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  1. GlitterRain7

    GlitterRain7 Galaxy Girl Contributor

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    Tips?

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by GlitterRain7, Nov 13, 2017.

    Does anyone have any tips for writing in first person present tense? Any help is appreciated.
     
  2. DaydreamerGPSA

    DaydreamerGPSA Member

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    That can be quite tricky if you've never done it before. First person present tense is almost like you're writing your characters thoughts, because they're perceiving everything at the moment. Never done it before, but let's see if I can help.

    No use of past tense verbs is a must. Sounds obvious, but if you've never done it before you're probably gonna commit some mistakes.

    Try to imagine your character thinking. Imagine them perceiving the world at that very moment. What would their eyes focus on a room? What is going on in their head? Do their thoughts get interrupted often? Do their minds go on tangents or stay focused? Do they pay much attention to things or do they let many details pass them by? You need to REALLY understand your character's mind at that particular moment.

    Maybe you don't necessarily have to do like you're writing their thoughts, but that's the path that seems most obvious to me. Hope it helps a little.
     
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  3. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    For a question this general, my advice would just be to read some 1p present tense books. See what you need to work on firsthand.
     
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  4. OJB

    OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

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    Originally, when I started out, I wrote in present tense.

    Two things:

    1. Watch your Verb agreements.
    2. Be careful not to slip into past tense.
     
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  5. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I've done a fair bit of present-tense writing, although usually third person (and once second - that was fun!) and I agree with @izzybot that reading a lot of stuff in the POV you're planning to use can be valuable. Ideally you don't want to be thinking about POV at all while you're writing... you want it to flow naturally. And I think the best way to make it feel natural is to immerse yourself in it. If most/all of your reading, for a while, is in first-person-present, you'll hopefully internalize that structure and when you start to write it's what will come out.

    Other than that? I don't think there's anything unique about the POV that would lead to unique tips.
     
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  6. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    Why would you want to do that?

    I'm not saying it's bad, wrong or impossibly difficult to do; I'm simply querying what is your reason for wanting to write in a specific and (I suspect) unusual way. From my perspective, I'd rather write it the way I feel; maybe I'd rewrite in a different POV/tense if, on re-reading, it didn't feel right.
     
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  7. GlitterRain7

    GlitterRain7 Galaxy Girl Contributor

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    It would probably be considered the best POV for this specific WIP, which is YA fiction. I'm just convinced that I'm not doing all that great so far in using the present tense part.
     

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