Using the present tense

Literary agent Jessica Faust offers some thoughtful answers to a question about the advisability of writing in the present tense.

Arguments against the present tense usually range from "it's pretentious" to "it's unusual, so it's one more hurdle for a reader to overcome to get into the story." But Faust put her finger on another reason, one that has been hovering at the edges of my thoughts for a long time:

I think the trouble writers have when writing in present tense or even first person is that it becomes a little too much about you telling a story, and the important pieces of storytelling (the showing) are actually left out. You forget the importance of other viewpoints, body language and description, for example. Of course writing present tense, just as writing first person, feels easier because it’s about you and this moment you’re in. However, when you really sit down to read it, it’s not easier to read. In fact, it’s more difficult. It doesn’t give the information that makes a story really sing for the reader or listener.

An an experienced, skillful writer can "get away" with present tense, first because she doesn't make the beginner's mistakes cited above, but more strongly, because she has chosen the right tool for the right job -- the tense itself plays a crucial role in how the story is put together.

My second novel, Northlight, was written in alternating sections of first and third person. Originally, the first person sections were in present tense. I thought I was increasing the emotional immediacy, a typical newbie misconception. My agent -- oh, so very tactfully -- suggested I reconsider. As an exercise, I tried rewriting those sections in past tense. Quickly, I discovered so many flaws in plot logic, in flow, in character development, in scene setting -- all disguised to the writer's eye (but not the reader's!) by the artifice of present tense. Needless to say, when the novel was sent on to my editor, all those sections were in past tense. I did not strike "present tense" from my list of possible style elements, but I did vow not to use it unless absolutely necessary. Almost 20 years later, I have not found a single instance which demands present tense.

Grape harvest

We have a tiny vineyard on our property: 26 syrah vines. Rain forced an early harvest this year, so the grapes were not quite ready. davetrow wasn't sure of the benefit of leaving them longer, since they aren't getting much sun now.

So, yesterday afternoon, we both went out to the vineyard. davetrow turned off the electrified fence (raccoons) and stripped off the bird netting (birds and squirrels), while I clipped off grape clusters. There had been some loss/damage from the raccoons, but not as much as in earlier years. Some bunches were just wonderful, dusky purple, heavy and sensual in the hand. It was afternoon, and the sun slanted through the yellowing leaves. Commercial vineyards pick only perfect clusters, but for us, this is a labor of love, so I grabbed any cluster than had even a few good grapes.

Then we hauled the buckets to the porch, where we sat and sorted, pulling off immature, split, moldy and dried grapes. The sun went down and the temperature fell. Our backs ached. We kept at it, because the grapes couldn't be left as is, fodder for wild yeasties. We ended up with 65 pounds of grapes -- which makes us the most micro of micro-vineyards.

We set up the crusher-destemmer leased from a local brewer's-supply place and treated ourselves to Chinese take-out. Thendavetrow went to work turning a pile of recognizable grapes into a vat of grape pulp/skin/juice mush. Added stuff to kill the bad microbes, will inoculate with good-wine yeasties. He'll do other things to the mush. And in 2 years, if all goes well, we'll have wine.

Isn't that amazing?