Is it a bad writing practice to open a story with a time frame when the time frame is irrelevant?
Example from my own writing:
One time, I sent letters, pretending to be a god.
I spent last week sending letters, pretending to be a god.
The recipient of these letters was Aiko Kobayashi, the girl who sat six rows behind me ...
I just wrote last week because I felt that writing: I sent letters, pretending to be a god was a bit, dunno, just didn't sound right.
It this a bad writing practice? If the time frame is irrelevant, should I use One time, I wrote ... instead?
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1 answer
Your story generally happens at some particular moment, whether you're telling it in the present tense or past tense. There's nothing wrong with describing actions which happened a precise amount of time before your book opens.
Separately, adding a time stamp "just to add rhythm to the sentence" is poor writing. Don't add detail unless it's necessary to the plot.
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