Pitch Dictionary by pitch.dog
Dialogue, prose, pace & style · Core

Present tense

Also called: present-tense prose

ELI5

Writing that describes story action as happening now.

Used in conversation

“The present tense needs to land without a long explanation.”

Pitch context

You may encounter “Present tense” in story, structure & screenplay conversations or materials.

Why it matters: Helps describe how a story works on the page and how its dramatic parts fit together.

Connected terms

  • Past tenseComputed from definition language and shared taxonomy. This indicates proximity, not synonymy.
  • Future tenseComputed from definition language and shared taxonomy. This indicates proximity, not synonymy.
Sources & evidence · 4

Supporting source families. This entry is an editorial synthesis rather than a quotation from one canonical glossary.