Can someone fill me in better on number 25? I thought the tense was the tense, and to shift the tense shifted the time. I'm using "Had" for every action that takes place prior to the action in the story. If I omit this, how can the reader know that it is past tense in the past tense?
[I so hope that made sense. I also hope someone hasn't already addressed this in this massive thread that I haven't read yet.]
25: Avoid unnecessary repetition of tense. For example: I’d gone to the hospital. They’d kept me waiting for hours. Eventually, I’d seen a doctor. Usually, the first sentence is sufficient to establish tense. I’d gone to the hospital. They kept me waiting for hours. Eventually, I saw a doctor.