People have really strong opinions about tense. I know this because I write mostly in the present tense, which means I get to experience the full force of people ranting about how awful present tense is. I, as you might gather, respectfully disagree. I also think people get tense wrong more broadly – what it’s for, and what it’s really doing for your story. There are strong arguments for and against every tense you could possibly think of, but this is one of those things where I don’t believe general rules or best practices hold water. One issue is that people frequently tense purely in terms of marketability, neglecting the concerns of story structure and narrative style that go into choosing the right tense. But like with any other decision related to the actual meat of your book, you’ve got to figure out what works for the specific story you’re trying to tell, and the way you want to tell it.

And on top of everything, there’s a lot of pressure to get it right, because tense is super annoying if you get it wrong and have to change the entire book. Ask me how I know. (Oh, the second drafts I’ve given up on. Gone, but not forgotten.)

So, where do you start?

A few things to understand about tense

Before we start breaking down different tenses and their pros and cons, we need to understand a few things about how tense influences a story.

First of all, tense is heavily tied to point of view. Both are components of the narration style of the story. Both affect the lens through which the reader perceives the world and the characters, especially the main character. But there’s something unique about tense: it’s largely invisible, at least once you get into it. For the first few pages, or maybe the first couple of chapters of a new book, you’ll notice it. But readers tend to become “tense-blind” rather quickly. Said and say, was and is, ran and runs – these words become virtually indistinguishable as the story goes on, despite the tense continuing to influence the tone of the story.

This isn’t to say that tense doesn’t affect the tone of your writing, because it absolutely does. Specifically, it influences the psychological distance between the reader and the story taking place. We’ll examine this more closely in a minute, but for now, you takeaway should be this: don’t take the cons too seriously. Focus on the pros, because the cons will fade quickly as you move through the story.

When I first had my alpha reader look at my current project, which is in present tense, she complained bitterly for about… oh, I’d say two pages. When I asked her about how the tense had affected her later in the book, she looked surprised and admitted that she hadn’t noticed it in a long time. And in spite of those initial complaints, her irritation wasn’t enough for her to stop reading and enjoying the book. Ignore the haters, as the kids say, and make your choice based on what tense can do for your story – not what it might detract.

Past tense

This is the most common tense for works of fiction, and it’s considered the default. In past tense, events are narrated as if they have already happened. Here’s an example:

I stumbled as I ran. “Faster!” I said. But the monster was catching up.

Past tense has numerous advantages. However, used incorrectly, it can take a reader out of the story just as much as people claim present tense does. Here are a few of the advantages of using past tense:

• Because it is the default tense in fiction, it will “disappear” more quickly than present tense. If you don’t want tense to strongly impact your story, this makes it a good option.
• You can do something very cool by acknowledging the use of past tense in a story. If you allow the narrator to break the fourth wall while using past tense, the tense stops disappearing and becomes a key element of the story. You now have the narrator intentionally relating the story of something that has happened to them to the narrator. You can use this to convey a feeling of nostalgia, or emphasize the passage of time.
• Switching point of view takes a lot less work in past tense than it does in present. You have the freedom in past tense to put a little more distance between the reader and the narrator if you so choose, which can sometimes make POV switches feel more natural. If you want to tell a story from more than one perspective, you might want to start with past tense to minimize the headaches.

Meanwhile, here are a few of the cons of using present tense:

• If you combine it with a fourth-wall break, as described above, you are betraying something about the end of your story. In fact, some have argued that past tense does this inherently, whether you break the fourth wall or not (I tend to disagree, but it’s a valid concern). This can actually be a good thing if you want to foreshadow the POV character’s death or survival. But if you’re going for a tense (ha, ha) moment where the reader is meant to wonder whether the character lives or dies, tread carefully.
• Related to this, suspense doesn’t work as well in past tense. There’s no reason it can’t work, of course, but it doesn’t tend to come as naturally. If you’re struggling to make your twists truly shocking, ditching the past tense might help.
• As I mentioned, past tense can add psychological distance between the reader and the story. This is true whether you break the fourth wall or not. Past tense lacks the emotion-strengthening qualities of present tense, which may not be the effect you’re going for.

Present tense

And now we come to my favorite. My baby and my darling. I will defend present tense until the day I die – not for every story, but certainly for the ones I like writing. Here’s what it sounds like on the same sample I used for past tense:

I stumble as I run. “Faster!” I say. But the monster is catching up.

