Fair enough and thanks for the explanation. I feel exactly the same about novels written in, uum, second-person, is it?? "You pour your third scotch of the night and start to feel a little tipsy" ARRGGHHH!!! Thankfully they're as rare as rocking horse dodah.
Or Caroline Kepnes "You". It's not written exclusively in second person but a good part of it is, and even though I thought it strange when I heard of it and it took me a few pages to get used to it, I really liked it!
Just to add my 2p... I am also not very much a fan of present tense, but like @ChickenFreak , I know how separate my personal preference from what is actually happening in the world of literature and what is clearly stocking many shelves in your local bookseller. Even in its older incarnations, I'm not a fan. I tried to get into Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence - I'm a huge sucker for all that Victorian/Edwardian fra-fra-fra - but the present tense of the story was off-putting... for me.
I like the present tense version better. It makes the character seem more three dimensional. I have no problem with reading a story written in present tense as long as the story maintains consistent quality.
Not that it was your intention to put me off using this style, but if had been you couldn't have done it better than with this statement. I don't want to be like everyone else out there and will do anything* to separate myself from the masses. * Except write in second-person.
True, but I'm not sure I want to be part of a 'trend'. I'll carry on in P(resent)T for now, but if it starts to feel forced I'll have to rethink.
I like writing present tense and have used it for a few stories, but it's definitely a tricky tense. I think it's easier to get it wrong than get it right. Which is probably why it's gotten a don't-like-it reputation. Your sentence sounds fine to me though.
Not sure how many of you have read it, but the first chapter of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic is a good example of what I consider a good, first-person present tense narrative. After this they switch to third person past for the remaining 4 chapters (they're looooong chapters). Not entirely sure what their thinking was and why they decided to write the first chapter in the present tense, but then I've only just started the second chapter so maybe their reason for doing so will become clear.
If present tense feels right and comfortable to you, nothing says you can't write your first draft that way and then translate into past tense in a later draft... if you feel it's not going to fly with a publisher or whatever.
Tense switching is one of my grammar problems that I keep missing. I read any of books and I notice some of them have exposition in present tense when the book is written in past tense. Is using present tense exposition fine in a past tense book, or is it just poor writing.
Can you clarify what you mean by exposition? It would be fairly normal for dialogue or literal thought to be in present tense. Can you give any examples?
You employ present tense when it's required. Though it can be tricky at times. This paragraph was a bit tricky; it begins as standard exposition... but as she takes mental note of what she sees from her window the tense changes with it, to present tense. Her attention shifted to the lone window in the room. She wiped a spot clean with her palm and peered out to the plaza below; gaslight cast the world in sepia—couples out for an evening stroll, revelers mingling outside the Jolly Robin Tavern, a horse-drawn carriage rounding onto Waterfront Street. She turned her gaze upward to see a winter moon behind a bruised sky, its dull light dusting the peaks of cypresses and the rooftops of the cruddy buildings that sprawled across the street. Dusk had given way to the blacker end of night. She reckoned it was half past eight, more or less, and she would soon be called on. A chilly draft found its way in through a broken windowpane. She rubbed her hands together to conjure some warmth, took a sip of tea that'd gone cold, shut her book, and placed it on the windowsill against the broken pane.
I'm failing to find the present tense? The "--couples out.." feels like a list rather than a tense change, though you may be referring to something else.
Exposition sought as background information and character thoughts. Like the character is telling something that is happening now, even though the entire story happened in the past. For example: Benny walked down the street, late at night. There are still cyborgs roaming around in the city, but they are harmless to the people. The first sentence is in past tense, and the second switches to present tense to indicate that there are still cyborgs in the city toward this present.
Yes, as beautifully written as @Iain Sparrow's's passage is, I'm not spotting the switch to present tense either.
Yes, these things can be tricky. I'm writing in close 3rd past, but frequently refer to 'now' and 'tomorrow'. I too get a little confused when referring to something which forces me to ask 'is this still the case?' (in which case I need to say 'is') or does what I'm referring to no longer exist? (in which case I need to use 'was') In @MilesTro example he's forced to make a decision; are the cyborgs still roaming the streets, or have the cyborgs gone at the time of writing? I expect there's a literary term for this switching, but I don't know what it is.
First off, your verb agreement is incorrect for the present tense; 'gaslight castS the world in Sepia.' Also, if you are referring to the above as being in 'present tense' they are not. These are not verb-phrases; these are absolute phrases and function completely different and independent from whatever tense you are in. -OJB
Yes, it is an easy fix as you've done if that is what Ian is, in fact, going for. Absolute phrases, however, are not bad as they can really add to the richness of your prose. I am not sure what Ian is aiming for, but from what I am gathering 'Gaslight casts' is the main clauses in the present tense, and the following phrases are meant to modify it. Can you give me a specific book/chapter that does this? I'm not saying it isn't done, but it is hard to offer advice when I don't have something I can read, look at, and give thoughts too. Also, I think people don't always understand the difference between a verbal phrase and a verb phrase.
Okay, a Verbal is a verb that is being used as a noun (singing), an adjective (Covered), or as an adverb (to kill). Let me give some examples to show the difference. The bird sings. (Sing is being used as a verb right here) The singing bird flew. (Singing -a verbal- is being used to describe the bird.) Singing filled the room. (Singing is being used as a noun) The bird loves to sing. ('to sing' is an adverb as it modifies the verb 'loves.') Nooses hanging off branches, I walked past the trees. (This is one I think gets a lot of people. 'Nooses hanging off branches' is an absolute phrase -a noun + a verbal- it modifies the entire main clause.
