Writing fictions in past tense

Question

If I write a story in past tense, how to describe a fact? For example, "Winter in Toronto is always cold", or "Winter in Toronto was always cold." which one is correct?

Also, can I say "Lisa was raised in Califonia, now she was 20 years old"? Or I should say: "She was 20 years old at the moment"?

Answer 1

This is a great question and highlights some challenging ideas in the English language.

Writing a story in the past.

Your statement "Winter in Toronto is always cold" is a great way to invite your reader into the setting of your story. In fact, it IS always cold in winter. That does not change. So you can talk about it this way, i.e. using present tense. It also indicates that you are likely presenting a narrative. Narratives are always told in the past because they have already happened. So switching to past tense at this point would still work. For example,

Winter in Toronto is always cold. That is why Susan would never visit her sister during December.

It's a scene setting sentence.

The second question regarding how to talk about age needs a closer look. The way you have it, ""Lisa was raised in Califonia, now she was 20 years old"? Or I should say: "She was 20 years old at the moment"?

would be incorrect.

The sentence should be rewritten for clarity. For example, Lisa was raised in California and currently is 20 years old.

She is either 20 years old or she is not. If she is older than that NOW, then you must say "She was twenty years old in 2021 (or whatever). Example: Lisa was raised in California and was 20 years old when she discovered she had a sister in Ohio. Here, the context makes it work.

Answer 2

Your fact would be described using 'is'. Think of that sentence like reporting the weather.

The second statement, using 'was' is also 'correct', but is a greatly nuanced way of inviting one into your fictional tale.

Lisa was raised in California, a clause, factual if you will..

Was she 20 years old or is she now 20? Try to be as clear as possible.

Are you 20 years old for just a moment? You are the age you are for an entire year, right?

Another clause: should be joined by and, a conjunction, not a comma.

Using now to start that second clause means you should use the present tense, 'is'.

Answer 3

Hi Sheng,

One of the challenges of writing about something that happened in the past is that there is more than one past tense. Some past events are momentary or at a specific point in time, yet additional things were more continuous.

For example, She was doing her homework, when suddenly there was a knock at the door.

continuous past action: I was cooking dinner.

completed action: I cooked dinner.

Sometimes, you can mix present and past, too: I am a cook. One night I was cooking dinner, when...

If you are trying to write a story it helps to use a timeline to map out your verb tenses. It's tricky and it takes practice. The more you write the better your stories will be!

Good luck!