Quick question on tense

dakota · Jul 10, 2008

I have a pretty amaturish question, so please don't laugh.

When telling a story in present tense and a chapter takes place 15 years ago, do you tell it in past tense or present tense with a heading that reads 15 years ago. To further complicate things, some background on the character is revealed which would be even further back.

Generic Example.
15 years ago.

Bill signed up for war. Blah, blah, blah. (Present tense because I already stated we were 15 years in the past? Or still past tense?)

While in school, he was always facinated with learning about various battles. (Present? Past?)

I am sure this has been answered before but I have searched for awhile and there are simply too many posts. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone.

Thump · Jul 10, 2008

Hmm... I think if you make a sudden cut with a heading, you should probably use the present tense like you used in the rest of the story. If you insert little snippets of info about him in the middle of the narrative, you should use the past tense.

This is my opinion

dpaterso · Jul 10, 2008

The way you have it is fine.

-Derek

GordonK · Jul 10, 2008

Just my two cents:

A story can only move forward, not backward. When you're suddenly 15 years back, only two things can happen: a) Time Travel -- in this case you're still in the story, still moving forward, and I believe you'll still use present tense; b) Flashback -- these are expositions about incidents completed, done, & irrevocable, and I'm inclined to have them written in past tense.

maestrowork · Jul 10, 2008

Either way is fine as long as you're clear about the time line. I did the same thing with my first novel. I set the "past" off with past tense. The rest (current time) is done in present tense.

Seif · Jul 10, 2008

dpaterso said:
The way you have it is fine.

-Derek

Seconded, just so long as you don't mix the two up.

dpaterso · Jul 10, 2008

I'm just asking, prompted by Ray's reply...

Are we talking about past tense (Joe drove into town to see Mary) vs. past perfect (Joe had driven into town to see Mary), or past tense vs. present tense (Joe drives into town to see Mary)?

If the narrative moves back in time but you want to maintain a connection with present day events, I wouldn't see anything wrong with kicking off with a past perfect line to signal this (Joe had driven into town to see Mary) and then shifting gears to regular past tense (He parked on the corner and walked to Mary's apartment) since maintaining past perfect can be awkward (all those "hads").

If I've misunderstood (again) so sorry.

-Derek

seun · Jul 13, 2008

maestrowork said:
Either way is fine as long as you're clear about the time line. I did the same thing with my first novel. I set the "past" off with past tense. The rest (current time) is done in present tense.

I did the reverse in my last completed book. Because of the situation in the past events, it felt right to make it much more immediate and to show that even though it was the past, it still had a huge impact on the present.

maestrowork · Jul 13, 2008

seun said:
I did the reverse in my last completed book. Because of the situation in the past events, it felt right to make it much more immediate and to show that even though it was the past, it still had a huge impact on the present.

Mitch Albom did that in Five People You Meet In Heaven. The main story is in past tense, but the flashbacks are in present tense. A bit weird but it works.

Danalynn · Jul 14, 2008

maestrowork said:
Either way is fine as long as you're clear about the time line. I did the same thing with my first novel. I set the "past" off with past tense. The rest (current time) is done in present tense.

I second this method. Seems like it would make more sense to do it that way. . . .

seun · Jul 15, 2008

maestrowork said:
Mitch Albom did that in Five People You Meet In Heaven. The main story is in past tense, but the flashbacks are in present tense. A bit weird but it works.

He stole the idea off me.

Quick question on tense

dakota

Walk on the wild side...

Thump

defying grabbity

dpaterso

Patent pending

GordonK

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Seif

dpaterso

Patent pending

seun

Horror Man

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Danalynn

NEVER give up!!!!

seun

Horror Man