› ›
Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime

Writing in present tense

Louise_authorLouise_author
edited August 2009 in - Writing Problems
At some point in my novel i want to skip the story forward a few months but can you still do this if you are writing in present tense [i believe this means when everything is happening right now] or would i have to write in past tense? I'm a bit stuck on this.......

Comments

  • VivViv
    Present tense can move forward. Just start that later chapter with something like 'I can't believe four months have passed since...' Or 'It's Deecember now and the events of the summer seem a world away...'
  • StirlingStirling
    Is it a permanent skip? If so you could denote it by cutting the narrative into 'acts'.

    If not, you could do a flash forward - but this isn't always easy to do.
  • Louise_authorLouise_author
    That sounds like a good idea Viv, thank you!
  • Stan2Stan2
    Alan Bennett in 'Untold Story' writes in the present tense all the time even though he is decribing events that happened at various times in the past.
  • BetsieBetsie
    I have that book Stan - love it.
  • Stan2Stan2
    It is sad reading about his mother's dementia.
  • Stan2Stan2
    ^
  • BetsieBetsie
    Yes - you realise what a nice guy Alan Bennett is on reading this book and what about the way he looked after Miss Shepherd. Not many people would do what he did.
Sign In or Register to comment.