Nathan Blum on Education, Inside and Outside the Classroom

"I rarely use the present tense. But, for a story in which the protagonist's uncertainty about the future is a central subject, it felt a little misleading to write in the past tense, which implies a kind of retrospective narrative-as if the story were being told from a future that already exists. I became convinced that the present tense was necessary when I reached the story's final section."

"I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but it was interesting to me that the moment of the story that is by far the most dramatic and shocking is not described-and happens entirely offstage, so to speak. Why did you make that choice? It was, for me, a question of point of view. The character through whom we learn what has happened was not there to witness the event."

"It's possible that I chose that perspective because it is the perspective I can relate to. But I also believe that those who have been close to these kinds of events should not be the only ones tasked with confronting them. Both the character and the reader must face the reality of what has happened. My hope is that the story has done its job and has made that reality as palpable as it should be."

Present tense was chosen because the protagonist's uncertainty about the future is central and past tense implies a retrospective inevitability. Conviction for present tense solidified upon reaching the story's final section, since the ending is not inevitable or implied and does not need to have happened. The most dramatic, shocking moment occurs offstage and is not described because the viewpoint character did not witness it. That perspective allows both character and reader to confront the reality of the event, while recognizing that those close to such events should not carry that burden alone. Story collections offer potential diversity and fluid boundaries of the form.

Read at The New Yorker