Past v present tense

To tell stories, fiction writers usually use the past tense or the present tense.

Writers don’t generally use the future tense for a story. The future tense is usually used only when a character is thinking or talking about what is going to happen or the writer is suggesting what could happen.

Non-fiction writers also use the present tense when they are writing about facts, for example, ‘The Earth orbits the Sun’. This fact is unlikely to change.

It is the verbs in a sentence that determine its tense.

Find out more about how to use tenses.

How many stories have you come across that begin with the famous phrase, ‘Once upon a time’?

This is because stories were traditionally told using the past tense. This made the narrator sound as if they were narrating events from a distance, instead of being 'present' amongst the action.

Using the past tense is also the natural way you might tell a story about something that has happened to you.

However, some writers use the present tense, particularly in action sequences. The present tense verbs make the action sound immediate and urgent. It can also clearly show a person or character’s point of view.

For example, in Divergent by Veronica Roth, the main character Beatrice tests her courage and, because the writer uses the present tense, the reader lives the moment with her:

I look at the hole again. Goose bumps rise on my pale arms, and my stomach lurches. If I don’t do it now, I won’t be able to do it at all. I swallow hard. I don’t think. I just bend my knees and jump.

When you are writing, it is a good idea to choose the tense you are going to use and stick with it. You can always experiment with changing tenses when you edit and improve your work.

Present tense can be effective with a first person narrator (when the writing is written using 'I').

Using the present tense can give a character a distinct personality, almost as though you can hear their thoughts going through their mind.

For example, in Worst. Holiday. Ever. by Charlie Higson, we immediately start getting a sense of Stan’s character:

What’s the opposite of a bucket list? You know what I mean by a bucket list, right? It’s a list of all the things you want to do before you die. Which when you’re only a twelve-year-old boy could be quite a long list actually, as you haven’t really done ANYTHING yet. But, to tell you the truth, I don’t want to do anything much.

Why use the present tense?

Writers also use different tenses when a character is speaking.

For example, in Who let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans although the main story is in the past tense, the spoken words can use past, present or future tense:

Example 1 – future tense:

“Oh, Elliot,” sighed Graham Sopweed, head-master of Brysmore Grammar School. “What are we going to do with you?”

Example 2 – present tense:

“You seem rather . . . distracted lately,” said Mr Sopweed to fill the silence. “Is everything OK? Is anything wrong at school? Or at home?”

Example 3 – past tense:

“He disgraced the Brysmore name!” roared Boil. “He shamed himself! He shamed the school! He ruined my brilliant PowerPoint presentation on Napoleon’s favourite socks! He . . .”

• There is no right way of telling a story. Think about which tense will work in your own writing. Experiment with a paragraph in the present and past tense to see which feels best. It's up to you.

• If you decide to write a story using the present tense, make sure you are consistent with how you use it.

• Sometimes it is difficult to sustain writing in the present tense, so you may need to use the past tense when referring to events that have already happened to a character.