We started with books. Analyzing around a quarter of a million Amazon book reviews revealed that present tense increased impact. Saying a book “is” rather than “was” a good read or “has” rather than “had” great plot development led other people to find a review more helpful.
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So we might understand revision as a way of practicing relationship; seeing what, when we do it, improves the relationship between ourselves and the reader. What makes it more intense, direct, and honest? What drives it into the ditch? The exciting thing is that we’re not doomed to ask these questions abstractly; we get to ask them locally, by running our meter over the phrases, sentences, sections, etc., that make up our story, while assuming some continuity of reaction between the reader and ourselves.
Even in music, though, we found the same result. Music reviews that used more present-tense verbs were more persuasive.
Said another way, present tense suggests that speakers don’t just have an opinion, they are relatively certain about it.
It turns out that these differences in certainty have an important impact on sustained attention. Looking across thousands of pieces of content, we found that uncertain emotions encouraged engagement…
Uncertainty led readers to stick around to resolve what they didn’t know.
Overall, we found that speed was good. Books, movies, and TV shows with faster plot progression were liked more than their slower-moving counterparts.
Just as atypical lyrics make songs more interesting to listen to, a faster plot progression makes a story more stimulating. Rather than just plodding along, moving faster between more differentiated topics and ideas is more exciting, which leads audiences to react more favorably.
In addition, we found that within stories, there were times when plots should move faster and times when they should move more slowly. At the beginning of a book or movie, the canvas is blank. An audience doesn’t know who the characters are, what the setting is, or how everything relates. So the beginning of a story sets the stage, building a base or jumping-off point for the rest of the narrative.
Starting slowly is key. It takes time for the audience members to digest the characters, their relationships, and everything else, so a plot that moves too quickly at the outset may confuse them.