Writing Mechanics: How to Keep Tense & POV Consistent in a First Draft

What Is Verb Tense & Point of View?

These questions are pretty obvious, right? Verb tense refers to writing in Past Tense and Present Tense while Point of View is writing in First Person and Third Person. Yes … but I want to dive into this a little more, because what I talk about with problems and solutions is going to require it. If you’re only looking at the ideas of writing in past tense vs present tense and first person vs third person, we’re in the same chapter. I want to make sure we’re on the same page.

Verb Tense & Fiction

Okay, so yes, the basics for verb tense in fiction writing is Past Tense vs Present Tense. I can’t think of a story I’ve read that’s rooted in any other tense. I’d say most are written in past tense, though I can only speculate about why that is, and that’s not our topic today. For me, writing in past tense feels natural, but I’ve heard writers say the same thing about present tense. My guess is that it just depends on how we think and what books we’ve read that resonated with us.

While your story will be anchored in past or present tense, you won’t stay in those tenses the entire story. Writing a story naturally requires us to shift tenses because of what verb tense actually does for us in the story. Verb tense helps us organize the placement of events in the story. That means that you’ll anchor in the present tense and drift appropriately to past tense when narrating about an event that took place previously. Or in an anchored past tense story, you’ll drift appropriately into past perfect tense for the same purpose.

Those are tense shifts your story needs so you can communicate what is the past of the story and what is the present of the story.

Wait, Doesn’t Writing in Past Tense Mean the Past?

No. Like – yes, but no. When we think about a story feeling like it’s already happened and we’re reading about it, that’s not a function of the verb tense. It’s a function of the narrative and how the narrator tells the story. The same goes for pacing. Present tense can be a cheat-code for faster pacing, but like all cheat-codes, they don’t work if the rest of the game doesn’t function. Your pacing is dictated more by avoiding passive tense and sentence, paragraph, and scene structure than it is by the anchor verb tense.

Consider telling your friends story about what you did at work. Sometimes, you’ll tell that story to them in past tense. But not always. Sometimes telling that story requires telling it in present tense. This is especially the case when you want your listener to feel the same tension you felt in the moment or you’re telling a story where your agency is a key component of the resolution. Just like telling your friends a story, your writing style is going to dictate if you narrate that immediacy and pacing better in past tense or present tense.

Point of View & Fiction

So, you’ve already figured out that point of view is more than telling your story in first or third person (or the rare second person). You also already know that point of view refers to the character you’re telling the story through. This element is usually more fixed than verb tense. You have to switch tenses to organize events in a story. You don’t have to do that with point of view – usually.

I have absolutely read stories where that 1st person shift happens within the same scene. I sent it back to the author, telling them that I couldn’t review their story because it wasn’t finished (and why). I’d like to say that I can’t imagine how a writer could even make a POV shift like that, but I suspect it’s the fault of 3rd Person Omniscient.

Third Person Point of Views

Third Person Omniscient is a great point of view because it gives the author a lot of power. You have room for narrative worldbuilding that your main character may never be aware of. You’re also able to freely shift between the thoughts of multiple characters as you describe a scene. I won’t say it’s the best point of view, though, because there’s no such thing. TPO gives you a lot of narrative scope, but there’s a trade off. You can only delve so deep into a single point of view before you negatively impact the pacing of your story.

Close Third Person gives you more room to delve into your point-of-view character’s thoughts and feelings. You can, with skill, even do so without harming the pacing of your story. However, you’re locked (usually) to that character’s point of view. You can, though, shift between character POVs. Most writers do that with scene shifts and chapter changes. A Song of Ice and Fire is a good example of this, where the individual chapters of each novel are told from the point of view of specific characters.

Like with verb tense, there’s times where you legitimately want to shift the point of view of your storytelling. I write a lot of my fiction in close third person point of view, but I rarely stay focused on a single character’s point of view, especially when I’m writing a novel. One of my danger points is dropping another character’s POV into a scene, so I have to watch out for that in the edit room. But … one of my tricks in POV shift is to change the point of view from one character to another, usually when one character leaves a scene or when the tension in the scene makes a notable and dramatic shfit.

The Draft Killers: Accidental Tense Shifting and POV Drift

Now that we’re on the same page about how verb tense and point of view shift should work, let’s talk about ways to avoid those shifts in the drafting process. You’ll remember from my introduction to this series that it’s okay to write badly. That rule still stands. It’s okay for you to write badly in your first draft. You absolutely do not have to fix tense and POV drift when they happen until you start editing. But … sometimes when they happen, you catch it immediately, and those mistakes can pull you out of the writing groove. Each time something pulls you our of that groove, there’s a chance you don’t pick it up again. So, we’re going to minimize those breaks.

Fix 1: The Anchor Method

The anchor method is exactly what it sounds like. When you sit down to write, put at the top of your page the anchor verb tense and the point of view and POV character. If you shift either of these (wait … can you shift anchor verb tense?), then notate that at the top of the page when you decide to shift those. This serves as a visual cue to help you maintain the verb tense and POV you want for your story.

Fix 2: Pre-Writing Exercises

Sometimes, we don’t pay attention to the top corner of our screen. This is especially true when we get deep into the groove of writing. This is where pre-writing exercises come in. The idea is to warm-up your brain for the type of writing you’re about to engage in. Some examples of pre-writing exercises I use include,

• Labeling your outline. If you’re using an outline to help you plot and pace your story, review it before you sit down to write and make note of the anchor verb tense and key point of view character for the sections you’ll be working on.
• Free-write in your anchor verb tense. This is especially helpful if you’re writing in a verb tense or point of view you don’t commonly write in. It doesn’t have to be related to your work in progress. Any stream of consciousness writing will do, as long as you focus on the tense and POV you’ll be writing in once you get back into your draft.
• Monologue. This one can feel awkward for people who don’t do this, but it’s a great tool for writing and I highly recommend it. Monologue as the character whose point of view you’ll be writing from. This will do a lot of things, actually. First, it will help you find that particular character’s voice so they stand out from other characters on your page. Second, it helps you delve into your character’s mindset and feelings. Third, it helps your mind lock into that character’s point of view for when you sit down to write. Bonus round: have a pretend dialogue with an invisible other person. This will do all of the above and it will help you avoid POV shifts in dialogue when you’re writing.

