You're a one-man shift in the weather

[brilligspoons]

For the last few weeks I haven't been able to wrap my head around the Marvel ladies BBMU at all, and I could not for the life of me figure out why. Until this morning, that is, when I was all let's try writing in present tense okay OH THERE WE GO. Bam, like, three handwritten pages of plot development that will need editing but aren't all that terrible. I'm glad I had this breakthrough 4 weeks before final drafts are due and not, you know, the day before. It's the little victories that get to me.

I don't understand what it is about past tense that makes me dread writing. It feels...heavy. In a bad way. To me, at least. And I don't mind reading it at all, so it's not like I have an overall problem with it. Maybe it's that writing in present tense makes me feel immersed in the action, which in turn makes it easier for me to figure out where characters and plots are going? IDK, I'm terrible at vocalizing this shit. Does this happen for anyone else, or is it just me?

Uh. Anyway. This has been a post about tenses.

Comments

[amymccabe.livejournal.com]

Huh.

Writing in the present tense makes me feel edgy. I greatly prefer writing in the past tense but, like you, have no issues reading either tense.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

I figured it would be a matter of personal comfort with either/both. The thing about this particular story is that I thought it would work better in past tense? But I can't make myself write it that way. Maybe it's something I can edit once I finish the whole thing.

[metonymy.livejournal.com]

Almost all of my fic is in present tense, and this rang really true, so... yes? Past tense is like... well, it already happened, ergo I should know what has happened that it's leading up to. Or something. idk I was a classics major!

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Yes, this! Whereas present tense is easier, maybe, because we're in the moment as it's happening and things can sort of develop from there? :D?

[80sgirlie.livejournal.com]

Considering most of the writing I do (as little as it is) is usually in 2nd person point of view, it tends to be in present tense. It's really weird. I think that's why I tend to not write. People shy away from 2nd person.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Second person is difficult to read, I think. You can do some pretty interesting things with it, but I'm not sure that people...like it? relate to it? I dunno, something like that.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

I absolutely CANNOT write in past tense. I mean, that's not true, I can if forced, but it doesn't flow as well as present. And I have no problem reading past, so... yeah, it's just that present feels more immediate and works better for writing.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Pretty much this, yes. I used to write only in past tense, but I think I've accomplished a lot more since I decided to write in present.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

For the VS we had to write in past and I swear blue had to keep smacking me out of present. When I try to write in past tense I just slip into present anyway, so it's best to not try.

I also find present tense works better for 3rd Limited (or 1st person) but past is very 3rd omniscient - makes it more difficult to stay in my character's head, you know? 2nd person can go either way.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that's a good point about POV! I've never been very good at writing 3rd person omniscient, so that's probably another reason past tense irks me so.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

I've tried 3rd omniscient so many times, but it usually just ends up being 3rd limited jumping all over the place in a beg mess :(

Tangent: If you've ever written 2nd person (or when you read it) who do you generally imagine as the narrator? Do you think it's always the "You" character, or do you think it's someone talking to the "You" character? Cuz, when writing, I can go either way, but then I wonder if it still counts as 2nd person.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

I've only written one 2nd person fic ever, and I wrote as if it were the "you" character speaking to himself. Sort of a reflexive you, I guess? And personally I assume that someone talking to the "you" character would be more a...1st person omniscient, maybe. Or I could be off the mark completely there.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

No, that's what I think, too. Even if the narrator never refers to himself as "I" and it's all in "You". But sometimes the narrator will be all up in other characters' heads, which gives the 1st Omnisc impression!

Oh, writing. Why can't I just think thoughts and have them magically appear as story on the screen?

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I ask myself that same question all the time. WORDS ARE HARD.

[citizenjess.livejournal.com]

Past tense feels ... old-fashioned. It feels like children's chapter books. It still works depending on the fandom/story - I wrote a past tense "Clone Wars" story a little while back, and it just worked, and it was also the first time in a while when writing in past tense didn't feel forced or where I had to actually go back and correct the present tense I'd accidentally written into the story, but pretty much everything "First Class" or "X-Men" that I've written has been in present tense. It's kind of replaced second person as fandom's go-to writing trend; it's a little hipster, but it feels modern, along with kink memes for superhero movies and social justice blogs.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Oh, 'old-fashioned' is an accurate term for it, in my opinion. And I agree, it really does depend on the story. I honestly thought it would fit this one, but obviously that backfired on me for *cough* four months *cough*.

[paper-tzipporah.livejournal.com]

I feel EXACTLY that way about writing in past versus present tense -- writing in present feels more action-y, even though I've read plenty of action-y past tense stuff by other people. YES. Uh, I'm trying to get over that! We'll see how my BBMU turns out.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

And I wish I was one of those people who COULD write action-filled past tense stuff! But I don't think it's going to work for me. WHATEVS.

How IS your BBMU going?

[max-n-leo.livejournal.com]

I actually prefer writing in the past tense, because I guess I'm less a writer and more a story-teller? I usually write in first-person so I write like I'm telling something that happened to me to someone else. To me it's hard to read an entire story in present tense. It kind of feels choose-your-own-adventury to me, even if it's not in second person.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Huh. That's kind of weird. I never would have thought about present tense being anything like a choose your own story, mostly because I hate those things.

[bessiemaemucho.livejournal.com]

It's weird that you posted this now b/c the last few days I wrote a big chunk of my Reversebang story, in present tense. And then I went back and noticed that the first part I wrote was in past tense. WRONG, duh, why did I do that? Anyway now it's all in present and it feels correct. I think. Anyway I'm not changing it again, so.

PS the past, the present, and the future all walked into a bar. It was tense.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Oh man, that's annoying to have to go back and fix a whole section like that. But at least it's all right and proper now! I'm going to have to do the same for the first 2500 words I wrote for this story. :\

I KNEW SOMEONE WOULD TELL THAT JOKE. XD