First person present tense is common in my original genre, personal narrative and nature writing. The sensory immediacy is important. And obviously some great fiction is in present tense, although I wasn’t aware of the YA ones you mentioned. (I saw some of the movies, and movies always seem to be in the present tense!)
I remember mystery novelist Lawrence J. Block warning fiction writers to stay away from present tense. I think his main criticism was that it’s hard to keep forward momentum if everything is always “now.” I didn’t quite buy it. I think you ended up with a good blend of the two modes.
If I ever get around to publishing Ship of Fools in print, I’m thinking of changing the prologue and epilogue to present tense (or maybe just the epilogue).
First person present tense is common in my original genre, personal narrative and nature writing. The sensory immediacy is important. And obviously some great fiction is in present tense, although I wasn’t aware of the YA ones you mentioned. (I saw some of the movies, and movies always seem to be in the present tense!)
I remember mystery novelist Lawrence J. Block warning fiction writers to stay away from present tense. I think his main criticism was that it’s hard to keep forward momentum if everything is always “now.” I didn’t quite buy it. I think you ended up with a good blend of the two modes.
If I ever get around to publishing Ship of Fools in print, I’m thinking of changing the prologue and epilogue to present tense (or maybe just the epilogue).
Thanks! Sometimes you just have to go with your gut, right?