Beyond the Past: Understanding the Past Perfect Tense
Many writers struggle to use the past perfect tense correctly, so let’s review when the past perfect tense applies to our story and how to use it properly.
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Many writers struggle to use the past perfect tense correctly, so let’s review when the past perfect tense applies to our story and how to use it properly.
Pin ItThe most important question we can ask to get in touch with every aspect of our story is “why”—even helping us escape generic or cliché storytelling.
Pin ItMost stories are written in literary past tense. What does that term mean, and if different from normal past tense, how is literary past tense different?
Pin ItA common question in writing forums asks when we should italicize a character’s thoughts. How should we format our characters’ internalizations?
Pin ItWe often want to share both characters’ reactions during dialogue. How can we do so without causing point-of-view, head-hopping, or attribution issues?
Pin ItWe probably think we know everything about dialogue formatting already, but let’s make sure we know all there is to know before assuming.
Pin ItMany are struggling with anxiety, but stories have power in a crisis. Beyond the stories we write, there’s also the story we tell ourselves about our life.
Pin ItEverything in the news is currently all COVID-19 all the time. All that anxiety can make it hard to focus on our writing. What can we do to fix it?
Pin ItFor a strong story pace, we need to ensure every element has purpose. How can we do that? How can we know if a scene or sentence is pointless?
Pin ItIt’s time for another post as a Resident Writing Coach over at Writers Helping Writers, where we’re talking about what makes a story’s pacing “good.”
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