Whether a story is written in the past tense or the present tense, it gives the flow of the story a particular momentum. For example, a sentence such as, “Susan runs down the street to catch the bus,” has a different flow to it than “Susan ran down the street to catch the bus.” The former has more drive and energy to it, since it reads as if we’re experiencing the moment with the character.
But there are drawbacks to the present tense. The present tense cannot read like a recollection of a scene. It reads more like a play-by-play account of what is happening, kind of like a sport’s commentator describing a play as it is happening. As a result, the narration cannot be told in hindsight, which would allow the reader to know what would happen later. Rather, the advantage with present tense is that we, the reader, are discovering/learning about the events at the same time the characters are.
Past tense writing has more of an autobiographical effect to it, where the scenes are described like memories or musings. The tension happens not from the action that is taking place, but because of what we’re about to discover as the plot progresses.
Both present tense and past tense can be used effectively depending on the narrative of the story. I usually write in the past tense since I prefer to tell a story that has already happened, rather than one that is happening in the moment.
Fallton Havenstonne 