3rd person, present tense

[Mark Kohut]

>From an online writer:

"I tend to write in third person present tense. As ideas come to me for particular scenes, I write them down quickly before I forget the details. (Think of it as being a narrative version of watching a play, with notes to what the reader should learn of the plot.)"

>From another:
"In Charles Dickens's wonderful novel Bleak House (published 150 years ago), half the story is told in first person past tense by the heroine, Esther Summerson. The other half is told in third person present tense by a nameless narrator.

Present tense can give a kind of urgency to a narrative: We don't know what's going to happen next, everything is contingent, so it's very suspenseful. However..."

Yet another, a teacher (of writing):
"Most modern stories are told in the third person limited point of view. Many people prefer it, since it “keeps the author honest” by making him/her stick with one character and examine that character's point of view. If in doubt, use the third person limited, past tense. It's the most common tense. The present tense, as above, is a somewhat more advanced technique,"