How to Write in First-Person Present-Tense
This narrative voice is controversial. Here’s how it can make or break a piece of fiction.
I am the number one fan of writing and reading prose written in first-person present-tense. But this form gets a lot of hate, some of which is justified. From my creative writing classes at university to online writing guides, writing in first person present tense is made out to be a scary feat. But it all comes down to what you’re used to reading and writing.
The most common register for fiction is third-person past-tense.
One day, Zoe sat on the sofa, flipped open her laptop and opened a writing document. Chronically plagued with executive disfunction and an attention span with a hedonistic will off its own, she was determined to remain focused and channel her thoughts onto the screen. Her topic of choice on that rainy Wednesday afternoon was how dissatisfying she found writing in third-person past tense. In fact, her opinions on this subject were so convoluted, it bordered on ridiculous. With that self-deprecating realisation, she put down her laptop and followed her urges into the kitchen. There, she hoped to discover some internal clarity in the warm, mahogany whirlpool of her third coffee of the day.
Sure, that’s a familiar way to read and write a narrative. There is a lovely balance of distance and intimacy. The third-person narrator is an elusive but objective voice of reason who won’t get deluded by the biases of the characters. It’s harder to cock up and there’s nothing wrong with it. But it doesn’t have it all. Sometimes, first-person present-tense is just as appropriate:
First-person present-tense is my favourite way to write so I am writing about it in the first-person present-tense.
First-person present-tense hands the literary authority of the third-person past-tense voice over to one of the characters. The results will be more chaotic, but that’s the best part.
Here’s how you balance chaos and clarity when writing in first-person present-tense.
Advantages
With first-person present-tense, you can make an unreliable narrator even more compelling. By nature, all people are unreliable so all first-person narrators have the potential to pull the wool over the reader’s eyes with their biases and motives.
For first-person narrators who tell their story in the past-tense, a lot of this unreliability comes from retrospect. If a character is telling a story from the past, have had chance to dwell on what has happened. While this can add distance and rationality, the narrator’s memory may not be perfect and their motive for telling their story may require them to be less than honest.
For first-person narrators who tell their story in the present-tense, the opposite is true. They have no time to manipulate their version of events as they are in the moment. Their unfiltered perception of the immediate action creates bluntness. Here, the unreliability can come from the protagonist being in shock or denial, missing or misinterpreting a crucial detail, and their mental state obscuring the lens through which the reader sees their world. The psychological intimacy that comes with the rawness of first-person present-tense should be taken advantage of if you decide to use it.
Therefore, if you’re writing a story from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, ask yourself these questions to determine whether past-tense or present-tense would be more fitting:
- Is my protagonist unreliable because they are forgetful or deceptive and will obscure the truth in their retelling of an event from their past?
- Or, is your protagonist more of a rash character who deals with a lot of intense action throughout the story that they struggle to process in the moment?
- What would my protagonist’s motivation be for telling their story retrospectively? If they’re not reminiscing, who would they be telling the story to and what is their relationship like with this person?
- Does my protagonist have an interesting perception of the world due to a mental illness, neurodivergence, their life experiences, beliefs, situation, etc? Does this make their interiority important enough to shape the entire story?
Present-tense writing automatically creates a sense of urgency. This works well in the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins where action and danger are the driving forces. Present-tense keeps you in the moment with the protagonist. This creates a subconscious reminder that anything could happen. There is no guarantee of resolution since the protagonist hasn’t already lived to tell the tale in hindsight.
Combine first-person and present-tense together and you trap your reader in the unfiltered experience of the protagonist, both externally and psychologically.
This works better for some premises than others.
Where it Doesn’t Work
The main disadvantage with first-person present-tense is that it is an unconventional approach to an aspect of writing that is meant to be invisible. Many readers are put off by this style as they find it jarring and distracting. When you are reading for pleasure, the last thing you want to think about is technicalities and stylistic features overwhelming the story. This is an unavoidable risk to some extent and not everyone is going to love your work. Sometimes it is a matter of expecting your readers to be patient and keep reading your story until they get used to it. But if the execution is poor, first-person present-tense can remain a distraction throughout the story.
For example, narratives where the complex worldbuilding is the primary focus (more so than the characters) usually aren’t framed well with first-person present-tense. First-person present-tense limits the lens through which we see the fictional world. This isn’t a bad thing for a story where you want to focus on the internal struggle of the protagonist.
But Lord of the Rings written in from the first-person present-tense perspective of Frodo would be a very different experience. It would be interesting to see how hobbit culture shapes his perception and how this changes under the influence of the ring. On the downside, Tolkien’s specialities of fictional histories, cultures, geographies, and languages would go to waste if limited to the knowledge of one character. In this case, only an omniscient narrator could do them justice.
That doesn’t mean well-written sci-fi and fantasy novels cannot be told through a first-person narration in the present tense. It would be a challenge to convey your complex setting through the senses of one character, but it is doable. If worldbuilding, multiple characters, and/or multiple points in time are a significant part of your story, consider how each narrative register would help you convey this best. Unless the introspection of a character is equally important, third-person past-tense may be more appropriate.
Although present-tense compliments fast paces, third-person flows more naturally with slower paced narratives or narratives that span over long periods of time. With past-tense, it’s easier to jump around chronologically as the story has already happened.
Also, some stories require retrospect. Think of novels like Atonement by Ian McEwan where the protagonist is looking back and telling a story from their past. Unless you use present-tense for the present narrative and past-tense for the flashbacks, sticking with past-tense is your best bet.
Tips and Habits to Watch Out For
Know your protagonist. First-person present-tense is the most intimate combination of tense and person. Before you start writing your story, dedicate extra time to developing your protagonist. This should include their upbringing, culture, education, beliefs, personality, situation, quirks, and voice. The more you know about them, the easier it will be to write in their voice throughout the story.
Read fiction written in first-person present-tense. Since reading makes you a better writer, read books written in first-person present-tense to get used to it. Make note of how jarring you find it, how it effects your interpretation of the narrative, and so on.
Watch out for redundant details. With retrospective, past-tense narratives, it is more natural for the narrator to remember and include only the relevant details. When you’re stuck in the present tense, everything is unfiltered and it may feel natural to describe everything the protagonist is seeing, hearing, feeling, and thinking. You can cut and polish these description with editing. When writing a scene in first-person present-tense, remember that just because the protagonist and reader don’t know what is coming next, as the author, you should. It helps to have a clear plot structure in mind and to know the motivations of the other characters even if your protagonist isn’t telepathic enough to include them in the writing. This lets you know what details are important to the purpose of each scene and helps you write with direction.
Cut filter verbs more than ever before. The reader doesn’t need to be reminded that the protagonist “sees” “thinks” “hears” what is being described. If you have positioned the reader in your protagonist’s mind, it goes without saying that whatever is being described is from their experience. Cutting the filter verbs adds some well-needed fluidity. Verbs are also what shows what tense the story is written in; a technical feature that should be kept invisible for an immersive reading experience.
Another issue that often crops up in first-person present-tense is clarity, or lack of. It’s fine to have a protagonist who has a unique vernacular and choice of words, even if you convey this through unconventional grammar. However, make sure that the sentence structure is still readable and that the reader can still follow the plot.
As always, editing has your back. No first draft is ever perfect (or even good). So when it comes to writing your first draft in a style that is new to you, be patient with yourself and bear through the flaws that crop up. Writing this way will feel more natural with practice. When it comes to editing, there’s no problems related to clarity, unnecessary descriptions, or sentence structure that can’t be fixed in the next draft.