Other Drafting Roadblocks

While verb tense and POV shifts are the common drafting road blocks you’ll hit, they’re not the only ones. I’ve found myself stunted by other ones, and they can have a huge negative impact on my draft writing:

• What is it called?
• What do I do?
• What do you need?

What Is It Called When …

Sometimes, you’ll be chugging along writing, and then you stop because you can’t remember what something is called. You might need to go ahead and look it up because it’s a key component of your scene. That’s fine but, each time you do this, you pull yourself out of your writing and run the risk of not coming back. When you can, don’t stop. Instead, use brackets [ ] to indicate a place where you need to research and insert information. So, if you need to describe a type of sword in a blacksmith’s shop, but your character isn’t buying it so it won’t keep coming up, just bracket [insert name of curvy blade sword] and go on with your scene. A quick Find function later will help you pull up every bracket and you can look up and insert the information you need.

What Do I Write Here?

You’re not always going to know what you want to write for a scene, but you know a scene needs to go there. Don’t write it yet. Usually, these are minor scenes that you want to include, but you’re not feeling the mood or groove of that scene in this writing session. That’s okay. Writers skip around in their drafts all the time. Heck, sometimes you’ll figure out you need to move entire scenes to earlier or later in your story.

When you come to a scene and you’re not sure what to write, don’t push yourself. Skip the scene. Usually I’ll use the bracket method for having to look up information, but to indicate the scene I need to write later. So, my bracket might look like this:

[Devon and Marilyn at home. Nice relaxing day. Marcia shows up and the three of them hang out. When Pete arrives later, there’s some tension, and Marilyn comes away worried that Pete might not be over her and she doesn’t want to see her best friend hurt.]

I don’t know just how I want to write the scene and I’m not feeling like dealing with Pete drama right now. But, I know the scene needs to happen. The brackets tell me what I need the gist of the scene to be and what the key takeaway will be for tension later. Later, you may find the scene is unnecessary, and that’s okay. For me, I usually find that whatever I wanted to communicate in that scene I was able to fit better elsewhere. Other times, those scenes were storylines I realized just didn’t work with the overall narrative, so I dropped them altogether. What I didn’t do was lose my story because I got stuck writing into a dead end.

Oh My God! Why Can’t They Leave Me Alone?

Not every roadblock is something we can control. I’m a wife and mother, so I find myself interrupted sometimes from my writing. These interruptions can mean I don’t come back to a story for several hours or several days. Other times, it’s not people interrupting; it’s time. I sit down to write and everyone leaves me alone. But … I get to the end of the night and I’m not actually finished writing.

Here, a good tip is drop yourself a cheat-code for where to pick up when you sit down to write again. These little cheat codes can look a few different ways, depending on your own preferences and styles. Some include,

• Purposefully leaving a sentence unfinished so you have to pick up in the same place. This doesn’t work for everyone. I can’t do this, but other writers swear by it.
• Give yourself a quick bullet point that summarizes where you were in the story and what you intend to happen next. This I use sometimes, especially if I’m not writing from an outline. This is especially useful when you find yourself writing an unexpected scene and have to stop for any reason. It means that the magic of inspired thought isn’t lost to distractions.

The Takeaway – Mechanics Are Guide Posts, Not Hard Rules

This goes for everything that I talk about in this blog. Writing is an art form, and no art always sticks to any rules. These techniques help me in my drafting, but they’re not hard and fast rules of how to draft and they don’t work for every circumstance. I don’t even use all of them all the time. What they do for me, though, is help me to build up the writing muscles and habits I need for successful writing.

The Writing Prompt

Do you remember that question I asked – can you switch Anchor Verb Tense? Well, we’re going to look at that now. I don’t have a plot or character hook for this writing prompt. This writing prompt is all about technique, so feel free to use a passage you’ve already written.

• Step 1: Write a paragraph or short scene with your Anchor Verb Tense in the Past Tense. It’s fine if you’re utilizing past-perfect in places. Your anchor tense is what counts.
• Step 2: Rewrite the paragraph or short scene with your Anchor Verb Tense in the Present tense.

Notice how the writing changes as you work on the same passage in different tenses.

• Step 3: If you only wrote one paragraph, extend it out into a short scene. Now, rewrite your scene where you shift anchor tense between past tense and present tense with each paragraph. This is going to feel odd, but that’s the point.

Now, read over your scene where you constantly shifted between tenses. While it’s going to be distracting to read, you should also pick up on some other things about that constant shift. The narrative should feel different. How could you use this shift to your advantage in a story?

Mini-Takeaway

I sometimes shift the anchor tense in my stories between past tense and present tense. Framework stories will do this, allowing a character in the story’s present to then tell a larger story set in the story’s past. Ethan Frome is a classic example of the framework story, though the author doesn’t switch verb tenses. I will use this technique between chapters and scenes to highlight some kind of reality shift. For example, I often use present tense to describe dreams when my narrative is written in past tense. It helps highlight the different reality. Sometimes, we break rules with a purpose. If you know the rules you’re breaking well, you can use that break to do interesting things.