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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/4344
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Assuming the story itself is in past tense, normally when I go further into the past I'd use past perfect:

> He had first met her at the grocery store, six months prior.

However, which is more correct when writing an extended flashback (several pages):

> He fondly remembered the day they met.
> 
> _He had met her at the grocery store, where they had shared a long glance at the checkout line. She had bought sixteen oranges and one single banana, something that had caught his eye at once. He had only been purchasing a pack of gum. He had been about to leave when he had noticed her self-check ding..._

versus

> He fondly remembered the day they met.
> 
> _He met her at the grocery store, where they shared a long glance at the checkout line. She was buying sixteen oranges and one single banana, something that caught his eye at once. He was only purchasing a pack of gum. He was about to leave when he noticed her self-check ding..._

My instinct is to leave the first sentence as "had met her", then switch to simple past tense. Is that strange?

Original score: 6