Tenses: The Forgotten Craft
October 04, 2006 | Tutor
Tips
Dear
writers everywhere,
It's time to discuss that long-forgotten thorn, the tense. Since the beginning of writing instruction, every student has been beaten over the head with standard rules of punctuation. Commas, semicolons, periods--even when we mess them up, the guidelines are there to help.
But who ever said anything about tense shifts?!
You know those little buggers. The past and present. The difference
between "go" and "went." The problem is that, all too often, the only
advice we receive is:
ALWAYS stick to past tense.
At the college level, it's important to know that the past tense isn't
always the best. When describing the immediacy of an event, there's no
substitute for present tense--for an example, read the following
passages to see which is a more absorbing description:
Present Tense
"Before I can stop him, he pins me up against the brick wall at
knife-point and violently tugs at my blouse--but the sirens catch him
off-guard and I manage to kick the knife deep into his belly, then grab
and twist the knife as I pull it from his gut and I watch helplessly as
my hand--now completely out of my control--cuts the blade deep inside
of him until his spastic feet no longer jerk."
vs. Past Tense
"Before I stopped him, he pinned me up against the brick wall at
knife-point and violently tugged at my blouse--but the sirens caught
him off-guard and I kicked the knife deep into his belly, and then I
grabbed and twisted the knife while pulling it from his gut and watched
helplessly as my hand--then completely out of my control--cut the blade
deep inside of him until his spastic feet stopped jerking."
The difference is there. Since we often aren't taught to switch tenses,
however, they tend to occur without intent. Tense uses come down to preference, but the most important guideline is to PAY ATTENTION: when the writer switches back and forth with little notice, it is very difficult for the reader to follow.
For futher discussion on the topic of tenses, stop by the Writing
Center and discuss with the tutor on duty.
posted by Kevin P.
It's time to discuss that long-forgotten thorn, the tense. Since the beginning of writing instruction, every student has been beaten over the head with standard rules of punctuation. Commas, semicolons, periods--even when we mess them up, the guidelines are there to help.
But who ever said anything about tense shifts?!
You know those little buggers. The past and present. The difference
between "go" and "went." The problem is that, all too often, the only
advice we receive is:
ALWAYS stick to past tense.
At the college level, it's important to know that the past tense isn't
always the best. When describing the immediacy of an event, there's no
substitute for present tense--for an example, read the following
passages to see which is a more absorbing description:
Present Tense
"Before I can stop him, he pins me up against the brick wall at
knife-point and violently tugs at my blouse--but the sirens catch him
off-guard and I manage to kick the knife deep into his belly, then grab
and twist the knife as I pull it from his gut and I watch helplessly as
my hand--now completely out of my control--cuts the blade deep inside
of him until his spastic feet no longer jerk."
vs. Past Tense
"Before I stopped him, he pinned me up against the brick wall at
knife-point and violently tugged at my blouse--but the sirens caught
him off-guard and I kicked the knife deep into his belly, and then I
grabbed and twisted the knife while pulling it from his gut and watched
helplessly as my hand--then completely out of my control--cut the blade
deep inside of him until his spastic feet stopped jerking."
The difference is there. Since we often aren't taught to switch tenses,
however, they tend to occur without intent. Tense uses come down to preference, but the most important guideline is to PAY ATTENTION: when the writer switches back and forth with little notice, it is very difficult for the reader to follow.
For futher discussion on the topic of tenses, stop by the Writing
Center and discuss with the tutor on duty.
posted by Kevin P.
