Tense
When considering tense in a first person narrative, let’s think about the way we talk. If I’m talking about someone who’s still alive, I’ll say, “He’s so funny, conversations with him are a hoot.” However, if the gentleman is dead, we say, “He was so funny. I loved my conversations with him. He could have me laughing at the drop of a hat.” If I’m talking about the Tennessee Aquarium, I speak of it in the present tense. However, I speak of the World Trade Center Towers in the past tense. Those are extreme examples, but we do the same with everything in our lives. I speak of the sofa-sleeper that used to be in our family in the past tense, and the wrap-around sofa in the present tense. “The sofa sleeper was so uncomfortable, but I love the way the chaise on this sofa supports me when I work.” Two tenses in the same sentence, and it’s correct. Tense was designed so people will know if you’re referring to the past, present, or future. Here’s a teaser from Ghost (releasing October 14th) I’ve read about people wanting a spanking — women who act bad just so their husband will paddle their bottom — but no way was I ever going to want this. Dare’s a werewolf and he’s fucking strong. I know he doesn’t spank with all his strength, but that doesn’t matter because it’s more than I can handle and I was screaming and begging from the first strike. She starts out speaking in the past tense, but since Dare is still a werewolf, Hailey doesn’t speak of his status as werewolf in the past tense. If she did, readers would think I (the author) was foreshadowing some traumatic event that would either kill him or make him […]