I use yesterday, today, now, etc., in past tense, when the context is really clear. Or at least when I think it's clear. Random example. Jane walked to the middle of the lawn, folded her arms, and took it all in. Yesterday, the garden had been flawless--not a blade of grass venturing too high, not a single rose fading. Now it was a scene of destruction. Two trees were leaning, and those that had survived were stripped of leaves. The blah de blah de blah.
I'm with you up to here. I believe that this, taken literally, means that the noose-bedecked branches are attached to the character. I'd be good with: Hair standing up straight, I walked past the trees. or Nooses hanging off branches, the trees creaked in the wind.
I agree, that sentence is ugly, unless the character doing the walking somehow has branches and nooses on him/her/it. I see this a lot, so I think it's totally acceptable, but it's a pet dislike of mine and I avoid it in my own writing. I'd say "The day before the garden had been flawless..."
We're going to go with this one! My Bad -I was in a bit of a rush last night.- My point is that an absolute phrase is not a verb phrase; hence, it is not subject to being in any type of tense. I am curious about if when people say 'The narrative switches tenses' if they truly are talking about verb phrases, or if it is a verbal/absolute phrase that they don't realize is not acting as a predicate. This is kinda why I wanted to an example from a book he read so I can see for myself what is going on.
Yes, that, to me, is fine. In fact I wouldn't even notice the switch as it sounds so natural. What's weird, though, is that I'd never allow myself to do this if I was writing in first-person. Don't ask me to justify it, but now it becomes unacceptable. At this point I would have to go the way of @BayView and use 'the day before'.
Ha! If I was being picky - and I usually am - I'd say that present tense is not something you 'feel'. The real meaning of 'present tense' has solid literary rules. Although I do fully understand what you mean. Fiction written in present tense, while adhering to the correct usage, still feels as though what you're reading is happening now. Good present tense fiction put you right there in the action.
I think Warcross by Maria Lu. It is mostly written in first person present tense, but some of the background information is in past tense.
But that's past tense exposition in s present tense narrative--the opposite of your thread subject. That's perfectly normal and natural.
I usually prefer to keep one tense and use special words or tenses only when you want to show continuity from the point that the story takes place to the present. Something like this this exert from James A Michener's Alaska. "Then as now, the winter night was protracted. For six months the sun appeared low in the sky, if it appeared at all..." The then takes place about a billion years ago, the now is now.
Have you tried flashbacks? Although I don't use them, nor do I like them that much - it is a good way to practise tense changing. Alongside this, try a different perspective, I find it's good to change the point-of-view.
But with flashbacks it's not traditional to change tense (unless you're writing in present tense) then, yes, there will be a definite change in tense. But when you're already writing in past tense, flashbacks are traditionally then written in what's called past perfect, which is, for want of a better explanation, a branch of past tense.
I'm not sure a full flashback would be in past perfect, would it? I think of flashbacks as being set up from the rest of the text enough that past perfect isn't needed... or sometimes people use it for only the first few sentences and then go into simple past, but I find that strange. If the flashback is set off from the rest of the text, I think it's pretty common to change verb tense.
No, valid point, I don't think it would. But my point remains, namely that unless you're writing in present, a flashback doesn't use a change of tense as @Skibbs suggests.
I've read flashbacks that did change tense from past to present... I think the idea is that the character having the flashback is "experiencing" it in real time, so it's written in present tense. Like: He had to hold it together. There was no time to think about any of that, and no damn point to it, either. He couldn't change the past, so he needed to just get on with the present. That made sense. That was the logical, mature thing to do. But all the same... He's seven years old. Small for his age, almost frail. The clown is at his birthday party, and it's watching all the children with eyes that see too much. etc.
@BayView - can't say I've ever experienced this style and I'm not sure I'd like it. Seems arse about tit to me.
I wouldn't say my example was prime writing, but I've definitely seen the general technique used by others.
Rumer Godden, China Court. Just as one example. The present is past tense and the past is present tense.
I never use a flashback. My background information is use through dialogue or exposition during the pacing of the story.
I'd still like an example of what you mean. I'm asking because I'm wondering if it really is present tense. As discussed, people do it, but I'm just getting an uncertain vibe about what might have triggered the question.
Here is a one-page excerpt from a short story, which I am working on now. It has a mix of past and presents tense because the main story focuses on what happened before, while some of the information is still happening. Tonight was a good night to hunt. I perched on top of a cargo crate, staying low so none of the thugs in the harbor would spot me. Good thing I wore a black leather outfit to camouflage in the darkness. The only thing that stood out was my long black hair, light brown furry skin, my long slender tail, and my pointy ears on the top of my head. But as long as I avoided the spotlights along the docks, I should be invisible like a ghost. Purrrfect. Yes, I am a cat girl. A cyber-enhanced feline organism with a sexy human-like body. My kind is called Aniborgs, which is short for animal cyborgs. Not like regular animals with robotic body parts. We were once normal animals until human scientists from Dyncorp captured us and changed our bodies with cybernetic technology. They planned to build an army of powerful cyborgs to conquer the world. With combined dexterity, agility, and instincts from wild animals, they created the best lethal soldiers to gain the upper power. We invaded Europe and wiped out many cities. Although we were close to victory, the United Forces discovered Dyncorp’s secret base and assassinated the board members. We immediately surrendered after we heard our masters were killed. Instead of exterminating my race, the United Nation decided to rehabilitate us so we could establish our own lives. But we were treated with distrust and cruelty by the humans. After a bloody riot in a city district, all Aniborg civilians were declared illegal in most human states. But the United Nation built us our own city on an isolated island near South Africa. We called it Moreau City, named after H.G Well’s book. Some of us called it a haven, but others thought it was a prison. On the docks, the thugs were pit bull dogs, armed with laser assault rifles. All of them wore black armor body suits as if they were a SWAT team. Brony’s dogs must be well funded to look like super soldiers. Not bad for a wealthy gang. Because crime in our big city is so large and hidden, our police forces never have enough time to hunt the suspects on their own. So they hire special bounty hunters like me, called Chasers, to perform their jobs. My job is to track the criminals and bring them in, dead or alive. Then I get a big paycheck, enough for food and rent. Plus I get a decent lifestyle without living on the dirty streets. All good girls gotta have a good living to survive. What do you think?
Okay, now that I see what you are doing. This is called an Apostrophe (not the punctuation mark), a break in the narrative that addresses something (in your case, I am guessing the reader.) Basically, it follows the same principle as dialogue, except you are speaking to some imaginary audience. - I am little wary of using it to give background information. When employed correctly, it's meant to get the reader to agree with a certain point of view that they might not otherwise agree with.
Yes, that is what I am using. I just hope it doesn't confuse the readers, thinking it is a tense switching error.
Inserting a passage of present tense into a past-tense story is never fine if it's "one of my grammar problems." It can work, but most of the time it doesn't.
A story with no flashbacks? I guess, but I don't know why a writer would want to forbid him or herself from using a story-telling mechanism like flashbacks. That is a much better idea than switching tenses.
