Dialog

[jeninflorida]

I need some help, very confused, and I think part of that confusion showed in my last story. For the most part I have a character that is telling a story, so I try to write in past tense (yes I bounce back and forth and that needs to stop). My question is this, when you have a story in past tense, what do you do with the dialog? The characters are talking in real life, in the moment, so that should be present tense, right?

 

[Weird Harold]

My question is this, when you have a story in past tense, what do you do with the dialog? The characters are talking in real life, in the moment, so that should be present tense, right?

Dialogue is a transcription of what the character said.

If your character said the he was tired, the dialogue would be, "I am tired," not "I was tired" -- unless, of course, the character is talking about being tired sometime prior to when he spoke.

The tense the character uses is relative to when the character is speaking. If the character is describing something in his past, then he'd use past tense; if the character is speculating about something in his future, then he'd use future tense. But yes, most dialogue is in present tense because you're reporting the actual conversation and most conversations are conducted in present tense.

On a related point, most conversations are in first or second person -- relative to the character speaking -- so dialogue is also often contrary to the POV of your narration.

The only thing you have to remember is that dialogue is the literal words the character speaks and everything is relative to the character and the moment.