Question about quotations and writing tenses: is it "said" or "say"?

Question

I'm a little confused about quotations whilst writing. This question might get lengthy, so bare with me please.

Now, my trouble is…

I’m writing a story from first-person perspective, and it’s a HELLA PAIN because I can’t seem to get my tenses together. I’m writing through the past tense of “said”, because the entire story is told as a flashback and it just seems much more appropriate. Being first person, it’s proving to be quite trick to keep my tenses together. It’s probably inaccurate and weird sounding, and I find first-person harder because in first-person, you delve into the mind of the main character, and thoughts are often in PRESENT tense, right? So… that’s what confusing.

When I write in third-person (which is 90% of the time), I seem to have no trouble whatsoever writing through “said” and past tense, but with first person… urgh, I get my tenses confused (and having taking a liking to Sophie Kinsella, even more).

I CAN’T DEAL WITH THE BLOODY THOUGHTS. ;___; SO confusing! Present or past tense? Sophie Kinsella writes through first-person, but she puts “say” instead of “said”.

Sample ( from Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic):

'Here we are,' says Amy, and smiles at me. 'Would you like a tea or coffee?'
'Coffee, please,' I say, wishing I could say, 'A stiff gin, please.' Amy knocks on the door, opens it and ushers me in, and says 'Rebecca Bloomwood.'
'Rebecca!' says a dark-haired woman behind the desk, and gets up to shake my hand.

***

I mean, she says the actions through present tense too. She says “smiles at me” instead of “smiled at me”. Uhh… what? Other books I’ve read through third-person would say “said” and “smiled” instead of “say” and “smiles”.

Here’s a short blurb or something I’ve written so far, and hopefully you guys can help me see what I should change to present/past tense, what I’ve done wrong, point out where I mixed up my tenses, etc etc…

BLURB FROM MY STORY-

“Right, sorry Eddie,” my stylist said, and I could have sworn I felt my hair get tugged a bit harder. “So do you think the shoes look good?”

“I don’t know, I suppose they do if you think so,” I replied in the same weary tone. The woman frowned at me quizzically, and I really couldn’t blame her.

Mom probably made me out to be a fashion princess, but truth is, I know nothing about fashion and dresses and hair. I’m basically just like a mannequin that sits there, waiting for other people to dress it. I have no idea how to mix and match clothing, or the slightest idea why people find skirts attractive. If you tossed me into a clothing store and told me to pick out an outfit for myself, I’d probably come out two minutes later with a plain shirt and shorts on hand. I sometimes wonder if Mom wishes she had another daughter to play dress-up with.

Ow. That was my foot she just stepped on.

…

He freezes in his tracks, staring straight at me. I feel my face turn red and look down at my feet trying to avoid him, but it’s too late, I can already hear the crunching of leaves underneath his feet as he approaches me. ****, ****, what can I do? Okay, maybe he’s not really coming over to me. I mean, why would he? He’s probably just here to talk to someone else around here…

“You’re Eddie Knell, aren’t you? Norman’s kid?”

****, he is talking to me. Okay, what I’ll do is, I’ll look up and deny the claim. Yeah, that should at least get him confused. I’ll then point at some random girl in a crowd, state she’s Eddie, and he’ll go away and leave me alone and…

….

“Not directly, no. But I’ve heard about you,” He jerked his thumb to his left, and I saw for a flitting instant a flicker of the former irritation back on his face. Curiously, I turn to see where he’s pointing. It’s Mom and an unknown woman

….

“They’re like a bunch of gossiping old women,” said the guy, dislike clear in his voice. He glares at the women, looking disgusted. After a few moments, he turns back around to face me. “I couldn’t stomach another second of them.”

I blinked at him, my mouth wide open. What the hell is he talking about? Okay, this was getting weird. Curiosity was prickling me even more than before. Just who the hell was this guy?

***

THAT’S me confused right there while writing that. : ) Like, a quick example… when he says:

- He glares at the women, looking disgusted. After a few moments, he turns back around to face me. -

Is it “he glared” instead of “glares”, and “he turned back around” instead of “he turns back around”? Which one is right? Why does it matter? The difference between the two is…?

And also:

- He jerked his thumb to his left, and I see for a flitting instant a flicker of the former irritation back on his face. Curiously, I turn to see where he’s pointing. It’s Mom and an unknown woman, both looking at us expectantly. Once they notice me staring at them, they flushed deep red and turned around, pretending to be deep in conversation. –

I put “he jerked” and then follo

Answer 1

Well, you need to pick a tense and stick to it. Whether it's third person or first has nothing to do with your choice of tense.



Remember that "said" is an action too. It's the past tense of "says" (or "say", if it's "I"). If you're using "said", all your other verbs need to be past tense too. Glared, turned, saw, "it was"... All of them.



The only exception to this is in speech (even if it's in the past, he would say "come here" not "came here") or in direct thought, i.e. thought which is effectively speech but not out loud (so "She's an idiot," I thought to myself.)



Those Kinsella excerpts? They are all present tense. Forget them, you're using past tense.

Answer 2

Both ways are right and can be effective, but not mixed together! You have to choose if you're doing it one way or the other and then remember to stick with it. If you're doing a flashback, the most logical way would be to put 'he said' instead of 'he says'. However, that's not always the case. It totally depends on your story. If you want to reader to kind of forget that it's a flashback and you want them to be drawn into the story as if it was happening right then and there, then use the present form (he says, he does, he walks). The present form is also good for when the narrator is flashing back and gets lost in telling the story, so that they are kind of reliving it. I personally find it easier to write in that way too, just as if it was happening right now. It completely depends on what you choose. Just remember, and I stress this, stick with the way you choose! Other than that, go for it and write from your heart! Good luck and I hope this was of some help!

Answer 3

Here's a chart that can help you distinguish between the past and present tenses. http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/verbs.htm



"Said" is the past tense. "Say" is the present tense.

Answer 4

I would have to say 'said'. 'say' is just a bit akward, sorry. :]