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.