Problem With Tense

[Dennis]

Does anyone have an answer to why Nick's narrative is in past tense ("I picked up my phone...", "I went to..", "I said", I asked.") while "Part 2 Amy's" voice is in present tense ("I say.","She ruffles her legs..", "I pause." If they are both suppose to be present time narrators then why are their tenses different all he way up 'til the point when they are literally in the same home, at the exact time as one another? This bothered and confused me.

[Betsy]

Golly, Dennis, you are one sharp dude ! I never even picked up on that. Just guessing: is Nick's past tense because Amy is "gone" and he is looking back? And, Amy who is still very much present in the story would tend to write her side in present tense?? I read this so long ago, I don't know if that even makes sense. I tried :)

[Jodie]

i think it's somewhat like what betsy said. also i think if they spoke in the same tense it would give away the mystery too quickly. her point of view was coming from her diary

[Dennis]

Thanks, guys! It worked either way. Like you implied, Betsy: It didn't halt the flow of the story at all, so who cares... I just found it odd because they are in the same exact time (present) when we meet post diary Amy, yet Nick speaks in past and Amy in present. If I made that mistake in a college creative writing class, I'd have the story handed back to me immediately. That kind of thing usually doesn't fall under the "freedoms of writers'". Thanks again for the input.

[Rachel]

I thought that Nick's narrative was in past tense because it was largely (as we find out later in the story) the book he wrote and then later destroyed laying out his side of the whole thing.

[Dennis]

That is a good point Rachel.