Feedback & Revision
Switching Tenses in Writing: When It Works and How to Fix It
Freelance developmental editor who has shepherded 200+ manuscripts from messy draft to publishable, and writes about revision like the craft it is.
Switching tenses in writing is a problem when it happens by accident: a scene told in the past tense drifts into the present with no change in time, as in "She opened the door. The room is dark." The reader stumbles, because the verbs say time has moved when nothing has.
It is fine when it is deliberate and marked: flashbacks, frame stories, a present-tense prologue or sections from different narrators. The fix for the accidental kind is to pick a base tense, mark every deliberate shift, and search the draft for the verbs that most often slip.
StoryWith AI is our own product, so weigh what we say about it accordingly.
Key takeaways
- One base tense: choose past or present for the main narrative and shift only when the time frame really changes.
- Accidental shifts are easy to make: Purdue OWL calls inappropriate slips from past to present "sometimes hard to resist."
- Deliberate shifts are marked: by a scene or chapter break, a time cue or the past perfect.
- Flashbacks use "had" as a doorway: two or three past-perfect verbs in, simple past inside, a brief "had" on the way out.
- Search, do not just reread: in a past-tense draft, look for "is", "are" and "says" outside dialogue.
What does switching tenses in writing mean?
It means moving the narration from its base tense (usually simple past, sometimes present) into another. Purdue OWL states the rule plainly: "Do not shift from one tense to another if the time frame for each action or state is the same." The companion rule is just as important: "Do shift tense to indicate a change in time frame from one action or state to another."
The real question is whether the time changed, and whether the reader knows it.
Source: Purdue OWL, "Verb Tense Consistency" (no publication date shown; page body carries copyright 1995-2018), read on 26 October 2026.
Why do accidental tense shifts happen?
One likely cause is immersion: in an intense moment the action feels like it is happening now, and the verbs follow. Purdue OWL flags a past-tense passage that slides into "Hesitating a moment, I rise from my seat" as an inappropriate shift.
Dialogue is another trigger. Nina Munteanu, writing for Scribophile Academy, passes on author Elsa Neal's view that writers inadvertently shift tenses because they "mix up dialogue (usually in the present tense) with narrative (usually in the past tense)."
Sources: Purdue OWL (no publication date shown) and Nina Munteanu, "Choosing Your Tense…and Keeping It," Scribophile Academy (no date shown on the page), read on 26 October 2026.
When is switching tense deliberate and fine?
When the time frame really changes, or when the book's design calls for a second tense and marks it clearly. Purdue OWL's guideline is to "Establish a primary tense for the main discourse, and use occasional shifts to other tenses" when the time frame changes.
| Deliberate shift | What it looks like | How it is marked |
|---|---|---|
| Frame narrative | An older narrator in present tense ("I still dream of that summer") tells a story in past tense | The frame opens and closes the book, or sits in its own sections |
| Present-tense prologue | A short present-tense opening, then a past-tense main story | A separate prologue heading |
| Flashback | A past-tense scene steps back to an earlier past | Past perfect ("had") at the doorway, often a scene break |
| Different POV characters | One narrator's chapters in present tense, another's in past | Chapter or section breaks, often with the character's name |
| Narrator's present-tense commentary | "She was, as people from that valley are, slow to forgive." | A clear narrating voice that comments from outside the scene |
| General truths | "He learned that water boils at a lower temperature at altitude." | The fact is still true, so present tense is natural |
Table is ours. Purdue OWL lists stating facts and habitual actions among the uses of the present tense; see Purdue OWL (no publication date shown), read on 26 October 2026.
Munteanu describes a novel by Marjorie B. Kellogg that alternates tenses between sections, and says it works because "[t]he key is that she is consistent and does this with deliberation and clear purpose." A shift that appears once, mid-paragraph, is a slip.
Source: Munteanu, Scribophile Academy (no date shown on the page), read on 26 October 2026.
