Tense encounters

Have you ever mused about the writing tense  – past, present, or all of the little variations –  when reading a book?

Authors often talk about finding our “voice.” Usually, this is all tied up in the nebulous mishmash that is writing style, what can again be further dissected into conversations about sentence structure, rhythm, pacing, etc. Tense also plays a part, however. Take for instance, passive voice.  It just doesn’t work that well in any form of past tense. But present? Specifically, Third Person Present? Used sparingly really accent a moment.

Yet present tense is still considered “experimental,” especially in fantasy. For years third person past has dominated the genre and is now considered contemporary.  All the way from Tolkien to Harry Potter. It makes sense, after all, as it lends gravitas to the narrative. A sort of ‘old tale from yore,’ type of scenarios whereas in present tense the action is happening right then, right now.

The Evercharm Trilogy is written in the latter, third person present to be precise, following in the vein of books like the Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. These novels can be niche, as those who like past tense often don’t necessarily like present (and the for the reverse, they usually still like past). Still, I love writing in present tense, and I have been debating all the pros and cons on continuing with it in the new series/Ip.

And then another wrinkle was added into the mix recently, when my wife brought up the difficulty non-native speakers have with present tense. Apparently among French speakers is it very problematic, and one of the reasons why she has difficulty with my writing. So, you see the dilemma? Given that I am sitting smack dab in the middle of continental Europe, I suddenly find my audience shrinking, and shrinking.

 So, what to do? That is a question I will have to make a final decision on later. Though, it is one where I am heavily leaning towards moving to the more contemporary style. If I do, it will require a lot of adjustments. What of my ‘voice’ will be lost, and what will be gained should I do so? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

One of those questions we may know the answer too soon.