: Re: Writing dialogue, present or past tense "said" This may seem like an off-topic question, but it's really more about writing than about the grammar. I use a lot of dialogue in my writing, sometimes
It doesn't matter how much dialogue you have. If your story (the narration) is in present tense, then all the verbs have to be in present tense. All the dialogue tags, all the narration, everything. The only exception is if you're talking about something which happened in the past relative to the present moment of the story.
[Bolding is for emphasis, not because the story needs it.]
I swallow and look at Mac.
He looks back at me, just as frightened.
"Tell me the truth, should I be scared?" he asks me.
I answer, "I don't know."
When we left town an hour ago, we were tired and hungry, but uninjured. We walked for an hour before we fell into the crevasse. Now we're tired and hungry, Mac has a broken arm, and my ankle is twisted. I don't know if we can get out of this.
More posts by @Debbie451
: Men can identify and empathize with male as well as female protagonists, while women identify better with female protagonists (the claim being, they can certainly sympathize with male protagonists,
: While I wouldn't consider "gerunds" (or even adverbs) to be mistakes, if you're worried about your grammar, hire an editor to do a line-edit. Explain (if this is the case) that you're happy
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