Keep Your Tenses Consistent

Don’t drift between past and present within one passage.

Choose a tense for your narration and hold it, so readers aren’t jolted between time frames. “She opened the door and walked in” keeps a steady past; “She opened the door and walks in” lurches without reason. It’s fine to shift tense deliberately when the meaning truly changes time (I learned that water boils at 100°C — a permanent fact stays present).

◈Pick a timeline and stay on it — jump only for a reason.