What tense you write your story on and which one you prefer to read.

[vish]

I use present tense mostly but with occasional past tense here and there in my chapters.
So, if the story is in 1st POV- past tense or present tense?(third POV with present tense will be a bit weird, tbh)

 

[AliceShiki]

1st PoV

Past tense because I feel like it reads better, though I use present tense on some rare occasions.

 

[Zirrboy]

Future.

I will surely write sometime

 

[Amok]

Past, I find it has greater scope. That said, I haven't written much in present and will definitely do so in future times as I appreciate the immediacy it brings to scenes. I think a long project in present will be taxing tho.

**EDIT: Actually, the very little first person writing that I have done(online at least) has been in present, and I did find it harder to pull off, had to think about word placement a fair bit iirc. Still, I'd say present tense in 1st person is more feasible than in 3rd, as OP states (Which I clearly didn't bother to read fully up to now XD)

 

[DarkeReises]

Future.

I will surely write sometime

Maybe writing a story through the eyes of a character who has permanent precognitive clairvoyance- they can not see the present, but only the future? idk, random idea

 

[NotaNuffian]

Mix, which turns it into a nightmare to clean after typing as I myself don't know when to use present or past. As I use 3rd person to write and have the urge to flashback like no tomorrow, the tenses jumping back and forth are not helpful and even irritating.

 

[Amok]

Maybe writing a story through the eyes of a character who has permanent precognitive clairvoyance- they can not see the present, but only the future? idk, random idea

I will attempt to sit on the chair in three seconds, and it will be pulled out from under me. While I will be falling, a curse will escape my lips moments before my ass will be connecting hard with the floor. I will be weeping for a minute while everyone in the hemmoroids support group will laugh and laugh while pointing at me.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I find that I have the most flexibility writing in third person, and I stick with past tense.

 

[GodlessEmperor]

I never thought of what I was writing. Thank you, now I am conscious about what I write and my readers will wonder why I suddenly changed my tense

 

[Ai-chan]

I use present tense mostly but with occasional past tense here and there in my chapters.
So, if the story is in 1st POV- past tense or present tense?(third POV with present tense will be a bit weird, tbh)

Both. But not at the same time. Ai-chan picks either past tense of present tense for the whole story.

Ai-chan's personal opinion is that whenever you want to portray something that happens as it happens, you use present tense. If you want to tell the story as a life experience, you use past tense.

Neither is wrong, it's just that in English, stories are traditionally told in the form of "Once upon a time". In Eastern languages, stories are told in present tense, because most eastern languages do not have a past tense form of the verb, you have to add a word to inform the listeners that it happened in the past.

So instead of "happened" as in English, in eastern languages, it's "once happen". So Ai-chan is more confortable with present tense because English is not Ai-chan's first language.

As for the POV, Ai-chan uses all three, though not at the same time. 1st person POV when Ai-chan wants to make the reader put themselves in the protagonist's shoes. 2nd person when Ai-chan writes a more involved in-your-face kind of story. 3rd person when there are more than one protagonist.

 

[vish]

I never thought of what I was writing. Thank you, now I am conscious about what I write and my readers will wonder why I suddenly changed my tense

you're welcome