Young Writers Society

well, I am writing a book, and I have one major problem. Tenses.

I cannot seem to write in the correct tense. The book is story being told by the main character. Sorry, I cannot be more specific, but I really don't have any idea where to start. I feel that I am a really good writer, but tenses are seeming to screw me over. This is extremely frustrating and any form help would be great. The link to a part of the book is in this topic36444.html

Having a tense problem is not unusual so don't be frustrated.

For me, I have to get in the mindset. I have to be like "Are they doing something right now or did they already do it?" If they are doing something at the moment, it should end with -ing, -ly, etc. For past tense, it's stuff like words that end in -ed.

Seeing as your story seems to be written (mostly) in past tense, instead of -ing, try -ed instead. I can't think of any more examples but I'd suggest just going back over your story. Ask yourself "Is this in past tense like it should be?" If it ends with -ing, ly, etc, it isn't; just go back and fix it.

I would also repeat saying "This is past tense, not present tense." to myself. It sounds stupid but it's helped me with some of my stories on my laptop.

I hope I helped and PM me if you have any questions or need any more help.

-alwaysawriter