Is there a way in which I can use more than one tense in my writing?
Replies
You asked a question about tense and Andrew appears to be talking about POV, but I think jumping in either poses difficulties for the reader.
There are books that jump from 1st to 3rd with different chapters. There are also some that jump from past to present tense and vice-versa. You have to give your reader some sort of string to follow and jumping POV or tense is fine as long as the story is building in a coherent way. If your story jumps in short paragraphs the way a drunk's mind might jump every ten seconds, you have a problem.
But what you should ask yourself is if any jumping around is necessary. What does it add to the story? Are you adding different points of view/random scenes in time for the sake of it or is the way it is put together bringing something. If the way you are telling the tale is difficult to follow and doesn't add a dimension for the reader, it's pointless.
On reflection, one way that maybe you could pull it off, is if you had an extract of a diary written in the first person, that you could insert at regular intervals. Although, they should be clearly indicated that they are diary extracts.
I agree with Andrew. It's best to stick with one or the other, but I wouldn't go chopping and changing throughout. I too have read fiction that has tried to swap between the two and all it did was annoy me no end.
You asked a question about tense and Andrew appears to be talking about POV, but I think jumping in either poses difficulties for the reader.
There are books that jump from 1st to 3rd with different chapters. There are also some that jump from past to present tense and vice-versa. You have to give your reader some sort of string to follow and jumping POV or tense is fine as long as the story is building in a coherent way. If your story jumps in short paragraphs the way a drunk's mind might jump every ten seconds, you have a problem.
But what you should ask yourself is if any jumping around is necessary. What does it add to the story? Are you adding different points of view/random scenes in time for the sake of it or is the way it is put together bringing something. If the way you are telling the tale is difficult to follow and doesn't add a dimension for the reader, it's pointless.
On reflection, one way that maybe you could pull it off, is if you had an extract of a diary written in the first person, that you could insert at regular intervals. Although, they should be clearly indicated that they are diary extracts.
I agree with Andrew. It's best to stick with one or the other, but I wouldn't go chopping and changing throughout. I too have read fiction that has tried to swap between the two and all it did was annoy me no end.