09-04-2023, 06:03 AM | #1 | |
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Bad writing or is MY brain scrambled?
I decided to read one of my Kindle books I "bought" a few months ago (free with Amazon Prime) because it looked interesting. But the author has a habit of using past tense for what's happening in the present. Is the following bad writing, or is my brain just scrambled? I'm really having trouble focusing on the story because this keeps pulling me out of it.
Here's a short passage... (near the beginning of Chapter One - my "corrections" in parentheses.) Quote:
Last edited by rcentros; 09-04-2023 at 06:39 AM. |
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09-04-2023, 06:42 AM | #2 |
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To me, the past tense looks normal, and what I would expect. Your present tense to me reads more like a play or direction.
I believe past tense is the norm? The book I'm currently reading uses past tense. |
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09-04-2023, 07:16 AM | #3 |
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Past tense has always been the norm and present tense a rare exception. Recently there seem to be more authors writing in the present tense, though, which I personally detest.
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09-04-2023, 07:30 AM | #4 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Past tense is normal.
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09-04-2023, 07:53 AM | #5 |
the rook, bossing Never.
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Your brian is scumbled. Pease resit.
Tags for dialogue (which itself is almost always present tense) are almost always in past tense. So much so that "He Said, She Said" is a common title*. Oddly "She Said, He Said" is less common, but I do have https://www.amazon.co.uk/She-Said-He...dp/B07ZG921DS/ A first person POV might use present tense, esp. Romance, though historically most first person POV used past tense, because story telling, even set in the future is recounting what has happened. A first person POV can work well, though often to make it more interesting the "narrator" can be unreliable. OTOH the entire narration and tags/actions outside of dialogue in present tense is very rare and tiring. Contrary to what some might think it doesn't add immersion. A novel isn't a screenplay or stage script. [* Though do Romance authors search existing titles? Just because you can, it doesn't mean using the same title is a good idea. Or similar ones such as "The <insert occupation or title here>'s Daughter".] Last edited by Quoth; 09-04-2023 at 08:09 AM. |
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09-04-2023, 08:08 AM | #6 |
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The past tense reads correctly and the present tense (corrections) reads oddly.
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09-04-2023, 09:26 AM | #7 | |||
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Thanks everyone. It's weird that I just noticed this in this one book. I've never had this reaction before. Last edited by rcentros; 09-04-2023 at 09:29 AM. |
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09-04-2023, 09:35 AM | #8 |
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Maybe you need more sleep and/or to drink more water.
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09-04-2023, 09:42 AM | #9 |
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09-04-2023, 10:29 AM | #10 |
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09-04-2023, 10:32 AM | #11 |
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09-04-2023, 10:43 AM | #12 | |
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Quote:
Brain can do the weirdest things. |
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09-04-2023, 10:57 AM | #13 | |
the rook, bossing Never.
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Quote:
Certainly the directions must all be in the present tense. And any soliloquy breaking the 3rd wall would be present tense. A play, TV or movie unfolds in real time, except maybe for a flashback, which is still all in the present tense. Since you are long off caffeine it must be an "out of cheese error". Send Grommet out for more. |
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09-04-2023, 10:58 AM | #14 |
the rook, bossing Never.
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09-04-2023, 06:10 PM | #15 |
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