Dialogue and tense help...please

[L.Blake]

I'm writing in Past Tense and got told that in dialogue tense doesn't matter only the tag or beat.

Yesterday I got told that the speaking has to be in past tense as well. I would appreciate any help with this.

Thanks,
L.

[alleycat]

The person speaking is in the present. He or she might be referring to some event that happened in the past; in that case the speaker would use past tense. Or he or she may be speaking of some present event.

"I'm watching television," Jim said. (Even if the story itself is set in the past.)

"I watched television," Jim said.

"I will watch television," Jim said.

Just ask, relative to the character himself, is the action or event happening now, or in the past, or is to happen in the future.

[Bufty]

No actual dialogue has to be in past tense.

Any character speaking uses whatever tense is needed to express whatever it is they are saying.

Are you sure you heard the suggestion correctly?

Maybe the person meant that if you were writing in past tense whatever dialogue tags you use should also be in past tense - said, whispered, asked, shouted.....

[heza]

Actual dialog can also be in present tense, even if the character is talking about something that happened in the past; usually it contributes to story telling or characterization.

[FalconMage]

When you're presenting dialogue, the dialogue itself is in the character's perspective, right?

So:

He said, "That is one ugly dog!"

He said, "That was one ugly dog!"

They mean different things. The first, the character is experiencing as he speaks it. The second, it's a past event to the character at the time he speaks.

So I'd guess the real question is, when the character speaks, is the subject a past event? Is it present? Might it even be a future event?

[Once!]

Yup - agree with everyone else on this. What the character says is ... well, what the character says. It stands on its own and is inviolable. The tense of the story does not change the speech.

Standing on the moon, Neil Armstrong said: "That's one small step for man ... (oops) ... and one giant leap for mankind."

That's what he said, no matter how much he tries to say that he squeezed "a" in front of "man".

And it remains what he said whether you report this in the past, present or future tense.

[Cliffhanger]

Originally Posted by Once!

Yup - agree with everyone else on this. What the character says is ... well, what the character says. It stands on its own and is inviolable. The tense of the story does not change the speech.

Standing on the moon, Neil Armstrong said: "That's one small step for man ... (oops) ... and one giant leap for mankind."

That's what he said, no matter how much he tries to say that he squeezed "a" in front of "man".

And it remains what he said whether you report this in the past, present or future tense.

"When we arrive on Mars I'll stand on the surface and look back at that shimmering blue-green speck and say, 'That's one small step for man... and one giant leap for mankind', just like Neil Armstrong did."

[Kenn]

I wonder if this is a confusion over what is dialogue. For example, when talking to someone you might say: I told him I was watching television rather than I told him, 'I am watching television'.

[Fallen]

Originally Posted by Kenn

I wonder if this is a confusion over what is dialogue. For example, when talking to someone you might say: I told him I was watching television rather than I told him, 'I am watching television'.

Maybe the reader is applying narrative tense as a blanket statement to everything? "You're narrating in past-tense, therefore every verb has to be past tense." Which would be... concerning.

[L.Blake]

Thank you all...big squishy hugs. I about lost it when I thought I had to go back and change the speaking parts. All my characters have their own speaking quirks...like real people :-) *Wiping the worry off my face*

I did go back to his notes to make sure I read them right. He was noting my dialogue didn't match the tense of the story.

L.

[Bufty]

Ask him to give you a specific instance where he feels that occurred.

I suspect there's a breakdown/misunderstanding in the communication between the two of you somewhere.

Originally Posted by L.Blake

Thank you all...big squishy hugs. I about lost it when I thought I had to go back and change the speaking parts. All my characters have their own speaking quirks...like real people :-) *Wiping the worry off my face*

I did go back to his notes to make sure I read them right. He was noting my dialogue didn't match the tense of the story.

L.

[L.Blake]

Thanks everyone.

L.

[L.Blake]

I see where you're coming from Fallen. When he comes home in ten more days I'm going to ask about it.

L.

[blacbird]

Originally Posted by L.Blake

Yesterday I got told that the speaking has to be in past tense as well.

Whoever told you this is an idiot. Go listen to people actually speaking, and you'll know.

caw