Help me, Grammar-Wan-Kenobi

[astri13]

This is embarrassing but I figure better now than after the fact. I`m doing a little experiment and writing a fic in present tense so now I`m at a bit of a loss. Writing about past actions when do I use simple past and when do I use the "had done..." version? Anyone? Bueller?

Comments

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

K, I hope I'm not repeating anyone here, lol, cuz I clicked on comment without reading what had already been said, but here's my rule.

Past perfect tense (have, had, has been, blah, blah) is really awkward to read and write. If you're going to have a passage about something that happened in the past, usually just the first sentence or two is enough of a transition in past perfect tense, and then I'd use straight past. But, of course, I'm saying this without knowing the context, so I could be waaaay off base.

[kentawolf.livejournal.com]

Tru dat. I'm agreeing. Past perfect is really awkward.

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

LOL, but great for increasing word count, right? I mean, if you need that extra ten words to make your quota, fall back on the old "write in past perfect tense" rule. Haha.

[kentawolf.livejournal.com]

HA! OMG such cheating! SHAME. ;P

[astri13.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha. Good to know. :D

[astri13.livejournal.com]

If you're going to have a passage about something that happened in the past, usually just the first sentence or two is enough of a transition in past perfect tense, and then I'd use straight past.

Oh, that`s interesting because that`s totally what confused me in reading other fics since in German grammar you can`t jump tenses in a passage that by content belongs together.

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

Well, to be honest, most grammar rules are designed for writing nonfiction. Don't even get me started on how many lab reports I wrote in Grad school had to formatted entirely in past perfect tense. Yick! But when it comes to fiction writing, there are no hard fast rules. Pick up a lot of bestsellers on the shelves today, and you'll find a load of taboo grammar. What matters is telling the story, and so long as yo don't offend anyone with horrible spelling and hundred word sentences, playing it fast and loose is tolerated to a good degree and appreciated when it supports the theme in some way.

As for your specific question. Just... past perfect tense is yucky, lol.