How do you use the past perfect for flashbacks?
Step in with "had", then drop into simple past. A whole flashback in past perfect buries the reader in "had had".
Carol Saller at CMOS Shop Talk (the Chicago Manual of Style's blog) recommends that writers "start out with past-perfect verbs and then segue to the simple past for a while." Near the end of the flashback, she suggests you "slip back into the past perfect briefly as a reminder to the reader" before returning to the main story.
Mathina Calliope, writing on Jane Friedman's blog, gives a working number: "use the past perfect to signpost a time shift. A rule of thumb is to use it two or three times. By then readers will understand when they are."
| Flashback stage | Verb form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Entering | Past perfect | She had been nineteen the first time she drove this road. Her father had let her take the wheel at the county line. |
| Inside | Simple past | He talked the whole way. She hardly heard him. |
| Leaving | Past perfect, briefly | That had been the last summer before the farm sold. |
| Back in the main story | Simple past (base tense) | The sign for the county line flashed past. |
Sources: Carol Saller, "'Had had'? Flashbacks and the Past Perfect," CMOS Shop Talk (17 December 2019) and Mathina Calliope, "The Easy-to-Fix Tense Problem That Might Be Tripping Up Your Readers," Jane Friedman (16 April 2020), read on 26 October 2026. Example sentences are ours.
Past vs present tense: which should be your base tense?
Either can carry a novel. The choice turns on how close you want the reader and how freely you need to move through time.
| Factor | Past tense | Present tense |
|---|---|---|
| Immediacy | Feels told, with a little distance | Feels like it is happening now |
| Moving through time | Easy to summarise, jump and reflect | Harder to manipulate time |
| Hindsight and suspense | The narrator can foreshadow from later | Little room for hindsight |
| Reader expectation | The long-standing default | Familiar in some genres, noticed in others |
| Risk of accidental shifts | Slips into present during intense scenes | Slips into past during backstory |
Comparison is ours, drawing on the sources below.
For present tense, the case is immediacy. David Jauss in Writer's Digest (25 March 2014) writes that "Present tense has more 'immediacy' than past tense," and that it lets a writer "convey a character's change as it happens." Peter Selgin on Jane Friedman's blog (30 October 2019) agrees: "For a sense of immediacy nothing beats it."
Against it, Jauss notes that "Present tense restricts our ability to manipulate time." Selgin warns it "tends to treat all moments equally."
Past tense wins on convention and range. Joe Bunting at The Write Practice says one main reason to choose it "is simply that it's the convention," and recommends it "For more flexibility when it comes to navigating time."
On genre, present tense is often linked with young adult fiction. Deirdre Baker in The Horn Book (29 December 2011) asked why there had been "such a proliferation of young adult novels written in the present tense," and Scribophile Academy also ties present tense to YA. Treat that as a tendency, not a rule.
Sources: David Jauss, Writer's Digest (25 March 2014), Peter Selgin, Jane Friedman (30 October 2019), Joe Bunting, The Write Practice (no date shown on the page), Holly Riddle, Scribophile Academy (no date shown on the page) and Deirdre Baker, The Horn Book (29 December 2011), read on 26 October 2026.
What are the signs of an accidental tense shift?
| Sign | Example in a past-tense scene | Why it is a slip |
|---|---|---|
| Present-tense action verb in narration | She grabbed the keys and runs for the car. | Same moment, two tenses |
| Present-tense description | The kitchen was cold. The tap drips. | The drip happens in the scene's past, not now |
| Narration catching the dialogue's tense | "I'm leaving," he says. | Tags should match the base tense ("he said") |
| Past perfect missing | She found the note she left on the table. | Leaving came first, so "had left" |
| Tense changes at no break | Present tense starts mid-paragraph | A deliberate shift needs a marker |
Our list and examples, written for this guide.
Hypothetical example: a scene before and after
Hypothetical example, written for this guide.
