Christina Goebel's Blog - Posts Tagged "verb-shift"
Solving Verb Tense Problems
During some recent editing work, I encountered a book that had multiple verb tenses. To complicate issues, the novel had multiple character timelines. Having wrestled with this problem before, I opted for the past tense. Why?
First, understand that there are certain things that readers accept without noticing, such as the common dialogue tags "he said/she said." We read those without considering them, but when we encounter "he extrapolated," that gets our attention. This is why journalists stick with he said/she said so that their message gets through and the reader's focus isn't shifted to which fancy tags they use.
Verb tense is similar for readers. Most books are written in the past tense. When we happen upon a book that uses present tense, our attention shifts temporarily to the writer's verb construction. I do believe that setting a book in the now creates a special experience for readers, just like writing with a first person narrator does. However, when you're writing a book and verb tense is all over the place, revert to the past tense--the most common form we experience--and save the sophisticated verb usage for times when it feels right and is easier to implement. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...#
First, understand that there are certain things that readers accept without noticing, such as the common dialogue tags "he said/she said." We read those without considering them, but when we encounter "he extrapolated," that gets our attention. This is why journalists stick with he said/she said so that their message gets through and the reader's focus isn't shifted to which fancy tags they use.
Verb tense is similar for readers. Most books are written in the past tense. When we happen upon a book that uses present tense, our attention shifts temporarily to the writer's verb construction. I do believe that setting a book in the now creates a special experience for readers, just like writing with a first person narrator does. However, when you're writing a book and verb tense is all over the place, revert to the past tense--the most common form we experience--and save the sophisticated verb usage for times when it feels right and is easier to implement. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...#
