Looking for ways to improve your grammar and understanding of SLJ Style? Assistant Managing Editor Mahnaz Dar is here with some grammar tips!
Why So Tense?
Do we use past or present tense when we’re describing a book? What about when we’re talking about the events of the first book in a series to give context to a later installment? Or what if we’re talking about events that take place before the book starts?
Unless there’s a good reason (awkwardness, a time-travel book), you should use the present tense.
Example:
In Pride and Prejudice, Lizzie Bennet falls in love with Mr. Darcy and the two eventually marry. In Death Comes to Pemberley, set six years later, the two have even more drama to face: murder!