Help! Writing question...

[janiexx]

I would be very grateful if one of the experienced editors on here could help me out with a question.

In my current chapter, my character is lying in bed thinking back to the events of the night before. It's a fairly long scene and I don't know how best to write it.

I seem to remember something about the "past perfect" tense in grammar and don't know whether to use this throughout or just every now and again to indicate that the character is still thinking about the previous evening.

After she thinks about the previous evening she then reverts back to the current morning (which is normal past tense).

Am I making sense here? Any help would be very gratefully received.

Thank you,
janiexx

 

[CopyCarver]

I would be very grateful if one of the experienced editors on here could help me out with a question.

In my current chapter, my character is lying in bed thinking back to the events of the night before. It's a fairly long scene and I don't know how best to write it.

I seem to remember something about the "past perfect" tense in grammar and don't know whether to use this throughout or just every now and again to indicate that the character is still thinking about the previous evening.

After she thinks about the previous evening she then reverts back to the current morning (which is normal past tense).

Am I making sense here? Any help would be very gratefully received.

Thank you,
janiexx

You could use past-perfect tense throughout, and that would probably be the easiest treatment. Alternately, you could use use past-perfect at the beginning of the flashback to signal the time shift, and then revert to present tense for the majority of the flashback. Another possibility is to italicize, to emphasize the character's interior monologue and then letting the shift back to normal font signal the switch back to real time.

To a major degree, the "best" way to handle the scene depends largely upon the length and significance of the flashback and, also, upon your preferences as a writer.

 

[janiexx]

You could use past-perfect tense throughout, and that would probably be the easiest treatment. Alternately, you could use use past-perfect at the beginning of the flashback to signal the time shift, and then revert to present tense for the majority of the flashback. Another possibility is to italicize, to emphasize the character's interior monologue and then letting the shift back to normal font signal the switch back to real time.

To a major degree, the "best" way to handle the scene depends largely upon the length and significance of the flashback and, also, upon your preferences as a writer.

You're wonderful! Thank you very much!

I will use "past perfect tense" throughout as you suggested, as this seems the best way to convey to the reader what's happening.

I haven't used this style of writing before, but I think it fits with the story.

Again, many thanks,
janiexx