Writers' Hotline

Tenses, Sentence and Paragraph Structure

TENSES

Another aspect of writing most of us can mess up is by jumping between tenses. Meaning some parts of the writing is in past tense, then it changes to present tense - and this keeps happening back and forth. 

It can really disturb the reader and bring them out of the immersion of your story. 

Ex. "Where are you going?" she asked. 

"Just to the market," he replies. 

Here 'asked' is in past tense, and 'replies' is in present tense. Not only it is grammatically incorrect, but it can confuse the reader many a times. 

Although the example I've used is a mild one. Imagine this happening in the middle of an important scene or dialogue. It can be very disconcerting. 

Choose a tense and stick to it throughout your story. Most people write in past tense, but there are people write in present tense as well. 

Some people utilise both. For example, if your story is set in two time periods, then you can use past tense for the past time period and present for the current time period. However, that may be hard to handle. 

SENTENCE AND PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

Another thing that can really frame your writing and create suspense and tension, is the way you structure your paragraphs and sentences. There are many ways to use them to achieve the affect you need according to your story, genre etc. 

Sentences

~ Avoid having too long and run-off sentences. They tend to bore the reader away. Instead, use a variable lengths, break it off wherever it is possible. 

~ Use long sentences:
to create a slow pace,
to slow the plot down,
if the scene is calm and there is nothing urgent happening,
to create a sense of serenity and immersing thoughts,
you can even use it before an important scene to lead into it and create impact.

~ Use short sentences:
to create tension,
to invoke terror,
when there is lot of action,
to explore sharp and intense feelings, like a breakdown.

~ Mix and match to keep the reader's attention on your story. Don't just do long sentences, or just short sentences. use varying lengths to achieve the effect you want. 

~ Put the impactful sentences near the end of the paragraphs. 

Paragraphing

Same as sentences, paragraphing can be used to create different feels and effects. 

~ Don't make them too long. Especially since most people on Wattpad read on the app, and paragraphs can appear extremely long. It bores the readers, and they'll likely skim through it instead. 

~ Use varying lengths to control the pacing of your story. Too many short paragraphs will make the story feel chopped and disrupted. Too much long paragraphs will bore the readers, slow the pacing and will feel long-winded. 

~ Make important sentences a paragraph of their own. This will bring attention to it and highlight its importance. Not always though, it won't be as impactful then. Check the example below.

~ Make a new paragraph for TiPToP (Time, Place, Topic, Person). Every time these change, new paragraph. 

~ Same can be applied to scene changes. 

Below is a small example of everything above:

When she walked into the house, it was quiet. Too quiet. Her heart raced. She didn't bother to put away her outdoor shoes after changing into indoor slippers. The lights beyond the hallway were turned off. Strange. Everyone should be having dinner now, merrily. Yet. There was a pungent smell coming from somewhere. She lightly stepped into the living room and groped the wall with her hand to find the switch. She turned it on. It was red.

Blood.

On the walls.

Her eyes fell onto the scene and she screamed. Her sister's wide-eyes stared back at her, unseeing. 

~Compiled by -ScatteredPearlz-