I know for a fact that this will offend some people but it needs to be said -- or typed, rather. It's also to help and give advice to any writers who make this mistake or done something intentionally. Either way, it makes it hard for readers to understand what you're writing. Now lets get down to it!
My wee 'rant' (it's not really, but let's pretend it is) is about writers jumping to and from different tenses. For example, if you're writing about someone in present tense and then, during the same sentence, you jump to past tense, that can be very confusing for a reader and, quite frankly, is really annoying. It works the same for future tense. To help, I'm going to explain all the tenses starting with present tense.
Present tense is used to express anything that is happening now or occurring in the present moments.
For example:
I'm working on an essay for my English class.
I pick up the cookie.
I pick up the cookie.
Past tense is used to indicate past events, prior conditions or completed processes.
For example:
Ancient Romans believed basil was poisonous.
I voted at the school last week.
Future tense indicates actions or events that will happen in the future.
For example:
I will write my paper this weekend.
The dog will be put down with a lethal injection.
Now say you're writing a sentence in past tense (not the same as a flashback, but I'll get to that soon). If you jump to present tense or future tense it not only makes it difficult for the reader to understand, but it also makes it harder for you to understand when you're reading over it and also takes your writing skills down a notch. Even if you have amazing writing skills, simple mistakes like this can make other people think differently.
Next- flashbacks. Flashbacks are usually done in past tense, but sometimes people have them in present tense because of the character or the setting in the story. For example, if someone is doing a psychiatric session, the psychologist will speak to the person in present tense, re-telling the events of something in present tense, which will help the person remember what happened thus causing a flashback. But unless you're doing something like that, stick to do flashbacks in past tense. Future tense can be used in writing hypnosis sessions or writing a future-telling session.
So if you're writing in a certain tense in a sentence, stick to that tense! I hope this helps anybody who makes this mistake and I also hope I explained it clearly enough!
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