Gay Ingram's Blog - Posts Tagged "verb"
Choose Your Verb Tense Wisely
A novelist's key concern is to create an east-to-read balance between writing in summary, exposition, or writing in scene, action.
Exposition is a form of summary, any words in your story that are not dramatizing an action.
Action, on the other hand, are specifically tied to the movements of characters in scenes.
The tense of the verb in use indicates whether we are writing summary or scene.
Developing a working knowledge of verb tenses, you can apply this information to create and control the balance between summary and action in your work.
Compound tenses define the moments either before or after the dramatic present, and the simple tenses reveal the dramatic present.
An example:
'is doing' is a compound tense of the verb. Use of a compound verb indicates the sentence is summary.
"bends " is the simple tense of the verb and describes her specific action in the scene.
In most cases, tenses function in this matter, giving you the author, a means to consciously strengthen and control the balance between summary and action in your story.
Exposition is a form of summary, any words in your story that are not dramatizing an action.
Action, on the other hand, are specifically tied to the movements of characters in scenes.
The tense of the verb in use indicates whether we are writing summary or scene.
Developing a working knowledge of verb tenses, you can apply this information to create and control the balance between summary and action in your work.
Compound tenses define the moments either before or after the dramatic present, and the simple tenses reveal the dramatic present.
An example:
'is doing' is a compound tense of the verb. Use of a compound verb indicates the sentence is summary.
"bends " is the simple tense of the verb and describes her specific action in the scene.
In most cases, tenses function in this matter, giving you the author, a means to consciously strengthen and control the balance between summary and action in your story.
