Local Revisions: Tense Usage

To create an interesting peice of work, the author must understand the verbs he uses and try to make them as engagng as possible.

PeteLinforth, "Clipboard", 1/8/16, CC0 Public Domain

List of Verbs and Their Tenses

Past	Present	Future
Caused	Began	Open
Shut	Backing	Help
Flooded	Using	Decide
Suffered	Exploding	Take
Damaged	Isn't	Prevent
Exploded	Ensure
Hit	Experiencing
Relied	Pushing
Placed	Destroying
Put	Causing
Made	Explode
Forced	Reaching
Occured
Affected
Let
Traveled
Turned
Plunged
Continued
Started
Produced
Spread

1. Which tense is the most prevalent in your draft?
The past tense is the most prevalent tense in my daft.

2. What effect or tone/quality does the current usage of tense have on the reader/viewer/listener?
The use of the past tense in the QRG creates a calm mood. The QRG feels boring and very bland. When the present tense is used, the QRG becomes more colorful and exciting because it allows the reader to feel like they are living the event.

3. If you're using more than one tense in the draft (which is not a bad thing at all), do the shifts between different tenses in the piece make sense? How do they flow? Are there any jarring or dischordant shifts in tense?
The shifts in tense flow logically and are usually separated by sub-heading. There are some instances where the tenses are jarring where mid-sentence the tense changes. These will be fixed in the final draft.

4. If you have not employed any present tense verbs in your piece - why not? Are there any moments of crescendo or dramatic action in the story you're telling that could benefit from being described or told in the present tense? Remember, present tense has an immediacy to it. It puts the audience right into the story as it is unfolding. It's a powerful technique. Could your piece benefit from that technique? How and why?
I used a few present tense verbs but not as many as I should. Using the present tense will crete a more intimate feeling to the story, bring the audience in. My QRG would definitely benefit from this because the topic iself can be a slightly boring read.