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Q&A Should I change from past to present tense to state a fact that continues into the present and is unyielding?

Yes, if the narrator is in the present telling a story about the past. The narrative is telling a story about something that has already happened. So it's in past tense. But then the narrative p...

posted 6y ago by Cyn‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-20T00:40:34Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41065
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:29:28Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41065
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T10:29:28Z (almost 5 years ago)
 **Yes, if the narrator is in the present telling a story about the past.**

The narrative is telling a story about something that has already happened. So it's in past tense.

But then the narrative pulls you, the reader, aside to tell you something about the setting. And you know in this case it's just for the reader, because someone who lives in the Saturn system wouldn't know enough about the Earth system to use it as the base reference.

Using present tense is correct because the moons still exist, even though the story is over.

**If the narrator is less personable and just simply describing, then using past tense is correct.**

Frankly, either one will work. It's just a matter of how you are framing the story.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-01-06T04:48:46Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 2