: Re: Do words like "start", "realize", and "decide" add ambiguity to actions? My heart started to race. Did the heart actually race or not yet? Later that night, I realized I couldn't

I think you're trying to hard to find a formula.

I think "my heart started to race" is pretty clear. It wasn't racing before; it is racing now.

The other two, yes, as isolated sentences, they are ambiguous. But you could say that about a lot of perfectly good sentences. To take a silly example, suppose I told you that a story includes the sentence, "She wasn't there." By itself, that's horribly ambiguous. Who wasn't there? Where are we talking about? Wasn't there when? Should the reader have expected her to be there so this is a surprise, or is this what we would expect? Etc. But that could be a perfectly clear statement in the right context.

So, for example. "I knew I needed to get some rest before the contest tomorrow, but I was too nervous and jumpy. I realized I couldn't sleep. Rather than go to bed when I knew I would just lie awake worrying, I decided to ..." In that context, clearly I mean that I came to this realization before going to bed. But, "I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. I realized I couldn't sleep." Clearly I'm in bed trying to sleep but can't.

The problem isn't that words like "decided" and "realized" are evil words that lead to ambiguous sentences. There can be a problem if the sentence is poorly worded in context. You certainly should be careful that, taken in full context, it is clear what is happening. (Or that any ambiguity is deliberate.)

I am suddenly reminded of some writing advice I came across years ago: A good story should keep the reader wondering what happens next. This is not the same as having the reader wondering what's happening now.

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: Re: Do words like "start", "realize", and "decide" add ambiguity to actions? My heart started to race. Did the heart actually race or not yet? Later that night, I realized I couldn't

More posts by @Deb2945533

: Should I use hypophoras at the beginning of every paragraphs? Hypophora is a figure of speech in which a writer raises a question and then immediately provides an answer to that question.

: Have the ending in mind and backtrace from there. The events serve one fundamental purpose: reaching the final resolution. Everything else is secondary, hides or reveals motives, caveats and

: How should footnotes be used in non-paginated media? How should footnotes be attached to a text that doesn't form pages? Say, a lengthy text, over 10,000 words as a single webpage but with

: Usage of margin notes vs. footnotes There is a tendency in textbooks to leave ample margins for marginal notes and figures, as well as to leave readers space to include their own annotations.

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