Viewpoint Wondering About Tenses...

Which do you prefer? How do you like to describe your characters actions in an rp? Is this something you consider very important to your experience, or are you happy with either option?

Me personally when I rp I usually use uh type of Tense where it likes *She’d open the door, they’d run, he’d laugh* but I do change it to fit in more with the other persons rp style so I wouldn't say I find the way I write important so I don’t mind changing it and tbh I do change it a lot even when practicing on my own.

Lady_Zenkins said:

Me personally when I rp I usually use uh type of Tense where it likes *She’d open the door, they’d run, he’d laugh* but I do change it to fit in more with the other persons rp style so I wouldn't say I find the way I write important so I don’t mind changing it and tbh I do change it a lot even when practicing on my own.

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I have been writing in present tense for so long, it takes a special effort to change lol. Probably a good thing that you change yours so often!

I use past tense and I have since I began writing! Although, in some instances I tend to swap to present tense, but it's never consistent. XD

Always gotta roll with past tense for me

I write in past tense unless my characters are doing asides.

normally i write in past tense but sometimes i shift to present tense and some still escapes my final proofreading before i post. whoops

Almost always past-tense, though not every time; I have also written a decent amount in present tense, usually during scenes in various discord RP servers (or the character interview thread here on RPN).

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I've not given much thought to this, admittedly, but let me try to explain what I think is my reasoning: I typically prefer past-tense, because I usually look at RP as a story progressing; something that has (or will) happen being told. "This happened, so what would my character say/do in response?"

However, in the less-common case I prefer present-tense, it's usually whenever the RP/scene using relatively short/quick responses between participants, & it feels like something that's actively taking place, not simply a story being told; if that makes sense?

For example: In a nation-building RP I was in, I of course used past-tense for the big post with actions, and interactions with other PCs when there was a general goal/preferable-outcome we'd discussed in OOC. Yet, during a "scene" (an important RP spanning just some hours in real time), I switched to present-tense shortly after it started; because it was a rapid back & forth between my character & an NPC, I was instead thinking "That NPC just did that, so what will my character do in response?".

Basically, instead of simply writing my character's side of a story being progressively told, I felt like I was writing my character's active response and emotions to an ongoing environment/interaction.

Another brief example would be the character interview thread, where I switched to present-tense (without really thinking); it wasn't a story/RP progressing, but rather my character's responses to active, ongoing questions. In my view, at least.

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Again, I don't really know if the above rant makes sense or not, but I feel that's the best way I can put "my reasoning for only sometimes using present-tense" into words.

TL; DR: I almost always go with past-tense (especially for typical forum/post format), but (unintentionally) prefer to use present-tense in certain circumstances; as long as it's not contradictory to any stated rules for the RP, or conflicting with the tense others are using at the same time, of course.

Got one RP in present tense, the rest in past!

I don't really care about tenses so long as everyone is using the same one.

That said, I tend to use past tense most of the time myself.

Tense-wise, I almost exclusively use past tense. There's two main reasons for this:
1 - It's generally the way stories are written. It's not universal by any means, but most books and the like are told with a past tense. It's also just how it's more natural to tell stories, because a story you tell is something which already happened, and the present moment is the moment you're telling the story. Now, while in RP the action is currently happening (normally) and I do try to write from the character's perspective (indeed, 1st person is my go-to), I still view the RP as fundamentally writing a story and developing a narrative, I tend to view what happens within the framework of story structure.
Not that I'm thinking about all this while choosing which tense to use. I basically just use the past tense because I feel it's the 'normal' and those are just my reasons why that might be.

2 - Sometimes while writing present tense I need to call to an action that had happened before and the writing starts feeling weird or I start having more problem with the phrasing as I try to make sentences work. Not always of course. Just in a few specific kind of situations that prevent me from using the tools you'd normally use to make the connection in the sentence.


So I use mostly just the past tense. Exceptions have mostly been found in a few ventures into chat RP I've tried, and D&D narration.

People need to start arguing so this thread can be a tense discussion

I use present tense when doing system-based roleplays. In any other context, it depends on the partner/group. Both tenses are fun exercises to me, so I have no real preference.

Which I use really depends on what I'm writing, which sort of atmosphere I'm trying to convey, etc. Sometimes I'll even switch between multiple in a single story. At least this is the case in my personal writing.

In RP I always use past tense. Present tense in RP just feels off. It almost feels like self-insert.

I voted other, but by that I mean I'm happy to use either past and present tense depending on my partner's preference. I like them both equally!

I always RP in third person, though.

I've always used past tense but recently I found a partner that uses present. I don't like using the present tense because it feels less natural for me, but I like a challenge so decided to match them. I now write with 3 people (2 past, 1 present), and while switching back and forth can be tricky, (and I still prefer 3rd), I am now developing a new skill which I enjoy. So I prefer 3rd, but now I'll do either, whereas before I'd only ever write in past tense.

I've always used past tense for roleplays. Present tense feels unnatural to use, unless for specific scenes where I want to convey the "slow-motion" feel.

There was a time where we decided to use present tense with a rp partner, and it was so hard. I kept autopiloting past tense and then had to rewrite the paragraphs to make it present tense. Then both of us ended up switching to past tense lol

Onmyoji said:

I've always used past tense for roleplays. Present tense feels unnatural to use, unless for specific scenes where I want to convey the "slow-motion" feel.

There was a time where we decided to use present tense with a rp partner, and it was so hard. I kept autopiloting past tense and then had to rewrite the paragraphs to make it present tense. Then both of us ended up switching to past tense lol

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I still struggle with this. I have one present tense partner and when I switch back and forth I always have to go back and edit my tenses. For some reason, my brain sees it as correct even when my tenses are mixed hehe.

For my first few years RPing, I felt present tense made sense because everyone with whom I wrote also used present tense, and because a lot of that RP was happening in real time, thus we were communicating things literally happening in the present (think D&D). When I first joined RPN, I started writing with people who used past tense, and I actually found a lot of literary devices just sounded better in past tense. Thus, my verdict is in favor of past tense.

I also typically steer clear of "would" outside of a couple circumstances, simply because the word has too many uses. When used as part of one's tense, it tends to sound like the character wants to do something, thus the entire post starts to sound hypothetical when juxtaposed with an entire page of past tense posts. Then I have to ask myself, "He would do that? Well what's stopping him?"

For a comprehensive guide of applications of the word "would", click here. (The link goes to a page from a college's English resources.)

In my personal writing, I use present tense. It just flows a little easier for me. In role play however, I transition to past tense since it's the one most commonly used. Going in the present is a huge pet peeve for many role players I've noticed, and I don't want to ruin the immersion for them. I will say that some errors escape proofreading.