: Re: Past tense writing troubles. Specifically the word "Now" I want to say: "Now I was on the plane with my best friend." But don't "Now" and "was" contradict each other? And I specifically want

@Ravi5107385

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There are two uses for "now". One means the present moment, and it's hard to use in the past tense. I mean, you could write:

"You have to do it now," I told her.

And even

I told her now was the time to act.

But not

Now I was on the plane.

Instead, you can use phrases like

at that time (if you have already set up the time period)
once (or even once upon a time)
5 years ago
in the spring of my 25th year
shortly after my father died
several years before this trip

and so on. If none of them fit, why do you want to start the sentence with "Now"? It's possible you want the second use for now, which is to start a sentence with it to get people's attention, or as part of some set phrases:

Now look here, young man, I expect you to obey me!
Now now, that's just too extreme.
Now and then I get lonely
Now what?
Now this is new!

You can just keep these uses without worrying.

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