Pet Peeve #42 - Tense
Do we really need to discuss this?
Apparently some of us do.
Tenses in writing determine what words you use when you are writing. It decides whether you say:
“I finished with my work.”
“I finish with my work.”
Or
“I will finish with my work.”
To make things simple, let’s not talk about future tense. An entire book written in future tense would be annoying.
It’s perfectly acceptable (if you do it well) to switch tenses from one in one scene to another in the next. Or to even do it mid-scene if you have a present tense work and write in a flash back.
However, one thing you don’t do is switch tense in mid-sentence! How can you expect anyone to read like that when you’ve put:
I am being tricked, but it was all okay. He likes me.
“I’m okay,” I said. I feel like I am floating right now, even though he was also making me a bit angry.
Don’t do that. It’s annoying. Stay in the same tense, at least while you’re still within one sentence. And proof read!
By the way, the above should have been (for past tense) something like:
I was being tricked, but it was all okay. He liked me.
“I’m okay,” I said. I felt like I was floating right then, even though he was also making me a bit angry.
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