History Main / PresentTenseNarrative

* In the ''Labyrinth of Reflections'' novels by SergeyLukyanenko, all scenes taking place in RealLife are narrated in the past tense, while all scenes inside the local {{Cyberspace}} are in the present tense. [[spoiler:This is also the first clue that the ending of the first novel never happened in reality.]]

Stories which use the present tense sometimes take the form of a journal or ApocalypticLog, but when not, and written entirely in FirstPersonNarrative, a Present Tense story can feel whiplash fast, with the sometimes jarring feeling of the reader being right there, seeing through the main character's eyes and thinking their thoughts. It also leaves the reader with the question of whether the narrating character will even survive, whereas if the story was implied to be the recollections of the character [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis written after the fact]], we could reasonably assume [[DidYouDie they did]].

* The second half of ''The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas'' by UrsulaKLeGuin.
* Parts of ''TheTomorrowSeries'' are written in the present tense; the whole thing is Ellie's diary of what's happened, which she's writing in big chunks at a time, so most of the action is past tense but a lot of the reflective passages describe what's going on amongst the group in the present tense.

* Creator/GeneWolfe frequently uses this technique, often requiring the reader to piece together the real story from fragments of a journal. In the Literature/BookOfTheShortSun, the narrator switches between present and past tense depending on whether he is describing his past adventures, or the ones occurring as he is writing. Even the BookOfTheNewSun, which is almost entirely written in the past tense, pauses occasionally to describe what is occurring as the narrator is writing.

* Creator/GeneWolfe frequently uses this technique, often requiring the reader to piece together the real story from fragments of a journal. In the BookOfTheShortSun, the narrator switches between present and past tense depending on whether he is describing his past adventures, or the ones occurring as he is writing. Even the BookOfTheNewSun, which is almost entirely written in the past tense, pauses occasionally to describe what is occurring as the narrator is writing.

The present tense tends to give a work a sense of urgency and immediacy, and as such is often used to increase tension in the story. The narration may switch from past to present- with or without explanation- to fulfil this end.

* ''AllQuietOnTheWesternFront'' is written entirely in present tense first person, with the exception of the very last lines.

* ComicBooks using {{Thought Caption}}s naturally have PresentTenseNarrative, since the "narration" is the character's thoughts. ''SpiderGirl'' combines it with SecondPersonNarration: "You are Spider-Girl!"

* A trope often found in Creator/ChuckPalahniuk's work, such as ''Literature/{{Haunted 2005}}'', ''{{Rant}}'', or ''Literature/FightClub''.
* The novel ''{{Elsewhere}}'' by Gabrielle Zevin is entirely written in the present tense. YMMV as to whether or not it works well, or makes the book sound stilted and awkward.

Stories which use the present tense sometimes take the form of a journal or ApocalypticLog, but when not, and written entirely in FirstPersonNarrative, a Present Tense story can feel whiplash fast, with the intention of giving the reader the feeling that they are right there, seeing through the main character's eyes and thinking their thoughts. It also leaves the reader with the question of whether the narrating character will even survive, whereas if the story was implied to be the recollections of the character [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis written after the fact]], we could reasonably assume [[DidYouDie they did]].

Overlaps in many cases with SecondPersonNarration. See also HowDoIUsedTense, for when this is done by accident.

Stories which use the present tense sometimes take the form of a journal or ApocalypticLog, which creates the somewhat jarring impression of a character recording his dramatic experiences ''while they are happening''. However, it does leave open the question of whether the narrating character will survive, whereas if the story was implied to be the recollections of the character [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis written after the fact]], we could reasonably assume [[DidYouDie they did]].

* The DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse novel ''Tomb of Valdemar'' also does this.

* GeneWolfe frequently uses this technique, often requiring the reader to piece together the real story from fragments of a journal. In the BookOfTheShortSun, the narrator switches between present and past tense depending on whether he is describing his past adventures, or the ones occurring as he is writing. Even the BookOfTheNewSun, which is almost entirely written in the past tense, pauses occasionally to describe what is occurring as the narrator is writing.

* A trope often found in ChuckPalahniuk's work, such as ''Literature/{{Haunted 2005}}'', ''{{Rant}}'', or ''Literature/FightClub''.

* DamonRunyon notoriously wrote most of his stories in present tense.

* A trope often found in ChuckPalahniuk's work, such as Literature/{{Haunted 2005}}, {{Rant}}, or FightClub.
* The novel {{Elsewhere}} by Gabrielle Zevin is entirely written in the present tense. YMMV as to whether or not it works well, or makes the book sound stilted and awkward.

* ''Halting State'' by Charles Stross is written in present tense and ''second person''. As in "You turn on your computer and check your email". With multiple viewpoint characters all referred to as 'you'. Since it's all about video games, the effect is to create the feel of a text adventure or RPG.
* ''IfOnAWintersNightATraveler'' by Italo Calvino is written in present tense, and second person in the chapters where the reader is the main character.

* ''HardBoiledWonderlandAndTheEndOfTheWorld'' by Haruki Murakami, the [[EpiphanicPrison "End of the World"]] parts are written in present tense in the English translation.

* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''[[WarchildSeries Warchild]]''. Parts of the narrative are written in second person and past tense, parts in first person and past tense, and parts in first person with the present tense. The shifts come as a result of the narrator's psyche. The parts in second person recount traumatic abuse that he's trying to disassociate from himself. Those in first person/past tense are events he's lived through and largely coped with. When the narrative switches to present tense, it's to emphasize the immediacy of the situation and the uncertainty of the future.

* L.E. Modesitt is fond of this narrative style, and uses it throughout the ''SagaOfRecluce''.

* Larry Milne's {{novelisation}} of Film/{{Ghostbusters}} is written in the present tense. It was the first work this troper had read that was written like this, and it was rather a disconcerting experience...

* ''TheHungerGames'' is written in present tense.

* Larry Milne's {{novelisation}} of {{Ghostbusters}} is written in the present tense. It was the first work this troper had read that was written like this, and it was rather a disconcerting experience...

* TerryPratchett does this a lot, particularly to create a cinematic vibe when describing a scene. He also occasionally uses the future tense during such descriptions.