Some Thoughts on Present Tense

If you’re a regular reader of YA, one of the things you will probably have noticed is that in this genre present tense is not a rarity. In fact, in YA the amount of novels in the present tense actually seems to rival the number of dead parents.

Personally, unlike a lot of people who are concerned with the proliferation of present tense in YA because they perceive it to be a bad thing, I like present tense. I like to read in it as much as I do in any other tense, and I like to write in at as much as I do in any other tense.

So, why all the present tense, then? Why are authors using it?

To be clear, I don't think present tense needs to be justified to work. In the same way that there doesn't have to be a reason to use the past tense, there doesn't have to be a reason to use the present. But there are a few reasons, I think, that we're seeing a lot more present tense in YA these days.

The most oft-proposed reason for the use of present tense is that teens want immediacy, teens want to experience the novel with the protagonist. And present tense centres them in the action, allowing them to relate to the protagonist more intimately.

I think this theory holds merit, but I certainly don’t think it’s the only reason an author would select the present tense and I don’t think this means that novels written in past tense are automatically less relatable.

But, there are also other reasons why authors choose to write in the present tense that are largely ignored. For instance, if you intend to kill your protagonist at the end of the story and you’re writing in the first person, writing in past tense would be rather illogical (and yes, I actually have killed a protagonist at the end of a novel. I’m a bitch like that).

Or on a more theoretical level, an author might choose to employ first person narration to force the reader to consider the very construction of stories. One of the things I think is most interesting about YA, is that in a lot of ways it completely shifts away from the traditional constructs of merit/power/higher worth in literature.

Old, buttressed, canonized storytelling is – by and large, of course there are significant exceptions – masculine in its outlook and subject matter, objectively told in a past tense that contributes to a sense of a story being ‘told’, being absolute.

Using the present tense is a move away from that traditional scaffold that seems fitting given that this genre also moves the locus of power in terms of themes and point of view.

What I mean by this is that in YA, we are often less concerned with the story of a hero of noble lineage who saves the world, and are often more concerned with the story of everyday – and usually far less heroic – people, often female. And, seriously, I have never heard anything considered less worthy of being turned into literature or seriously discussed than the point of view of a teenage girl -- whose concerns must, by virtue of her age and gender, necessarily be completely trivial. Yeah, I’m rolling my eyes – I’ve got the whole rebellious teenager thing down ;)

My point is that we’re not high or traditional art, we’re an exact affront to that art. So of course, in a lot of cases, we’re not going to play by traditional rules.

Of course, present tense is also helpful in drawing attention to the fact that the story is being constructed in that the reader is aware that they are not actually in the mind of the protagonist, or author, and that these events aren’t actually occurring in real time.

There is a greater awareness that this can't be happening now, and never could have happened -- unlike with past tense, which makes the story seem like a possible retelling of real events in a lot of ways (although past tense narration draws attention to story telling in different ways).

So, present tense can be used to underscore issues of construction of self, text and society in a novel (usually I find this in postmodern adult fiction, though. But sometimes YA – I think Paper Towns by John Green goes there, if I remember correctly).

What are your thoughts on the abundance of present tense novels in YA? Does it make sense or is it just a bunch of people jumping on a bandwagon or what?

Personally, I’m waiting for someone to write a YA book completely in fourth person, future tense...

Reading You Under the Table

So, so, so, I'm not sure whether or not you'll like my book, or whether you even want to read it, but what I do know is that my book is DONE. It now resembles a thing that can be read!

Yipee!

Well, almost done. I finished the last round of significant edits yesterday and right now I'm feeling somewhat pleased with the final product, somewhat nostalgic for the seventeen-year-old self who wrote this book, and somewhat terrified at not being able to tinker with it anymore.

My book being done also means that I get to return to internet land. Exciting, I know. Nothing is sweeter than the prospect of writing nerdy blog posts and watch this space because several shall be forthcoming.

But. The thing that is exciting me the most right now (I just typed 'write now' and had to erase it. Oh, the Freudian slips I make...) is the launch of my new and revamped group blog Pub(lishing) Crawl.

