Mumsnet Talk

Why is it that most picture books are written in the past tense? Is there a good reason for this? Does present tense just sound strange?

I think it does sound strange to people, simply because they're not used to it. Am personally a big fan and write mostly in present tense, but I'm YA, not picture books. Charlie & Lola is written in the present tense, though, which I feel works really well. Lola is an immediate kind of girl! I don't think it's something you can't do, but it would need to be done for a reason and done well to pull it off.

Hi Ploink. There's a few picture books which are written in the present tense, think 'I'm going on a bear hunt.' I think it depends on the story though as some work better when written in the past tense. I tend to write in the present tense, 'Molly sat on her bed and sighed...'

I tend to write in the present tense, 'Molly sat on her bed and sighed...'

Wouldn't this be "Molly sits on her bed and sighs..." If it were going to be present tense?

I did think about that later but was too embarassed to post busy with ds so couldn't return.

Don't be embarrassed because I read it and knew something wasn't right but it's taken me a whole day to figure it out!

It's very hard to concentrate sometimes. I'm writing two more picture books, finishing a novel and am researching for some non-fiction work I've been asked to do. My head is all over the place.