Books written in the present tense.

 

I wrote my most recent book, a memoir, Atlantic Crossing in the present tense. This is not the most popular way to proceed. Most memoirs are written in the past tense. As in, "When I was a child, blah, blah, blah... and then I grew up to... blah, blah, blah." 

For example, Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen was written in the past tense. "I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills," she begins. 

But my choice of the present tense worked by immersing the reader in the story. And so, I decided to write my next book, Love and Loss, also in the present tense. 

Today, browsing Amazon, I noticed several books by well known and successful authors were written in the present tense. Here they are: 

Michael Ondaatje used the present tense in his memoir, Running In The Family. "What began it all was the bright bone of a dream I could hardly hold onto." 

Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace is written in the present tense. "Out of the gravel, there are peonies growing." 

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert begins, "I wish Giovanni would kiss me." Present tense. 

Good to see.