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Past Tense or Present Tense?
I’m writing creative nonfiction and creating scenes of the interviews I’ve done (the subject of the book is the border in Ireland). I find that writing these interviews in the present tense creates a sense of immediacy. I’m wondering if others do the same things and if you do, do you have ideas about what should be in the present tense and what in the past tense? Thoughts are welcome!
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1 Reply
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I dug out my dusty copy of Erebus by Michael Palin this week to answer another query, and that turned out to be a mix of past and present tense. It kind of makes sense that interviews are ‘now’ and the events we’re talking about are (neccessarily) ‘then’. As ever, it’s the way you do it that counts. The transitions would be key.
