Let's Talk Briefly About The Narrative Tense

     Here’s a little reminder to writers and writer-wannabes. After you’ve finished plotting your story, and after probably fleshing out your characters, and you’re ready to write it now, the first thing you decide on is your narrative tense: will it be in present tense or past tense? Past tense is more common (and some say it is the only way a story should be told and that most readers are more comfortable with it), so let’s say you choose simple past tense for your narration, the first rule here is: you have to make sure that your whole narrative is in past tense.  (Meaning, your verbs, action or linking, should always be in past tense, e.g. was over is, talked instead of talks, sat over sit, had over has or have, could over can, did over do or does, would instead of will, and so on., except in dialogues, of course.)

     Here's an excerpt from the “classic” vampire novel Twilight:

     At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Edward Cullen was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose — he was much taller than I'd thought — his back to me, and he was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.

      I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn't fair. I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up. For some reason, my temper was hardwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried when I was angry, a humiliating tendency.

      You can only switch to a different tense (present tense, for example) when you change your POV. But methinks staying with your narrative tense regardless of the POV is nicer. Who knows, even though your story is horrendous (as all my stories/scripts tend to be, lol, the editor might just approve your story because your narrative tense is consistent and isn’t headache-inducing.