TIPS FOR: 5SOS FANFICS & GRAMMAR

[3] pov and time tense

[3] pov and time tense

Alright, so some people have the tendency of doing this:

ASHTON

hi i like her a lot

JANE

wow he's hot

ASHTON

u think she'd @ me

JANE

i'd @ him

ASHTON

might as well try. "hi jane," i said.

JANE

oMg he's talking to me!!!!!!!! "hi," i said.

YOU CAN NOT SWITCH POINT OF VIEW EVERY FEW PARAGRAPHS, GUYS.

If you'd like to switch point of view every chapter then, alright. That's cool. When you switch it every time your character moves you make the reader confused after a while and annoyed that they can't get one consistent point of view in the chapter. I understand you may want to express a character's thoughts on something while in the point of view of another character, but you can do that through their actions and way of speech. Your main character can take note of these things and form an idea on the other person's emotions. (The thing about that though is you still don't want to tell us everything. TV shows and books are interesting because we don't know what everyone's feeling when we really want to.)

Now, there are three general types of POV/narration: first person, second person, and third person. Second person is not really a narration that is used for stories, but more for, like, self-improvement tapes or infomercials where they try to make it sound like how it'd be using the product for you. (i rlly doubt ur gonna use second person tho so u know just forget about that one)

Now, there's third person. I'm going to get into what each narration type if good for in another chapter but I would just like to point out that you have to choose one and make sure you're consistent with it. If you've been writing in first person a lot and then switch to third person make sure to read over your work because you'll probably find that you switched to first person without even realizing it.

TIME TENSE.

Past: "............." he said.

Present: ".................." he says.

Choose one and stick with it. Know that even your characters' thoughts have to be in that time tense during the moment. For example:

Past: "You're still going out with Karen?" I asked, my green eyes traveling down to the floor. I thought Luke was done with her after that night -- I sure was. I still was. I wished he saw how I really felt about him. I really thought I loved him.

Present: "You're still going out with Karen?" I ask, my green eyes traveling down the floor. I thought Luke was done with her after that night -- I sure was. I still am. I wish he could see how I really feel about him. I really think I love him.