Before (accidental shifts):
Mara pulled into the lot just after midnight. The diner's sign flickers, half the letters dead. She sits for a moment with the engine running. Her brother had called three times that day, and she didn't answer once. Inside, the waitress looks up and says, "We're closing, hon." Mara ordered coffee anyway.
The scene switches to present for three sentences, then back to past. "Didn't answer" should be "hadn't answered", because the calls came first.
After (past tense held, flashback signposted):
Mara pulled into the lot just after midnight. The diner's sign flickered, half the letters dead. She sat for a moment with the engine running. Her brother had called three times that day, and she hadn't answered once. Inside, the waitress looked up. "We're closing, hon," she said. Mara ordered coffee anyway.
Dialogue stays in the present because it is speech; the narration around it is past.
How do you fix switching tenses in a draft?
- Pick the base tense. If the draft is mixed, count which tense carries most scenes and convert the rest. Write the decision in your style sheet; our guide to building a story bible includes point of view and tense in what to record.
- List every deliberate shift. Prologue, frame, flashbacks, a second narrator: each gets a marker (a heading, a break, or a past-perfect doorway).
- Fix scene by scene, so you hold one time frame in your head at a time.
- Search for common slip verbs. In a past-tense draft: "is", "are", "has", "says", "looks", "knows". In a present-tense draft: "was", "were", "said", "looked", "had".
Our self-editing checklist puts this pass with the line-level checks, after the structural ones.
How do you find tense slips you cannot see?
You know when every event happens, so your eye corrects the verbs as you read. Three routines get around that.
- Read aloud. Tense slips are easier to hear than to see, especially in fast action scenes.
- Read only the narration. Skip the dialogue, so slips next to quoted speech stand out; when you run the verb search above, hits in narration are the candidates.
- Mark the time of each scene. In your scene list, note when each scene happens. Any scene set earlier needs flashback signposts.
How to edit a novel shows how to build the scene map these steps rely on.
Where StoryWith AI fits
StoryWith AI works at the scene level, not the sentence level. On any plan, "Analyze style" on one scene shows its point of view, tense and voice, a quick check that it sits in the tense you meant (it uses AI actions).
On the Pro plan and above, the whole-book drift scan works out your book's baseline point of view, tense, voice and tone, then flags scenes that drift from it, including tense shifts, and names each scene. In a long book it reads an even sample of up to 30 scenes, not every scene. Treat its flags as the first scenes to reread, not a complete sweep. It is an AI read, so it can miss a slip or flag a deliberate shift such as a present-tense prologue; you make the call.
Each flagged scene in the scan results opens that scene in the editor, so you can reread it in place. StoryWith AI never rewrites your prose unless you ask for an edit and accept it.
It is the wrong tool if you want every tense slip marked sentence by sentence. That is a line edit or a proofread, by you or by a person you hire.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is it wrong to switch tenses in a story?
Not always. Switching is wrong when the time frame has not changed, such as a past-tense scene drifting into the present mid-paragraph. It is fine when the time really changes (a flashback) or the book has clearly marked sections in different tenses.
Can a novel have chapters in different tenses?
Yes. Books with two narrators sometimes give each a different tense, and a frame story can sit in the present around a past-tense main story. Each section keeps its own tense, and a chapter or section break marks the switch.
How do you write a flashback in past tense?
Enter the flashback with two or three past-perfect verbs ("she had driven", "he had said"), then switch to simple past for the rest. Near the end, use one brief past-perfect verb to signal the return, then resume the main story in simple past.
Should dialogue match the narrative tense?
No. Dialogue uses whatever tense the characters would speak in, often the present. The narration and the tags around it ("he said", not "he says") stay in the base tense.
How do you find tense shifts in a manuscript quickly?
Search a past-tense draft for present-tense verbs such as "is", "are" and "says", and check each hit outside dialogue. Reading aloud also helps, since slips are easier to hear than to see.
