The five tenses. Yet my teachers managed to make me think there are like ten.
Present: I write
Present Perfect: I am writing
Past: I wrote
Past Perfect: I had written
Future:
You see, I learned that tense in a split form.
Will-future: I will write
Going-to-future: I'm going to write
Most fiction is written in the past tense. But there had been an uptick in present tense writing. There aren't any texts that are mainly written in future tense.
Whatever you choose, stay consistent and try not to accidentally switch.
And now, Schrödinger's grammar. Active and Passive voice.
To this day, the difference is in a weird spot for me. I know there is a difference, but I constantly forget it
The budgie pecked the finger.
is an example of active voice: the subject of the sentence (the budgie) verb-ed (pecked) the object (the finger).
That is the easy part. Now the part my brain doesn't bother to remember.
The finger was pecked by the budgie.
is an example of passive voice: the object of the sentence (the finger) was verb-ed by (was pecked by) the subject of the sentence (the budgie).
So it is just backwards. Easy. I bet I will have forgotten it by tomorrow.
Now the problem. In an attempt to give a sentence more meaning or to appear more sophisticated, new writers try to write everything in a passive voice.
In other words, they write a school essay. Pumping up the word count without writing much content.
The unnecessary length bores the reader. The unnecessary length takes away any urgency for the events. It kills the pacing.
This reminds me of a snippet of wisdom.
Short sentences translate into short actions in the text-universe. A short sentence that a sword was thrust into a dragon is a short action.
A long sentence that a bow was pulled, that the archer took aim and waited his target to stand still, translates into a long and slow passing action. And if the arrow is launched, a short sentence signifies it's deadly speed.
Now, how to utilise the other tenses.
Just don't write in future tense. That ain't working, chief.
YOU ARE READING
Absolute Fanfiction Writing Advice
FanfictionI wrote and read Fanfiction for five years. In these five years, I learned many things. But these is still a lot to learn for me. To celebrate my five year anniversary, I want to collect said knowledge. While not all is stuff I learned over the last...
