Using verb tenses

1. Using verb tenses when writing your short stories

2. The Past and Present Tense • One of your first decisions for as writer beginning a new story is the choice of narrative tense. • Think about the way you wish to present the actions in the world of your story. You must decide what is the when of story. • Do the narrator and main characters see actions and events as happening in the past or do they act as if the events are happening right now?

3. Novelty Stories told in present-tense narration are enticing because they’re different. Readers might pay closer attention since the format is one unfamiliar to them. They might develop a deeper involvement in the story. • Immediacy Some writers and readers believe that use of the present tense makes story action and events more immediate. • Believability Readers have to believe that story events written in present tense are happening at the very moment they’re reading. It’s difficult to believe for some readers since they know the story events are not happening in the present. Readers can get over this, but reader perception is something to consider when you choose your narrative tense.
 Pros ofThe Present Tense

4. Familiarity Since the past tense is familiar to readers, readers don’t have to adjust when they begin a story written using past tense. There might well be an adjustment period for readers of present-tense stories. • Immediacy Verbs used in the past tense make story events seem more immediate. Since there’s no adjustment needed, readers can imagine themselves in the story from page one. Pros ofThe Past Tense

5. Present & Past Tenses Look at how many ways you can use tenses in your stories.

6. Simple present I eat, you eat, he (she, it) eats; we eat, you eat, they eat Used to describe actions or events that take place at the time of speaking, or to describe habitual actions.

7. Simple past I ate, you ate, he (she, it) ate; We ate, you ate, they ate Used to describe events that took place in the past.

8. Present progressive(Or Present Continuous) I am eating, you are eating, he (she, it) is eating,; we are eating, you are eating, they are eating Used to express action that is on-going at the time of speaking.

9. Past progressive(or Past Continuous, Imperfect) I was eating, you were eating, he (she, it) was eating; we were eating, you were eating, they were eating Describes on-going action in the past.

10. Present perfect I have eaten, you have eaten, he (she, it) has eaten; we have eaten, you have eaten, they have eaten Used to express action completed in the present.

11. Past Perfect I had eaten, you had eaten, he (she, it) had eaten; we had eaten, you had eaten, they had eaten Expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.

12. Present perfect progressive I have been eating, you have been eating, he (she, it) has been eating; we have been eating, you have been eating, they have been eating Emphasizes the ongoing nature of an action that began in the past and continues in the present.

13. Yesterday morning I got up and looked out of the window. 
The sun was shining, but the ground was very wet. It had been raining. It was not raining when I looked out of the window; the sun was shining. But it had been raining before. Past perfect progressive I had been eating, you had been eating, he (she, it) had been eating; we had been eating, you had been eating, they had been eating Points to an activity or situation that was ongoing in the past.

14. What will come next?

15. Sources http://theeditorsblog.net http://www.englishpage.com