Writing Tip – tenses

When you’re reading through and editing your work, consider the tense you’ve written it in.  Shifting from past to present (and back) can make the piece hard to follow and confusing, leaving a reader unsure as to where the character is during the scene they’re reading, especially if you do it mid-sentence or paragraph.  I know it’s hard when you have lots you want to convey with some of it happening in flashback, but consistency of tense is important in making your writing more fluid and clear.

If tenses confuse you, then read a good grammar guide. Eats Shoots and Leaves is easy and fun and might compel you to read others like it.

If you want to be ambitious with your tenses and you need to make complicated shifts, then read Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall to inspire you and show you how it can be done.

If you’re struggling to find the right verb tenses in your writing, try reading your work aloud.  It’ll come more naturally to you when you can hear the words rather than just seeing them on the page.