Charlie StrossApr 5

#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🏳️‍⚧️Apr 5
@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 threadAllpoints
@foone @cstross Isn't all future tense fiction until/unless it happens?
Apr 5 at 2:20pmWeb
Show threadCharlie StrossApr 5
@allpoints @foone No, because fiction is *intentional* lying: a plan or schedule looking forward—a railway timetable, for example—isn't constructed as fiction, it's intended to become real. Fiction in contrast is *not* intended to become real.
Show threadAllpointsApr 5
@cstross @foone fair point
/me rescinds the question.
Show threadOldCoderApr 5
You've got me trying to remember the name of a story or novel that includes an intelligent bear-like species. The bears consider fiction to be lying and immoral until the utility of extrapolative writing is demonstrated. They refer to extrapolative wring as "scientific lying".