Charlie Stross22h ago

#writersCoffeeClub Apr. 4: Do you switch between past and present tense? How do you make it work?

Present tense: generates a sense of immediacy, useful for action sequences, but also for regular narrative with uncertainty about the future.

Past tense: conveys certainty about the past.

Now, writing fiction in *future* tenses is stunt writing!

(And yes, I've done all three.)

Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️21h ago
@cstross when I was a preteen, I my english class said that you can't write fiction in a future tense, which annoyed enough that I had to go write some fiction set in the future tense just to prove that you obviously can
Show threadStephen Cox Author

@foone @cstross

put it in second person at the same time, and add a prologue

Apr 5 at 8:16amWeb
Show threadSkjeggtroll19h ago

@stephenwhq @foone @cstross

"Oh, old stranger-friend, you look confused to be hailed as hero. In two years since it will have make more sense. Then you shall have met us for the second-third time will have tell us thow you will have was gone to the future where you twice-will be'd meet the Space Princess-to-be Iridia and with her help shall-has-done perfected your time-machine and foughting the Empire of Woe, broughed joy to the time-stream and much despair to English departments everywhere."

Show threadStephen Cox Author15h ago

@skjeggtroll @foone @cstross

I salute anyone who plunges in to have fun with a mad idea