How to Write a Past-tense Narrative

How to Write a Past-tense Narrative

By Jayme Richards, eHow Contributor

Authors use a past-tense narrative when writing both fiction and nonfiction stories. A narrative is easy to follow in the past tense. If the writer were to convey events in the present tense, the result would be a dramatic immediacy that might confuse the reader. Everything would appear to be happening at the same time. Likewise, writing in the future tense does nothing to move a story along. Writing in the past tense often occurs naturally for a writer.

Instructions

Write verbs with the past in mind. Instead of writing "I walk to the store," write "I walked to the store." Think of verbs as telling a story. When you write a narrative, you are essentially telling the reader about an action or event. That action or event has already happened; it is in the past.

Avoid switching tenses throughout a narrative. If you come across an instance of different tenses in your story, try to reword the sentence that is giving you a problem so it is consistent with a past-tense narrative. For example, the following sentence is written in the present tense: "I am a police officer. All officers are expected to follow the law." It can be reworded to fit a past-tense narrative -- for example, "As a police officer, I had always been expected to follow the law."

Know the difference between passive voice and past tense. The sentence "It is learned by children" is still written in the present tense even though it features the verb "learned." The past-tense narrative of that sentence would read "It was learned by children."Read books by your favorite authors, and pay attention to the tense used in their narratives. Past tense really is the "invisible" tense in a story; it seems natural. When you become more aware of the authors' narrative forms, you will be able to pick up on the structure and flow of the sentences. In turn, you can apply this knowledge to your own writing.

Read books by your favorite authors, and pay attention to the tense used in their narratives. Past tense really is the "invisible" tense in a story; it seems natural. When you become more aware of the authors' narrative forms, you will be able to pick up on the structure and flow of the sentences. In turn, you can apply this knowledge to your own writing.