Book Report Help, urgent

[SnoringFrog]

Okay, I have to write a book report for English class by Monday, and I might not be home much on Sunday to work on it, besides the fact I'd rather not push it that close to the deadline and hav eto rush through it moreso than I already am.

We had to read a biography for this book report, but our report has to be in presenst tense, and I'm having trouble coming out with a decent report that's not all in past tense and I need any help or tips that can be given to make it easier.

No matter how I phrase things, it all comes out terrible when written in present tense. I'm considering just writing it normally and then changing all of the incorrect tenses to present tense, even though I know it will sound horrible and I'll absolutely hate it and not want it to be known as my work. Is there anything else I can do to prevent having to make it sound so bad?

[Radical Dreamer]

Can you give an example of some of the things you're writing? Perhaps there's just a better way to word some things. Still, I've never heard of a paper assigned in the present-tense...thinking about it, it sounds pretty tough! XD;

[Puritan]

I would suggest writing it as a story. It sounds odd, but write like you're describing what the person was doing, but like they're doing it now. Let me give an example:

Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders assault Kettle Hill, participating in the assault on Santiago and, through the working of the press, he becomes a legend, "charging" up San Juan hill, and turning the well known former secretary of the Navy into a war hero. Roosevelt catches Malaria, but he is one of the few to recover, and he emerges from the Spanish American war a hero in the eyes of the public. He almost immediately enters politics, and he successfully runs for Governor of New York, where he strives to root out corruption in its every form. His charisma and dedication to this cause prove an excellent resource for the Republicans, who successfully smash William Jennings Bryan's run for president with a McKinley/Roosevelt ticket. Sadly, President McKinley is shot and dies from his wounds only a year after this election, and soon Roosevelt is the president of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt is certainly a more charismatic President than the US has seen in a long time, his smile and enthusiasm simply leap out of stories about him, and he is beloved by editorial cartoonists as his personality is easy to caricature.

Alright, I think you get the point. Theodore Roosevelt is fascinating... err, just write like you're experiencing the events. Good luck!

[SnoringFrog]

We have to do all of our papers in present tense and 3rd person, which gets very annoying sometimes.

Well, for one thing, when I was talking about Nikola Tesla's birth (which fell exactly on midnight between two days), saying, "He is unsure which to consider his real birthday" sounded very off to me since he's been dead for a while now.

Either way, I got it done. I just had to force myself to not think of Tesla as an actual person that lived a real life, but just another character in a book. Sounds odd, but it worked.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Well, for one thing, when I was talking about Nikola Tesla's birth (which fell exactly on midnight between two days), saying, "He is unsure which to consider his real birthday" sounded very off to me since he's been dead for a while now.

"He is unsure which day he considers to be his real birthday." Would work.