In this sentence, which is correct? His pallid skin clung to every bone of his head. His pallid skin was clinging to every bone of his head. I am writing in past tense, but after a long(ish) break, I'm beginning to really struggle when it comes to things like my above query. Context: A girl has just seen her father for the first time after several months. She is observing him. If i use 'clung' as above, does that mean the skin only decided to cling upon my character's observation of her father? So the skin was not clinging to his bones three seconds previously? I hope I'm explaining myself properly. I've been trying to Google my answer for an hour and my head's boggled with perfect tense, past tense, present tense etc
the answer you are looking for is "clung." But, I think should find another way to describe that the man was just skin and bones.
My sentiments exactly. To me, it gives an image of someone that's already dead, and whose skin is rotting off and there's very little left and it's only just barely "clinging" to his skull anymore.
