final story up dates, then i won't bother anyone else
I have my plot written down and my beginning, middle, and end for chapter 1 of my story but i don't know how to start it.
Should I write in third person present because it starts off in it?
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thanks again for your help. im just so frustrated and need more help.
I was just thinking third person present because it is happening now in my story
Why choose third person present? That's quite an unusual choice.
which on do you prefer i choose. Third person past? I don't know.
Most stories are written in past tense, so that's what people are used to.
Past: Johnny bolted across the parking lot.
Present: Johnny bolts across the parking lot, or Johnny is bolting across the parking lot.
The only time I've ever seen present tense used in a major story is in erotica, where the author is trying to involve the reader.
I was wondering, is there actually a good reason they're written in past tense, or is it just convention?
I'm not a literary expert, but if you go back in time far enough, stories were always told in person, as not many people could read. Those would always be in past tense, because it would always be the relating of something that had happened in the past. If someone's telling you a story around the fire, and there's no radio, TV, phone or Internet service, that person wouldn't know about anything happening now. That form of storytelling has simply carried forward.
Another exception would be if you're writing a play or stage production. In that case, everything is happening live before the audience, so it's all written in present tense.