Hrm, thank you. That's really quite informative. I guess I currently write in present tense (I used to write only in past) because I've found in the fic I read (admittedly not much Tolkien, and mostly SGA, which is a thing in and of itself), I enjoy present tense, when handled correctly. I also enjoy multiple-POV if done for a specific purpose and not because the writer is lazy. I find it interesting that you find it tiring; I've never really thought of fic as tiring. Frustrating, annoying, just plain bad, but never tiring.
That said, I think past tense is simpler (the neutral tone of tenses), and when I beta new writers I recommend they use it because it is a more natural storytelling style. (And if it's fanfic of a book - Tolkien and HP being the biggies - then I insist on past tense, as I've never read a novel not in past tense.)
I know I've heard an argument for episodic fic (again with the TV show thing) present tense seems to read more like the show, and feels more immediate. *shrug*
It only concerns me because I'd hate to have people not read a story I've written because of something like tense. Personally, I read just about anything, as long as it's decent writing, so a vehement reaction to tense is tough for me to understand. I notice it (though if it's really well done I don't) but it doesn't make me stop reading. I have friends who will stop reading, and I... I just don't get it.
I don't write much multi-POV anymore, and I've never written first person or future tense or anything else more 'unusual' than present tense. I almost want to try these things out now; I wonder if there isn't some way to make them more palatable? On the other hand, I prefer to let the story guide things, and framing something in a particular way seems like it'd be certain death to the story element.
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-11 04:22 am (UTC)That said, I think past tense is simpler (the neutral tone of tenses), and when I beta new writers I recommend they use it because it is a more natural storytelling style. (And if it's fanfic of a book - Tolkien and HP being the biggies - then I insist on past tense, as I've never read a novel not in past tense.)
I know I've heard an argument for episodic fic (again with the TV show thing) present tense seems to read more like the show, and feels more immediate. *shrug*
It only concerns me because I'd hate to have people not read a story I've written because of something like tense. Personally, I read just about anything, as long as it's decent writing, so a vehement reaction to tense is tough for me to understand. I notice it (though if it's really well done I don't) but it doesn't make me stop reading. I have friends who will stop reading, and I... I just don't get it.
I don't write much multi-POV anymore, and I've never written first person or future tense or anything else more 'unusual' than present tense. I almost want to try these things out now; I wonder if there isn't some way to make them more palatable? On the other hand, I prefer to let the story guide things, and framing something in a particular way seems like it'd be certain death to the story element.