英语语法：77 Present Tense Books

 

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Grammar Girl here.

Today's topic is verb tense.
This episode is a little unusual because I usually deal with topics that can be widely applied¹ to fiction and non-fiction writing, but recently I was on a plane reading Seth Harwood's forthcoming crime novel Jack² Wakes Up, and I was struck by the fact that it was written in the present tense. That present tense writing really stood out the whole time I was reading the book and got me thinking about how people use tense in writing.

Fiction writing is way outside my area of expertise³, but I believe it's interesting enough to be worth discussing, and I welcome your comments on the website if you want to add to the discussion.

As an aside, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language says that it's acceptable to use the word way as an adverb, as I did when I said fiction was way outside my area of expertise. But you shouldn't use it that way in formal situations (1).

 

Back to tense.

First here are some examples of simple tense so we're all on the same page:

Present tense is when you write as if things are happening right now. For example, the first sentence of Jack Wakes Up is Jack walks into a diner just south of Japantown.
Past tense is when you write as if things happened in the past. If you rewrite that first sentence in the past tense, you get Jack WALKED into a diner just south of Japantown.

Those are the basics, but there are many other tenses such as progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive. I've put a chart of the major verb tenses on the website.

English Tense Chart（图一）

Now, in my experience, most books are written in past tense, as if the story has already happened and the narrator is telling you about it after the fact. John Updike's novel Rabbit, Run, published in 1959, is sometimes thought to be the first novel written in the present tense (2), but Updike credits two other writers as coming before him: Damon Runyon and Joyce Cary. Nevertheless, I found Updike's comments about his state of mind when he was choosing the present tense to be illuminating⁴. I've heard people complain that present tense novels sound like screen directions, and for me, it IS easier to imagine the sentence Jack walks into a diner just south of Japantown as the opening sentence of a screenplay than as the first sentence in a novel. And here's what Updike had to say about Rabbit, Run back in 1990:

It was subtitled, in my conception of it, ''A Movie''; I imagined the opening scene as something that would happen behind credits, and I saw the present tense of the book as corresponding to the present tense in which we experience the cinema (3).

I read that and thought, "Ah, ha! He thought of it as screen direction too."

I was so intrigued⁵ by this idea of writing a novel in the present tense that I interviewed Seth Harwood a few days ago to learn more about his reasoning for doing it and learned that other people had also told him that it seemed like a screenplay. But his background is in writing short stories, and he tells me that short stories are more commonly written in the present tense, so it wasn't a big leap for him to write a novel that way. Also, because his book is a crime novel, writing it in the present tense allows the reader to unfold the mystery at the same time as the main character. When Jack is surprised, we're surprised at the same time.

Reading a fiction novel requires the reader to suspend disbelief to some degree to get wrapped up in a story we know isn't true, and a present tense novel can require an extra suspension of disbelief to accept the idea that events are unfolding right now.

I was also reminded by one of my Twitter friends that another book I recently read was written in the present tense: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I found the use of present tense in that novel less distracting, I imagine because the entire novel is written in such an unusual way. That book is about a time traveler and tells the story from the perspective of two different people, and there is a lot of jumping around in time.

Anyway, my take away from reading about verb tense in novels and from talking with Seth Harwood is that some people think writing in the present tense is modern and other people think it is trendy and annoying. It's kind of a risky⁶ move if you're trying to get your first novel published, but it didn't stop Seth. He got his book published and it comes out March 16. And although I did find the present tense in his book distracting, I still enjoyed the story. It had a lot of action and was a great book to read on the plane.

Seth was kind enough to provide three signed copies of Jack Wakes Up for me to give away to listeners. I didn't get the winners names before I had to record, but if you're a winner you'll get an e-mail message. Also, If you go to Seth's webpage--sethharwood.com--you'll find a recording⁷ of our interview, in which we actually talk about tense and person, and a free PDF version of his novel. That's right. You can buy the book or you can download the free PDF at sethharwood.com.

If you go to the Grammar Girl section at QuickAndDirtytips.com, you'll find a transcript⁸ of this podcast, which also has a verb-tense chart and a short list of novels written in the present tense.

Also, I have the city list for my book tour! Thanks to everyone who voted. The list is a direct reflection of how many votes each city received. So your votes completely determined⁹ that in July and August, I'll be in Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago/Milwaukee, Colombus, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Detroit/Ann Arbor¹⁰, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C./Baltimore.

I can't wait to meet everyone in person, and summer is coming up faster than it sounds. I'll fill you in on more details as we plan the trip.

Anyway, don't forget to go to sethharwood.com to get your free PDF, and I'd love to read your thoughts about present tense and past tense in novels in the comments section at QuickandDirtytips.com.

That's all. Thanks for listening.

 

 

1 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

4 illuminating   

a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的

参考例句：

• We didn't find the examples he used particularly illuminating. 我们觉得他采用的那些例证启发性不是特别大。
• I found his talk most illuminating. 我觉得他的话很有启发性。

5 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

6 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

7 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

8 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

10 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。