole calls me that, and worse. I sit cross-legged in a ten-by-six-footcell wth a rusty metal door and a small square window with a grille through which a shaft of dusty sunlight streams into the room. The lockup is hot and humid. Flies buzz around the mushy remains of an overripe mango lying squished on the stone floor. A sad-looking cockroach lumbers up to my leg. I am beginning to feel hungry. My stomach growls." Present tense lends an immediacy to the story, but a lot of writers find it gimmicky. John Updike’s 1959 novel Rabbit, Run, may have been the first novel written in the present tense, but Updike says two other writers were first: Damon Runyon and Joyce Cary. Updike said: “In Rabbit, Run, I liked writing in the present tense. You can move between minds, between thoughts and objects and events with a curious ease not available to the past tense. I don’t know if it is clear to the reader as it is to the person writing, but there are kinds of poetry, kinds of music you can strike off in the present tense.”
Here’s a terrific example of the present tense, from Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup (originally titled Q&A):
“Now Godbole calls me that, and worse. I sit cross-legged in a ten-by-six-footcell wth a rusty metal door and a small square window with a grille through which a shaft of dusty sunlight streams into the room. The lockup is hot and humid. Flies buzz around the mushy remains of an overripe mango lying squished on the stone floor. A sad-looking cockroach lumbers up to my leg. I am beginning to feel hungry. My stomach growls.”
Present tense lends an immediacy to the story, but a lot of writers find it gimmicky.

]]> By: Jonathan Cain http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16002 Jonathan Cain Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:22:31 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16002 Has anyone ever read Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates? I'm pretty sure that it was written in present tense but I can't remember...also experimental fiction like Infinite Jest sometimes uses it in order to break from the traditional "fiction experience". Sometimes I feel like first person is an easier way for an author to create an emotional experience for their reader, But I don't know if that is more a function of author or tense. Has anyone ever read Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates? I’m pretty sure that it was written in present tense but I can’t remember…also experimental fiction like Infinite Jest sometimes uses it in order to break from the traditional “fiction experience”.

Sometimes I feel like first person is an easier way for an author to create an emotional experience for their reader, But I don’t know if that is more a function of author or tense.

]]> By: Don http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16003 Don Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:18:53 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16003 An especially effective use of present tense can be found in one of Guy Gavriel Kay's books (sorry, don't remember the title -- it's one in an earlier trilogy, the one involving a ghost realm). The bulk of the story is done in the usual past tense, but then he put the key conflict (climax) chapter in present tense. The shift blew me away. You feel like your face is suddenly pressed up against the screen, from having been sitting back in your chair enjoying the entertainment. An especially effective use of present tense can be found in one of Guy Gavriel Kay’s books (sorry, don’t remember the title — it’s one in an earlier trilogy, the one involving a ghost realm).

The bulk of the story is done in the usual past tense, but then he put the key conflict (climax) chapter in present tense. The shift blew me away. You feel like your face is suddenly pressed up against the screen, from having been sitting back in your chair enjoying the entertainment.

]]> By: carlos de la Parra http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16004 carlos de la Parra Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:30:54 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16004 I can suggest also disconnected titles that can provide with an intelligent omission such as : " I did not cause the Katrina disaster". "A refusal to become a monster." "That is not the name of the game." I can suggest also disconnected titles that can provide with an intelligent omission such as :

” I did not cause the Katrina disaster”.

“A refusal to become a monster.”

“That is not the name of the game.”

]]> By: Andrea http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16009 Andrea Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:46:37 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16009 About titles... I would argue that you need to come up with a whole list of titles that would work for your book rather than just one. Keep your favourite as a working title, but being able to give your agent or editor a list of 10 or 20 that you would be happy with heads off the dreaded publishing house committee choosing a title based solely on a 25 word pitch and a list of "hot" words from the marketing department. An added bonus is that having to identify 20 different title possibilities forces you to delve into what the story is really about and what themes and motifs you have incorporated into it. A final read-through after picking your list of titles may show up areas where you could punch up the imagery or strenghten a theme or motif to the betterment of the book. About titles… I would argue that you need to come up with a whole list of titles that would work for your book rather than just one. Keep your favourite as a working title, but being able to give your agent or editor a list of 10 or 20 that you would be happy with heads off the dreaded publishing house committee choosing a title based solely on a 25 word pitch and a list of “hot” words from the marketing department.

An added bonus is that having to identify 20 different title possibilities forces you to delve into what the story is really about and what themes and motifs you have incorporated into it. A final read-through after picking your list of titles may show up areas where you could punch up the imagery or strenghten a theme or motif to the betterment of the book.

]]> By: Sarah Allen http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16010 Sarah Allen Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:50:13 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16010 Great advice! Particularly about the titles. I am just starting a new novel and have yet to come up with a title, but this is giving me motivation to work on that. Thanks! Sarah Allen (<a href="http://fromsarahwithjoy.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">my creative writing blog</a>) Great advice! Particularly about the titles. I am just starting a new novel and have yet to come up with a title, but this is giving me motivation to work on that. Thanks!

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

]]> By: Dylan http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16014 Dylan Fri, 21 Jan 2011 23:02:25 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16014 I like the idea of doing a contest for the book name. As far as tense is concerned, I am a fan of past tense with a 3rd party perspective. But that's just one opinion of many that differ. I like the idea of doing a contest for the book name.

As far as tense is concerned, I am a fan of past tense with a 3rd party perspective. But that’s just one opinion of many that differ.

]]> By: Kim Miller http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16043 Kim Miller Sat, 22 Jan 2011 11:55:23 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16043 I've made a change from past to present tense in a short story to highlight a significant change in the attention of the MC. The MC gets physically attacked which throws him into a flashback of childhood abuse. The story is in past tense until the flashback, and returns to past tense as his consciousness returns. I also find present tense demands more attention from me the reader. I’ve made a change from past to present tense in a short story to highlight a significant change in the attention of the MC. The MC gets physically attacked which throws him into a flashback of childhood abuse. The story is in past tense until the flashback, and returns to past tense as his consciousness returns.

I also find present tense demands more attention from me the reader.

]]> By: Cathi http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16404 Cathi Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:08:03 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/01/20/present-tense-and-missing-titles/#comment-16404 Thanks for answering my question, Randy. I've come up with several titles, but like you said, the perfectionist in me isn't set on any of them. I'll take you up on that contest idea. I'll reply to your e-mail with the requested information shortly. Thanks for answering my question, Randy. I’ve come up with several titles, but like you said, the perfectionist in me isn’t set on any of them.

I’ll take you up on that contest idea. I’ll reply to your e-mail with the requested information shortly.

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