![]() ![]() Letters and other documents work in a similar fashion. While the tags belong to the past or the present tense, the dialogue itself is always in the moment. If you like the energy of the present tense but want to write in the past tense, consider using more literary devices that allow you to stay in the present moment.If past tense gave you the opportunity to look back from afar, consider opening with a retrospective and then segueing into present tense. They should also identify the object from a sentence. If present tense gave the paragraph more energy, think of other ways to tighten up your language. They should identify the verb and make past participle form. For both 1) and 2), rewrite the paragraph in its original tense, but try to hold onto anything that you liked when you changed the tense.How has this changed the tenor of the paragraph? How does it impact the way a reader is introduced to the fiction? Does this affect the point-of-view? If your piece is written in the present tense, rewrite the first paragraph or two in the past tense. ![]() What have you lost? What have you gained? How do the sentences work differently? If your piece is written in the past tense, rewrite the first paragraph or two in the present tense.How do things change when we move to the present or the past? What can happen to your fiction if you change the tense of a piece? If instead of writing the piece in the past, you write it in the present? What can you learn about your characters or their situation or the way your fiction works by changing the tense? This can be a great thing to play with, if only for a writing session or two. They put the reader right into the action of the story. Switching tenses can be jarring to the reader and make the story hard to follow. It is good practice to avoid switching tenses during a scene or within the same paragraph unless doing so is essential for clarity. There’s a reason that many young adult novels are written in the present tense. It is not advisable to mix past and present tense in a story. I know nothing more than you, the writer is implicitly saying to the reader, let’s go through this adventure together. The present tense, while lacking the ability to use reflection, often carries with it a level of energy precisely because the reader and the narrator are in the moment together. We’re telling a story of which we know the narrative arc and, therefore, it happened in the past. Many of us use the past tense as our default, as it allows for foreshadowing, and, conversely, it allows reflection from the present “telling” moment. Most writers, it seems, prefer one tense over another. ![]()
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