The Fanfic Bible

7. Tense

Verb tenses tell readers when events or actions occured in time—in the past, present, or future. Keeping track of the right tense is important for consistency throughout your story. For example, I think I've written all my books except one in present tense. This means that everything in the story is happening right now. The story is unfolding as you read it. 

On the other hand, many stories take place in past tense, meaning that everything you're seeing has already happened. Usually, the entire story is written in past tense. However, there are instances where time sort of "catches up" and it changes to present tense. I did this at the start of Brother Complex, since the story starts off with describing how they got to know each other, but the larger chunk of the book is about what's happening "right now", in their present tense.

Here's an example from the first chapter:

I never wanted a brother but when my mom remarried that's exactly what I got. My parents divorced when I was seven and I stayed with my mom during the weekdays and with my dad on the weekends. I preferred being with my dad, but Mom's house was closer to the school, so I spent most of my time there. It came as a shock when Mom told me she'd met a new man and that they'd be getting married within a few months. The biggest surprise however was that her new husband had a son.

I still remember seeing him for the first time. His full cheeks, the black hair and his big round eyes. He was so tiny and looked so fragile when he was clinging onto his dad's hand on our doorstep. "

Jin, this is Jungkook, your new little brother. Say hi to him," my mom chirped, urging me to greet him. 

"Hi, Jungkook," I said trying to sound happy. 

The line "I still remember" insinuates that the narration from Jin is actually happening in present tense. Gosh, it's so hard to explain, but it's a hint that what you read in the first chapter is really in the past. It has already happened. 

Here's an example from chapter four, where time catches up to the present:

Mom kept on cheating with different men for the next four years. Four years and nothing good came from it like Jungkook had said it would. All it did was make me freak out about what would happen if his dad found out, not that it would matter much now that I'm almost 23. 

Jungkook is almost an adult too. He sure looks older than he is. With all the constant physical activity he's doing he has muscles all over. I'm not exactly unfit myself, but I'm not nearly as muscular as he is. 

But seemingly no matter how old we get he just won't stop kissing me, and ever since Namjoon and Yoongi pointed out how weird it is I haven't been able to do it normally. It's been years now and I still feel my face heating up when he leans in to kiss me. I keep telling myself that I just think it's embarrassing. I'm already in university goddammit! I should have a girlfriend by now, not freak out the second my little brother gets too close! 

The text is describing the events and situation leading up to the present. It's a mix of past and present tense, to try and show that "this is what's happened" and "this is where we are right now".  

BUT! As a rule of thumb, I'd recommend sticking to one major tense and keeping that the entire story. It can get majorly confusing otherwise if you're not sure what you're doing. (I probably wasn't sure what I was doing when I wrote Brother Complex, so I had to go back and edit it later)

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I'll do my best to explain.