Now, I am tense. Tense, because I fudged up my fuckling manuscript. I’m trying not to throw my toys out the pram, because this is supposed to be the last edit, and it is, kinda. It’s just a chuff ton bigger than I thought it was going to be.

Here’s what happened: I gave my manuscript to beta readers they provided some delightful and useful feedback, I processed said feedback and then I put it down whilst I finished off 13 Steps to Evil my non-fiction writing craft book that teaches writers how to craft better villains. Three months elapsed and when I came to do the final edit of Keepers. I started writing, and could not for the life of me understand why I couldn’t get it right.

Something was off, something intangible, a murky jelly-like substance that was just out of reach. I knew the problem was there I just didn’t know what it was. It wasn’t until I shared the paragraph with a friend who asked me why I’d switched tense that I realised the ALMIGHTY cock up.

Because of such a significant time  gap, I’d started editing in a completely different tense. It wouldn’t have been a problem, except I preferred the new tense to the old one, which means a total rewrite.

CUNDYFUNKINGBALLSACKS

*Takes deep breath*

“Do I really need to do a full tense rewrite for my whole manuscript?”

“Yes, Sacha, yes you do.”

&)@£%$*$7″$£$^””%$

Be smart, don’t do me and balls up your whole manuscript 2 meters from the finish line here is how…ONE – CHECK, CHECK, CHECK

There’s no better method of knowing your market and knowing what your audience want them checking what all the big names do in your own genre.

• What tense do other authors in your genre use?
• What’s the most popular tense in your genre?
• Is there a common one?
• Or is there such a huge variety you couldn’t really pin it down?

For my genre, there seems to be an overall trend towards first person past tense but there is also a group of super popular books written in the first person present tense for example the Hunger Games, Divergent, Delirium and Matched.

TWO – KNOW WHAT YOU LIKE

I’m an idiot because I didn’t pay attention to what my own personal preferences were. To my surprise, they are all in the same tense and NOT THE BLOODY TENSE I WROTE MY NOVEL IN FFS.

WHY DIDN’T I CHECK?

THREE – DO A FREAKING TEST

But the thing is,  even if you did check, how are you supposed to know which one is the right one? And there’s no right or wrong answer because you can write your book in any tense you like. But with any story, while you can write it in any tense you want, theres always a tense that just seems to make it pop.

How you get round this?

You do a test.

1. Take a couple of your paragraphs and rewrite them in different tenses.
2. Put them away for a while and then go back and re-read them.
3. Does one of them read better than the other?  Does one of them flow better?Do you get more visual from one and the other?

FOUR – GET A SECOND OPINION DOC

I like to think these things are generally obvious on gut reaction. I’ve included the two versions of my intro that I used in my test below. To me it’s blindingly obvious there’s a clear winner. What do you think? Is one version clearly better than the other? Let me know in the comments.

I showed it to several others and they agreed.  We don’t always need other people’s opinions, but with writing, it’s often important. Sometimes just getting a couple of people to read over your test paragraphs confirms what you already know, or it surprises you entirely.

Here are my two test versions. In no particular order, one is the old start of Keepers and the other is the new and final version of Keepers.

Please note they have not yet been professionally edited.

VERSION 1 

            Father always said not to trust a Fallon if they can’t Keep the Balance. Victor, my potential, can’t.

***NEW PAGE***

ONE

“Where there is Balance, there is Imbalance.”

First Law – The Book of Balance

Seventeen years I’ve waited. Now, only one exam stands between me, and the Binding that will enable me to Keep instead of being stuck in school practicing in simulators. The sims are useless; everyone knows they’re nothing like Earth. But the Council won’t allow anyone in the field until they’ve been Bound and passed their finals. And especially not the Fallons. We’re too precious, our blood too royal to risk injury or death before we’re properly qualified.

My parents, perched on the front row of the lecture hall’s steep tiered seating, are fidgeting, just like everyone else’s parents. Someone must have opened a door because a ripple of air drifts through the auditorium. I close my eyes, let it wash over my skin and take a deep breath. It doesn’t help. The wind is carrying everyone’s anxiety, and my Elemental power seeks out the anomaly and feeds it into my system. My heart races so I open my eyes and focus on Father instead.

He sits up a little higher, and for the briefest of moments, we share a knowing look. Then it’s gone. Replaced with a perfectly poised expression and a smile befitting any Fallon. I give the faintest of grins back, grateful for the years he spent breaking the rules and smuggling me through the barrier into Earth to practice. Under normal circumstances, I’d have an unfair advantage, but today, Victor is on my team. And while we both get scored individually during the sim, after it’s over, we are scored again as a team. Victor’s performance will impact my final grade, and that is exactly why Father smuggled me out to practice.

***

VERSION TWO

            Father always said not to trust a Fallon if they can’t Keep the Balance. Victor, my potential, can’t.

***NEW PAGE***

ONE

“Where there is Balance, there is Imbalance.”

First Law – The Book of Balance

Seventeen years I’d waited. Finally, only one exam stood between me, and the Binding that would enable me to Keep instead of being stuck in school practicing in simulators. The sims were useless; everyone knew they were nothing like Earth. But the Council wouldn’t allow anyone in the field until they’d been Bound and passed their finals. Especially not the Fallons. We’re too precious, our blood too royal to risk injury or death before properly qualified.

My parents, perched on the front row of the lecture hall’s steep tiered seating, were fidgeting, just like everyone else’s. Someone must have opened a door because a ripple of air drifted through the auditorium. I closed my eyes, let it wash over my skin and took a deep breath. It didn’t help. The wind carried everyone’s anxiety, and my Elemental power sought out the anomaly and fed it into my system. My heart raced, so I opened my eyes and focused on Father instead.

He sat up a little higher, and for the briefest of moments, we shared a knowing look. Then it was gone. Replaced with a perfectly poised expression and a smile befitting any Fallon. I gave the faintest of grins back, grateful for the years he spent breaking the rules and smuggling me through the barrier into Earth, to practice. Under normal circumstances, I’d have an unfair advantage, but today, Victor is on my team. And while we both get scored individually during the sim, after it’s over we’re scored again as a team. Victor’s performance will impact my final grade, and that is exactly why Father smuggled me out to practice.

Like the sound of Keepers intro? Sign up for FICTION related news/recommendations here.

Like the tips? Sign up for writing tips galore here.

You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads

The post 4 Ways Not to F*** Up Your Novel’s Tenses appeared first on Sacha Black.