You’re welcome, Katie, and sorry I haven’t got back to you till now. It sounds as if you’ve discovered the advantages of present tense, but also the drawbacks. I think writing any story is partly a process of making decisions about how to tell it, and then coping with the consequences of those decisions: everything has some pros, and some cons!

Heidi, apologies for throwing you into disarray! I do think that the thing which instinctively shows up on the page is very often the right thing … at least for this project.

But I do think that it’s worth understanding the drawbacks, as well as the advantages, of whatever approach you take, so you can cope with those drawbacks. And, of course, a different project may need a different approach.

Moira, you’re welcome (and sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you). As you say, the difference is as much about feel as about logic.

Some of the flaws with present tense that I have read about, I can overcome fairly easily. My novel is dystopian, and the main character is rebellious and already somewhat “detached” from the society around her. She lives in a unique society which is, at the very least, interesting to observe. Nobody in this society, not even the more intelligent members or most of the authoritative figures, have a true sense of ‘the bigger picture’ or what is actually going on. An essential theme is that the protagonist most figure it out for herself, which works very well for present tense. A sense of the past does exist, but it is due to flashbacks. These memories are essential foreshadowing to the rest of my story. I have found that in order for the flashbacks to work, I have to make it so that not much action is happening or create an entirely new chapter, which, I admit, has proven annoying.

Overall, there are two main reasons why I chose to write my novel in present tense. The first reason is that the heroine dies at the end of the novel, so it would not make much sense for her to be retelling the story in past tense. Third person wasn’t really an option for me because I feel as though being intimate with the heroine is vital for this particular story. The second reason is that my story seems actually more effective when the character does not know what is going on around her or in the future. Although she is rebellious, the society in which she lives in hinders any attempts to learn more about the world around them, so she starts off as being somewhat ignorant. As the novel progresses, she becomes more intellectual and mature.
Although this has proven to be a difficult tense to pull off, especially for an amateur writer such as myself, I know that my novel would not be as efficient any other way. These tips proved helpful and has made me rethink some of my writing so far, so thank you.

You’ve summed up perfectly why I love present tense. I feel real, vivid and like I am immersed in the story. However, your points against it are also very strong and I can see what you mean. However, I’ve always found writing (and reading) in past tense a real stumbling block to my imagination. Its like I cannot see it, because it doesn’t seem worth the effort if the story is already finished. Your article has made me reevaluate all of these assumptions.

I really don’t know what to do now. Thank you very much though.