Looking Backward II, or Some Tenses and How to Use Them

The second most common way of leading into and out of a flashback sequence is by shifting tenses. Most novels are told in what's called the "historic present," meaning that the "now" of the story is told in simple past tense (He slept in the library all afternoon rather than He sleeps in the library all afternoon).

This confuses a lot of people, so let me just repeat that: in most stories and novels, "He slept in the library all afternoon" is an action that is taking place in the present of...