Is it a good idea to stay away from past progressive in fiction?

I never noticed this in my writing until one of my readers pointed it out:

We were driving down the highway in Tom's Toyota 4Runner, dim streetlights passing by, the night city scene fading behind us.

Awkward way to begin the chapter from a grammatical perspective. Is there a reason you chose to start in past progressive? I'm left unsure of where I am entirely.

I wrote in the past progressive because I wanted to show that they were already in the highway. If I'd written "We drove down the highway...", it would have looked as if they were just arriving to the highway.

Or maybe it's not the case? And I should stay away from the past progressive in situations like this as a rule?

posted over 9 years ago

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Alexandro Chen‭

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