Young Writers Society

Someone told me writing in present tense would make the story sound like it's being written as the story progresses. Not always true, but, is that right?

Now the problem I'm having is writing in present tense, and in 1st person view.
I noticed I can't make the words to draw enough sympathy to the reader, and also it's hard to "skip scenes" like how it's possible in past tense; as in, write down the things that matter in day 1, skip to the night time when the MC thinks about the intense battle the next morning, skip to the next morning, etc.

I feel writing in present tense makes the MC (of course, because the MC is also the narrator in 1st person) have less control in the flow, and often gets stuck in one scene without being able to freely skip to the next crucial scene in the story.

For example, the MC is figuring out how to do the ancient art of kamehameha. Describing it in present tense would make the MC be stuck in, maybe the process of "feeling" the energy or something for several pages, while in past tense the MC could easily say(or write) "This was not easy. I spent three days figuring out how to discover the energy in me, only to find it silly that I learned it was much easier for me after I took a certain type of drink. A certain drink which also makes my legs wobbly."

I'm thinking of changing my work to past tense, even though I really like the effect of "live action" in doing it in present tense.

Another thing. Is it possible to make it present tense, but switch to past when he's talking about the past only? Or is it better to do everything in past tense, and explicitly mention when the MC is talking about the past?

I have a recent project in which I'm dabbling in present tense/first-person, so I've been facing the same problems as you have. In my story's case, I chose the present tense for the exact reason you did. The story's style, in my case, is more effective if the reader is actually there. And while it's difficult for me to understand, I don't think I should really quit present tense. Not yet anyway!

One thing I have to keep reminding myself is that skipping scenes is perfectly fine. I haven't read many books that tell about a character going to the bathroom. You can use a sentence transition such as "The next morning turns out to be a bit ridiculous when I find my brother bounding up and down the stairs in an elephant suit," or just a simple page break.

You also don't have to actually bury yourself into the character's every action. When your character's doing the kamehameha, you can phrase that example sentence you provided into present tense, and it would work perfectly fine. It depends how you want to go about the view, but present tense doesn't have to be extremely different from past, and first person from third. It's actually a good practice for writers trying first-person for the first time. Take a piece of writing in past tense, then rework it into present tense. The perspective creates a different feel for the reader as they delve into the story, but the telling of the story doesn't have to be affected that much.

Another thing. Is it possible to make it present tense, but switch to past when he's talking about the past only? Or is it better to do everything in past tense, and explicitly mention when the MC is talking about the past?

The first one, yes! Second yes of course, but since we're talking about present tense right now, yes to the first question! I like to think of present tense/first-person like a conversational narration. So when you're talking to someone, how do you tell them about a childhood memory or about what happened yesterday? You switch to past tense! It should work fine in your story as well.

Hopefully I inspired some answers to your confusion. xD Happy writing!