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help me! starting a new novel....my first actually, need help with the tense
i had an idea for a book when I was 14. I am now 23 and I just can't shake the story, it has really stuck with me.
being a first time writer however I'm getting a little confused with tenses.
for example
I had decided I didn’t like Notting Hill as soon as mum announced that we were going to move there. Not only did I have to change school halfway through my GCSE’s , I had to leave behind our picturesque cottage that I had lived in my whole life and loved so much.
is this past tense?
I have dyslexia so I struggle with this.
if its not can anyone help me out?
thank you!
Comments
Yes, that's all past tense. It's to do with the verbs. As soon as you put 'have' or 'had' in front of another verb, you make it a past tense. Also, if you add
'-ed' to the end of a verb, it becomes past. (There are different types of 'past' but I won't go into that)
So:
PRESENT
I decide/I am deciding
Mum announces/Mum is announcing
We are going
I am to change school
I am to leave behind
PAST
I have decided/ I had decided/I decided
Mum announced/Mum has announced/Mum had announced
We were going
I have to change school/I had to change school
I had to leave behind/I left behind
There are so many rules.
However, you have followed your gut instinct without knowing what those rules are, so stick with that; you're doing fine!
There are different types of past tense however (names are escaping me but someone else will chip in).
'I had decided' is longer ago than 'I decided', but both are past tense.
e.g I was unhappy in my new home. I had decided as soon as Mum announced it that I wouldn't like Notting Hill.
The 'unhappy' part is past tense and is happening at the time of the story. The 'I had decided' has happened before the time of the story. Hope that makes sense!
I decided I didn't like Notting Hill...
You might decide you want to make it present tense, or switch to third person or have this bit as a flashback ...
do excuse me if I use txt slang on here lol
I do write properly in my book lol
I started this first chapter completely different! from first person.
it was really hard to follow and my husband proof read it and pointed out that much of it just didn't add up.
so I restarted and im getting on much better writing from past tense.
I love Jodi picoult and want to do the whole each chapter is a character style but that involves time scale complications.
this writing lark is the long haul eh?
:-)
What I will say is that if you've had this idea for seven years it definitely has to be written. And that it might be a good idea to find a second reader - husbands are never the best judges.
And welcome to the forum.
When new members join, they usually start a new thread introducing themselves. You'll get to meet a lot more TBers if you do that. Only the odd few will respond to this thread.
\:D/