Here are some pros:

• Present tense lends a strong sense of immediacy and suspense to the story. Present tense really shines when there’s a lot of action and your characters could die horribly at any moment. There’s no way to know what’s going to happen, because it’s still happening.
• Using present tense creates a very short psychological distance between the reader and the story. There’s actually a term for this: “deep POV.” If you really lean into this, your story will feel far more immersive. This is great if you want to really emphasize the narrator’s emotions. As a sci-fi horror writer, I consider this to be one of the biggest tools in my toolbox. If I’m dismembering a character, I don’t want the reader sitting comfortably on the other side of a wall they built in their brain. I want them to be stuck right where the narrator is, and unable to run.
• On a less morbid note, present tense plays really nicely with fourth wall breaks. You are right inside the character’s head, so it makes sense that they’re going to talk to you sometimes. You don’t have to do this, but with present tense, you have the freedom to do it without spoiling whether the main character lives or dies. If you love a good fourth wall break but don’t necessarily want it to ~mean~ anything, give present tense a whirl.

And in the interest of balancing out my blatant favoritism, here are some cons:

• The primary complaint I hear about present tense is that it sounds like a sportscaster is narrating the book. I think this is because present tense makes a particular style of writing really stand out. If your writing is starting to sound stilted, like a list of facts, it may be a sign that this tense doesn’t work for your writing style. Switching to past tense may improve the flow. (This is especially true if you’re writing in the third person, by the way! Third person present carries with it a very unique tone that definitely won’t work for every story and every writing style.)
• It’s a hard sell, especially for adult audiences. YA books have a more established tradition of present-tense writing, thanks to titles like The Hunger Games rendering present tense a staple of the 2000s YA fiction boom. But if your target audience is 40-somethings, present tense carries a risk of being very out of sync with the expectations of that target audience.
• Time skips and shifts sometimes feel weird in present tense. If your story has a lot of jumping around in time, past tense might be a better option. But consider the way present tense tends to immerse you in the action of a story. That can make it really difficult to back away and skip over boring minutia without at least mentioning it, which can quickly bog down your story with boring, unnecessary detail. Present tense works best for stories that take place in a very short span of time, with few or no time gaps.

Future tense

Has anyone ever written a book in future tense? I don’t know – probably, but I haven’t read it. But it sounds cool, and anything is possible, so let’s talk about it anyway! It would look a little something like this:

I’ll stumble as I run. “Faster!” I’ll say. But the monster will be catching up.

Weird, right? But kinda neat! Here’s some pros:

• Future tense lends the story an almost eerie tone. It opens up a lot of questions for the reader which, depending on your themes, might be things you’re already trying to explore. How do they know what’s going to happen? What if they’re wrong? Could they be wrong? If you want to generate a lot of predictions, or lean heavily into themes related to the future or foresight, this could work really well.
• It’s inherently suspenseful – much more so than present tense. Instead of fearing something that is happening, now the reader gets to dread something that’s going to happen, which is a very different and potentially more intense feeling.
• It’s unique and highly memorable. Definitely don’t rely on this as the sole thing that makes your story unique and memorable – in other words, don’t just do it as a gimmick – but know that your story will absolutely stand out because of it.

And here are some cons:

• It’s weird! You probably haven’t read much of anything in future tense, and because of that lack of exposure, you’re probably going to have a hard time keeping it up for the duration of a novel.
• Your readers know it’s weird. Because of its rarity, it’s not going to disappear the way past or present tense will. It’ll likely continue to stick out to the reader for a much larger portion of the book.
• Your readers will expect it to mean something. This isn’t a tense you use just for the hell of it. If you want to be stylish and strange, use present tense – trust me, you’ll get enough complaints to more than satisfy your desire to be considered edgy. Future tense is such a strange thing to do that you absolutely owe your readers some kind of thematic or plot-related explanation if you’re going to use it. If that’s not your jam, then maybe don’t use it.

How to choose

Hopefully now you have at least an idea of what tense to use for your story. If you’re still in doubt, try out your first 500 words or so in each of your different options and ask yourself these questions:

• Which felt the most natural?
• How’s the tone? Are the levels of suspense, immediacy, and psychological distance properly calibrated for the type of story you’re envisioning?
• How do you like the way the narrator’s voice sounds in each case? Is it what you’re going for, or does it feel off, like it needs some adjusting?

You can also run each of the options past a trusted friend (preferably one in your target audience) and ask them the same questions. Ask them to rate things like the level of suspense or how deep in the narrator’s head they feel on a scale of 1-10, or just which version of the narrator they like the best.

At the end of the day, though, make the best decision you can for your story, without worrying about what other people will think. You know what you’re trying to do better than anyone else does. And hopefully by now, you understand that tense isn’t just a trend or a marketing tactic. It’s a fundamental part of how your story feels to read, and used right, any tense can enhance the tone and impact of a story immeasurably. Take risks when it feels right, and know when to revert to your old standbys. Write the story the way you’d want to read it, and you’ll be just fine.

Happy writing!