Pub Crawl is the latest from the girls at Let the Worlds Flow. We're beginning the month by introducing our amazing new members, beginning with the lovely Jodi Meadows! We're also doing giveaways of books you want to read and critiques your manuscript is begging you to get. There will be more giveaways throughout the month, but if you click over now, you can enter to win an ARC of Brodi Ashton's Persephone retelling EVERNEATH -- look at how pretty it is!

For those of you who haven't already clicked over to Pub Crawl with mad excitement, I would just like to say that I am super, super excited for the launch of this blog. Pub Crawl is a space that's going to be thoughtful, and entertaining and updated frequently with content that will appeal to both readers and writers alike.

And as if that's not enough, we're going to be the punniest blog around, just you wait and see -- after all, our tagline is Reading You Under the Table, Since 2012.

The Internet: Good, Bad or Ugly

Heads up, this is not a post about books or reading or writing, really, although I do reference these activities.

So, if you're reading this blog you've obviously got an internet connection. And if you have an internet connection, you've likely seen a bunch of crappy articles and blog posts about how Facebook is RUINING THE WORLD. The predicted apocalypse in 2012? Facebook. Is. To. Blame.

Freaking Facebook.

This discontent, though, isn't limited to Facebook. There are a lot of people out there who seem to really dislike the internet, and in particular social media. Twitter is ruining our communication skills! We're all going to die alone, tweeting something inane! This is a social crisis people!

Seriously, why would you use the internet? You can never tell who you're talking to on the internet! For all you know your favourite blogger (is it me? is it me? ;) is a creepy ninety-year-old man!

I have a feeling that people who say things like this, beyond being prejudiced against the ninety-year-old men of the world, are borderline luddites, who never really use technology. Yes, Facebook and other social media can be an amazing waste of time. And maybe, just maybe, without the internet I would have found more interesting and self-enriching things to do when I'm in need of procrastination time.

But, man, blaming the internet for kids getting abducted? Or for riots? Or for the emotional distancing of teens from their peers? Wow, guys, I feel like it's necessary to point out that the internet is a THING.

It's not really alive. Sure, we make it alive by writing stuff all over it, and posting information to each other and what not, but guys the internet doesn't have intent.

Saying that the internet is to blame for all of our social problems is akin to saying that a rubix cube is to blame for kids' hatred of maths. I mean, those things are hard to solve! They frustrate, rather than engage! They ruin maths for us for life!

Freaking rubix cubes.

I think it's important to remember that the internet doesn't actually do shit. The internet facilitates shit that people do. PEOPLE abduct other people, people organise race riots and terrifying crimes. They may use the internet to do these things, but I don't think the internet can be held responsible, even though so many seem to want us to put it on trial (c'mon, who hasn't blamed the internet for their procrastination habits on occasion?)

But it's important, when we get caught up in internet-hate, to remember that while the internet can facilitate the bad stuff, it can also facilitate the good. To use a very personal (and relevant, considering this is a writing blog) example, I am fairly sure that I would not be a very good writer without the internet. In fact, I am fairly sure that I would only have written one novel.

Guys, I learned to actually finish novels because of NaNoWriMo. I learned how to revise them because of Absolute Write. I found my critique partners and beta readers on the internet. It's not really uncommon. I think a lot of us writers would really be nowhere if the internet did not exist.

To give a less personal example, there are some really amazing communities on the internet. Like the community that one of my favourite authors, John Green, has built up around his books. Nerdfighteria
. The goal of this community is to decrease world suck. How so? By not forgetting to be awesome.

People do really amazing things for great causes as a result of this community. People also just develop their minds in general -- it's lovely. Not least, I discover some amazing things (also on the internet!) that inspire me by keeping a vague eye on this community. For instance, a few days ago I was watching one of John Green's vlogs and I discovered this really awesome song, by this really awesome girl:

And then I revised the rest of my book to that song.

Yes, there's a lot of bad, disturbing shit on the internet, but there's also a lot of really cool stuff. The internet isn't a good or bad thing in and of itself. It's what we use it for, what we make of it.

Kind of like everything else in life.