Something I intended to mention in last night's post:
The story I finished wasn't working. I told it told in 1st person from a child's point of view, but the voice didn't ring true. I read through the beginning trying to figure out the problem. It occurred to me that present tense would bring the immediacy needed.
I rewrote, and fortunately most of the lines only needed minor changes. From there the story finished itself in one writing session.
The part that amazes me is I usually don't like present tense, and I've never written in it before. I've read some great stories written that way, but more often I find the present tense jarring and distracting.
It's not a technique I plan to employ much, but I'm glad I tried it
Side Note: It took three times reading through the manuscript to rid it of all the past tense verbs. That doesn't include the initial change from past to present.
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