How Tense Are You?

Why So Tense?

Well, first I want to thank everyone for their patience. April is a busy month, and May has been my catch up month. I think I've thanked everyone for their comments, reviewed one of the stories (with the second to be done shortly), and worked a little bit on my next short story. This article should "officially" get me back on track. It's those darn NHL playoffs, I tell you!

I give everyone fair warning that the topic for this article will probably not excite you. As a matter of fact, you probably don't really spend too much time thinking about this area of your writing. This, of course, can be a mistake. Still, your argument might go something like this..."Who really wants to ponder basic grammar when there's so much exciting plot and theme to put on the page?" Well, it's my belief that thinking about this area is important and will make those characters, and your plot, and your theme coherent and understandable. Today's topic is the use of tense in your story.

Ok, first an aside...

You've probably been told that when you are writing your short story it is important to "banish your internal editor" while you create. Generally this is sound advice. However, what I've found in my writing when trying to put my great story idea on to paper is that I when I don't first visit with my internal editor I am often left with nothing but some glop, mostly incoherent, which makes me cringe as I read it on my computer screen or paper. So, take the time, plan your story as best you can, and then let that muse free uninhibited by that nosy busy-body telling you that a comma is needed there or a bit of dialogue would be useful. That editor guy (or gal) can come back after you've got your first bits down. Just don't neglect him (or her) before you begin.

Great, I feel better now. On with the show...

Why bother thinking about tense? I mean, you can just start and see how it goes right? Well, I've found that by spending some time considering which tense to use, especially when coupled with point of view, you can eliminate a considerable amount of time rewriting pages of story which you don't like because of the use of a tense which does not fit.

Well, what are the particulars about tense. I did some quick reading of a number of writing.com short stories this last week to get a feel for what tenses are the most used. The results were not surprising.

Before I lay out what I've found, I will be upfront and admit that my feelings about why certain tenses are used is pure conjecture. I feel pretty good that I'm at least on the right track, but I've done no real research into this.

Back to the results of my reading...

The majority of stories that I read used the past tense. Based on the fact that so many stories use the past tense it would appear to be the best tense to describe, characterize, and create action. The past tense puts the reader into the action while allowing the action to move along at the "correct" pace. The other reason that I found the past tense to be so effective is that when reading a story written in past tense, my "mind's eye" translated the story into present tense allowing me to be engaged with the story. I did not notice that the actions and characterizations had, by definition, already occurred. Because I tweaked the tense to present, I felt as though I was there. There were times, however, that when the past tense was used I still could not bring the action home. I tried to adjust these stories to present tense and, in most cases, it seemed to read better. Which bring us to...

The second most used tense is present tense. This is especially true when the first person point of view is used or when the writing is in journal style (or both). The benefit of the use of present tense is that the reader doesn't have to do any mental gymnastics to become part of the action. The present tense puts you right into the scene. Another benefit is, if you are trying to create an unreliable narrator, you can be more subtle and creative by using the present tense. I did find that it seemed that in some cases it was more difficult to keep me in the author's fictional reality when using the present tense, and it seemed that it was more difficult to develop multiple characterizations when using the present tense. This was more obvious when something other than first person point of view was used.

The two tenses are the predominant tenses used when creating stories. Now, the really good stories mixed some tenses into the pages, especially when using dialogue. I found that in stories based in the past tense, you could help the action or plot by using some present tense writing during conversations. Present tense stories were enhanced by the use of future tense, especially as a means to build suspense. These changes helped keep the writing fresh and easy to read. Still...

One of the traps that writers can fall into when trying to mix tenses within a story is the dreaded tense shift. I'll try to be clear here. It seems to be a good thing to occasionally mix a change in tense into the story. It is a bad thing to change the primary tense as you move from sentence to sentence or paragraph to paragraph. There is a difference. Nothing can jar the reader more than when a story, written in past tense, suddenly becomes something in the present tense. The answer is simple: Don't do it! Don't do it! Don't do it!

If you think a bit about the tense you want to use and then let your writing muse free, you shouldn't feel tense about writing at all. So, there, we end on a bad pun!

Writing Exercise: Create a brief, one or two paragraph scene. The scene can be about anything, no limits here, but you should have some action included. Now, try to write the same scene using a different tense. It is best if you can stay in the same point of view, but if you need to change point of view, you can.

Happy writing to all!