Present Tense, or Past?

A reader emailed me today:
I am writing fan fiction online and one of the people who edits my posts told me that books are written in the past tense. Based on what is happening in the story, I believe you should be able to use both...albeit carefully. Is what they say true?

It's perfectly OK to write in present tense. In Charles Dickens's wonderful novel Bleak House (published 150 years ago), half the story is told in first person past tense by the heroine, Esther Summerson. The other half is told in third person present tense by a nameless narrator.

Present tense can give a kind of urgency to a narrative: We don't know what's going to happen next, everything is contingent, so it's very suspenseful. However...

I wrote my first novel, The Empire of Time, in present tense for just those reasons—and because I thought it sounded cool. The manuscript languished at Del Rey Books for months, and the editor finally wrote to tell me it was publishable except for the present-tense narrative. Apparently readers of genre fiction don't like present tense all that much.

Well, I converted the ms. to past tense very quickly indeed (and this was in the medieval era of typewriters and carbon copies). What was more, I realized as I was revising that the story really did sound better in past tense. The moral I drew from this: Listen to your editor!

Since those ancient days I've read some SF and fantasy that uses present tense, in whole or in part, so perhaps tastes are changing (or some authors don't have editors as smart as mine were). But it's still a sharp departure from conventional storytelling, so the author should have a good reason for choosing present tense.

Comments

[Mary Ann]

I) I am working diligently on my memoir. Is it ok to write in both past tense and in present tense, since this writing is not fiction?II)To include a personal poem, what is the best way to set it up? Line by line or with these /

The novel, The Namesake, was written in the present tense. That style gives the narrative power and immediacy and increases the suspense. I am trying it with a revision of my own novel from past tense to present. I've noticed that my friends who have read it seem to get confused when I have to flashback to gain perspective. One agent absolutely hated the confusion. I plod onward, however.

what is told in present tense in 4rth grade in elem.

[Eric Shawn]

Folks, stop the debate here. The fact is, present tense is suitable for one format and one format only: the Screenplay. If it is not a screenplay, use the Past Tense. Third Person or First Person is up to you, but I will note here that there are many magazine markets who refuse to accept even first person stories, let alone present tense. I'm serious! I'm a published author, I've learned to stick with Third Person, Past Tense... ALWAYS.