First Person POV Present Tense – Writing Technique

If you’re struggling with making a scene or the story, in general, feel more personal or terrifying and not so detached, try this technique. By writing your scenes in first person and present tense you place the viewpoint as close to the character as possible, using the character’s thoughts and impressions to frame the events. And the present tense removes any illusion of safety that the past tense builds up. 

You can then either go ahead and keep first-person and present tense or change it in a second draft, depending on what makes sense for the story. Using this in the first draft is really just about removing distance while you’re in the exploration phase.