Question

Ok, this question probably won't make sense unless I give examples. The question is about tense. So:

Example One: She is my sister.

Example: She was my sister.


Alright. My novel is in past tense. So, for the examples I think example one sounds better. Because she's always going to be her sister. She's not going to just stop being her sister. But, maybe I'm wrong? So which example is right?

I hope that made sense.

Personally, I like example two. I see your logic, (I'm sometimes tempted to switch to example one myself) but if your whole novel is in past tense with no present tense in it at all, other than a handful of lines like that, then the work will probably flow better if you use past all the way through (this is coming from somebody who has been jerked out of many a story because of a change in tense)

Hope this helps.

~Rosey

Yep! I understand exactly what you mean; that question confuses me a lot, too. But I've got to agree with Rosey. While it's true that the narrator with always have a sister, even after the book is written (as long as she doesn't die, lol), you're probably not writing the book in that style. Which means, you probably aren't writing it with sentences like, "I'm trying to remember these events as I write them" because you're (probably) not writing it like a journal entry. To have it work like that, it would mean you mention the fact that your MC has already lived through this, knows how her story ends, and is now writing it down. But most first-person past-tense isn't like that. Instead, it's a story you're telling through the main character, without the main character knowing the ending or being conscious of the fact that she's writing.

xD Make sense? Basically, I'd put She was my sister.

~Evi

There are books that get away with doing it (such as the Hannibal books), but as a general rule, it's rather disturbing/weird to see it done the first way.

It depends, though. If you're writing it from the perspective of looking back years later (example: The Poisonwood Bible), then the first way makes sense. But if you're writing the events as they are happening, with no element of reflection, than the second way is the way to go.

I think it does depend on whether the narrator is looking back and giving commentary (eg. To Kill a Mockingbird, Gallagher Girls series), or it's just first person past tense with very little commentary. If it's a commentating narrator, then the first example is best, assuming there have been no deaths or anything, if it's first person past tense without the narrator giving opinions etc, then I'd say the second example. I'm also having this dilemma with my novel.

I'll usually just stick the information in another way, just to avoid this weird part of writing. So I'll totally say:

Rachel, my genius sister, showed off her genius once more by stapling her thumb accidentally.

So, when in doubt, just reword! Besides, saying "is" is over-rated. In story-telling, it's usually better to describe actual action verbs.

Thanks for the help and advice.

Well, maybe "She's my sister," would flow better, I don't know. "was" doesn't make since, because even though it IS in past tense, the sister is still alive.
If this sister was dead, then you could probably say "was".
Hope that helped.