Our question today is from ely_baby, who wants to know: When writing mostly in the present tense, what tense should be used for events in the past?

There are a lot of past tense choices, and all of them can work with a present tense narrative. ( I will use Daisy, from Agents of SHIELD, to illustrate the options with some present day action and past history. )

Question: When writing in present tense, should events taking place in the past be written in past tense or past perfect tense? (ex: Victor remembers his first days in Paris (present tense). The first thing he did after unpacking was call home (past tense), just as his mother had urged him to do (past perfect) before he got onto the plane (past ( Read more... )

akasha_lilian asks, "How do you conjugate 'to party' in the past tense?"

( With examples from Saiyuki and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. )

Fandom Grammar was asked ‘what is the relationship and history between to go and went?’

Go is an irregular verb, and our answers wend their way back to Middle English and beyond. Fannish examples will come from Sapphire and Steel, who are accustomed to dealing with irregularities.

( Let's go check this out )

theantipam asked: How do you use "woke" versus "awaken", specifically in the past tense? ("He had woken up in the middle of the night, hungry and cold." vs. "He had awakened in the middle of the night, hungry and cold ( Read more... )

with examples from Stargate SG-1There are two conscious decisions an author must make before beginning a piece of writing-selecting the tense of the story and the point of view. These two things can set the tone of the piece, determining whether the reader is close to the action or further removed. The more immediate the action and the reactions ( Read more... )