Hi. My story is told in 1st person. I want her to relate a short story, only one paragraph, without it sounding past tense. It is relevant to the story line at this point. I would like to include it because I think it could add something. How do I write this without it sounding like she's telling it past tense?
Thank you Lorraine for your advice. The point where I am at right now in the story she's narrating an incident that happened 'last winter.' It's only a short paragraph about her and her friend Melli. I'll write it how I think it might be said by her and just see how it reads within the story. Maybe I'm making things difficult for myself, I'm very good at that.
Is the story set in the recent past? She'd tell it in past tense.
I'm writing this in the present, but I want to tell you something I did yesterday. Colloquially, I could say, 'Yesterday - I'm just driving along, minding my own business, and this idiot pulls out in front of me.' It's not correct, but it's a known way of speaking - and as your story is all in Elsa's voice, you could do it that way. I think, though, that she'd tell it in past tense because she has such an attention to detail and an awareness of what's what.
Why do you want it to sound present? Without knowing what it is and where it fits, it's hard to say.
Lorraine