Use of proper verb tense

Quote by Milik_Redman
As many new and experienced writers struggle with the subject, Principessa and I have collaborated in an effort to create an easy to understand resource for understanding the use of verb tense in writing. Using incorrect Verb Tense causes a large percentage of story rejections and it is our hope that this resource will assist our writers in getting their stories published as quickly and easily as possible. With that, we present this resource on;

VERB TENSES IN YOUR WRITING

(No time shifting here. It is not science fiction.)

One of the many issues to address in writing is to how to properly relate when the events in your story actually took place. Are the events described related from memory as a narrative or are they happening in real time? This is the purpose of using the correct verb tense in writing.

In stories told about events that have already occurred, virtually every verb should be in the past tense. It is like relating a story to a friend. You would naturally describe everything in a way that made it clear that they happened before your conversation. For instance, you might confide to a friend something that occurred the night before:

My wife and I were at a club last night and we had passionate sex in the restroom.

In this example, it would be unnatural to discuss this in the present tense as it clearly happened in the past.

Similarly, in a story written about past events, you would tell the story in the past tense. In fact, the only time the present tense would be used would be to describe something that remained unchanged since the events took place. For instance, in describing a woman, you might write:

She has the most beautiful eyes.

Even though the events in the story happened in the past, it is acceptable to use the present tense to describe something that remains unchanged over time: the beauty of her eyes. However, if the story occurred a long time earlier, that difference in time is acknowledged by phrasing it this way:

Her eyes were as beautiful then as they are today.

This is one way to indicate that she had not changed despite the passage of time.
You could also use the past tense if the character with the beautiful eyes lived only in memory.

She had the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.

The most important thing to remember is that in a story written in the past tense, only things that remain constant through time would ever be described in the present. As an example, you might be describing some personal characteristic:

I am of Italian descent.

As your heritage would not change over time, you would use the present tense even though the story would otherwise be written in the past tense. There are too many variables to address completely here, but with careful and logical thought, you can deduce the things that would remain the same over time.

The issue of proper verb tense becomes much more complicated when writing in the present. It is so complicated in fact, that writing in the present verb tense should not be attempted by beginning writers unless there is in overriding reason in that plot to do so. The vast majority of stories rejected due to shifting tense issues are those written in the present verb tense in the first person (I am, I see, I do). Here are suggestions for understanding when to use the present tense:
Only those events that are actually happening in real time, before our eyes are written in the present.

I slip my hand into your panties, dipping into your moist sex. Your sudden gasp excites me and a wicked smile appears on my face.

In this case, the events are happening before our eyes so use of the present tense is correct. However, even if the story is written in the present, only those actions we actually see happening are written in the present verb tense. If something happens outside that immediate window, it should be written in the past tense.

As I pour the Champagne, I hear the soft ruffling of cloth falling to the floor. I turn and am pleasantly surprised to see that you have allowed your dress to fall away from your slender body.

In this case, using the past tense to describe a change the narrator did not actually witness is appropriate, even in a present tense story, because the events described have already taken place. In this example, you could shift from the present to the past tense logically in that sentence.
The important thing to remember is that the past tense should be used almost all the time in writing stories. The present tense should only be used in limited instances where the story is actually happening as it is being told.

When editing stories, you should pay attention to verb tenses and any shifts back and forth between the past and present tense . As most stories are or should be told in the past tense, all of the verbs should be consistently in the past tense, with a few very rare exceptions.

Shifting verb tenses is one of the major reasons stories are returned for editing, so a careful proofread before submitting to insure that is not the case in your story is important.