Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/16212
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

newcomer here, and I have a question.

I have a story that starts with the sentence, ' **the ocean is vast**'.

However, I'm actually going to write my story in past tense form but changing that 'is' to 'was' sounds off to me.

I feel that saying 'the ocean was vast' somehow implies that the ocean was once a vast body of water and it's just doesn't seems very strong and concrete than saying 'the ocean is vast'.

So my question is,

**[1] Should I use present tense to describe an everlasting/obvious fact even if the whole story is told in past tense?**

Excerpt:

> The ocean is vast.
> 
> Capt. Harris could actually hide his supply ship, the _Clement_, in the endless stretch of the ocean and not trouble himself with worry regarding any attacks from prowling raiders. Of course if said raider was equipped with the most sophisticated radar equipment that 1939 could offer, then that would pose a problem. But then again, he was currently steaming along the southern parts of the Atlantic, what chances were there for a German surface raider appearing out of nowhere?

Thanks.

Original score: 0