Sufferings of a new writer

>decide to write my own novel as a hobby yesterday
>4 (four) hours pass
>i have written 1/3 of a page
>still can't decide between past or present tense
Can you guys please give me general tips on how to write from the protagonist perspective in present time? I think it is the best way to show surprising things, that shock the protagonist and the reader in real time. It was a lot of fun to write, but i like to be more efficient.
>inb4 show what you've written
It's in German. Also I'm too shy to share, it has some pretty strong self-inserts.

nigga
you don't just open MS Word and start writing the novel
you gotta plan shit out first

I have the general story, characters (there are only a handful) and ideas already in my mind, I just find it surprisingly hard to write from the protagonist's perspective as things are happening.

You need to get the plot down on paper. You need to just write. Your first draft will look like it was written by a three year old. Don't panic, every writer goes through the stank ass writing stage for every book. When you have written all you feel like you can handle for a while put it down for a day or two. When you come back read through it again like you were reading someone else's work. Which bits stand out? What's jarring? then you go in and you tweak and flesh it out. It's tough shit in the beginning, but as soon as you get really going it sort of just happens.

Not true. Let the story write for you, bitch.

>>still can't decide between past or present tense
Don't bother until you've finished the first draft then you can decide which works better. Right now you're doing a really scribbly sketch, just blocking out the shapes of your final piece; doesn't matter if you shade with gradients or crosshatch right now, you can figure out which works better later.

>still can't decide between past or present tense

I could be a dick right now, but this is Veeky Forums and I like you guys.
Always past tense. Noone takes present tense seriously

>not utilizing tense shifts to break the reader's mind in a sequence where characters' grasps of reality are being torn down

pssshh

> implying anyone here has enough talent to pull that off properly

I think this might be helpful to me. I always looked at it, like it was written in stone, but I can write the general prototype down first and later edit it. I guess I am no Harlan Ellison, he just sat down and wrote I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (134 pages) in one night with no editing. Ok, I will continue with the story first and later see what works best.
But how would I write in the past tense if things are happening right now in the perspective of the protagonist? For example, if the door bell is ringing, I would write "Suddenly the door bell is ringing". Would it better if I would write "Suddenly the door bell rang"? I'm writing in German, so it's not 100% accurate.

For most authors, every novel and every story is different. Hence the famous maxim, you can't learn to write a novel, you just learn how to write this novel.

It's perfectly acceptable to write in the past tense, like "Suddenly the doorbell rang" or "burning pain shot up his hands as he lifted the bowl from the microwave". You can also write in the present tense. I would suggest that you write in whatever tense you find most comfortable. As fair warning, most english books are written in the past tense. It's become the standard, so most people find it easier to be immersed in a past tense book. However, regardless of what some of the other dingbats are saying, present tense can work just fine. For most people it's easier to write in past tense, but if I recall German doesn't have different forms for words in different tenses right? The best advice I can give is write what you feel works the best, and go through again after to see how it works in post. Have some other people critique your work, and remember that nobody gets it right first go.

>if I recall German doesn't have different forms for words in different tenses right?
No, there are, that's why I was really, really struggling while writing present tense. It just felt wrong to me, but I thought that, if I don't write in present tense it would not make any sense, since I try to write situations as they are happening to the MC, that's why I always went with present tense "I run my errands as fast as possible and return home" for example, but it just reads bad to me. I'm sorry it's hard to explain, because of the different languages and all. But I guess I just switch to past tense, write it out and then try to decide what to do in the editing progress. Thanks for the tips, I feel like I can write more today than yesterday.

You could always try writing the same passage in both tenses, and compare them afterwards. For me, when I write I write as though I'm telling the story to somebody. Like, if I was talking to a friend about where I've been I would say "I ran my errands as fast as possible and returned home." Again though, both work just fine. It's all a stylistic choice, so if you feel like you write better one way then do that.

I think this is a nice idea, writing in the past tense as if you were telling a friend about it, but the story is still taking place in current time. I try it out.

>But how would I write in the past tense if things are happening right now in the perspective of the protagonist?

If you're writing from the perspective of the protagonist as in the protagonist is the narrator, you should assume the protagonist IS WRITING the story from a point in the future.
If the narrator is an outsider you can write however you want and in that case you should want to write in past tense because that's what respectable authors do

>German
Bitte, bitte, bitte, bitte, bitte, bitte post es. Ich helf dir und dann must du mir helfen, ich hab a bisl in Deutsch geschrieben und wechsel immer zwischen des und Englisch. Mach dir keine sorgen mit "self-insert" so hab ich auch angefangen. Wir können auch emails tauschen wenn du willst! Ich möcht a Penpal.

Depends on the approach. Architect or gardener. Architects plan out the book. Gardeners give it form on the run. He can also do a little bit of both.

[email protected]
Here's my email if you want to share

>It has pretty long [anything]
>1/3 of a page

this is what happens when stupid muslim niggers try to write. you don't just decide one day to write a novel, mash'alla. you fucking stupid piece of shit. go blow up a concert.

Just mimic your favorite writers.