: Re: Should I change from past to present tense to state a fact that continues into the present and is unyielding? Within narration in past tense, should a statement of a universally true fact be

@Sent2472441

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General truths, such as "the earth is round" should be in present tense. Applying the past tense to such a statement would imply that the statement is not universally true, or might no longer be true.

Compare:

Winter is cold.

A general statement about the nature of winter,

to:

That winter was cold.

Implication being that other winters might not have been equally cold.

to:

It was winter, and thus - cold.

Which implies that winters are cold, but now might not be winter.

If you wrote "Earth was round", I would understand that either Earth might no longer exist, or it might no longer be round.

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