When you're writing, do you find it hard to stay in the same tense? I write past tense, but I always mix it with present tense. How do you avoid switching between tenses?

It's driving me mad, and I'm looking for some advice from my fellow Parodyversers.

Please take this seriously.

I'd suggest that on the first draft you don't stress about it. Concentrate on getting the story out. Go back and weed out the tense issues after.

Then try reading the stuff out loud. Tense changes are easier to spot when you're speaking than reading; I have no idea why.

I'm told some grammar checkers spot this stuff too, but I'm not sure which.

If all else fails, do a final edit using a Search for present tense keywords like "goes", "says", and "thinks".

That's the best I can offer.

I'm usually OK (when I do writing, which is increasingly rare these days...). However, there are some placs where I slip.




In addition to HH's comments, I would add "get someone else to read it". Other people will spot errors in your work (including tenses) far more easily than you will, because you will be seeing what you expect to see, rather than what is there. (For the same reason a programmer should never test their own code - they are more likley to miss the errors).

If all else fails, put it down and ignore it completely for a week or so, then come back to it for a re-read. You may catch more mistakes if the original version is not still fresh in your mind.