Marion frowned in disgust. What did Burke's comment about the clothes mean, anyway? Why couldn't she just be straightforward? What the hell was going on?
Okay, now here's my question:
Should I write "What the hell was going on?" Or: "What the hell is going on?"
Thank you. (The POV is fairly deep at this point.)
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
Definitely, ""What the hell was going on?"
The reason is that this is being written in the past tense. The action, though it seems in the moment because you've done a good job with your voice, is also in the past. If you use "is" you have switched to present tense and the whole illusion is shattered.
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
Second and confirm. Unless you also cast the second and third sentances in present tense as well, in which case you should probably set them aside from the rest of the text with italics or something to differentiate them from inherently third person description (Marion doesn't think "frowned in disgust", she just does).
Posted by GZ (Member # 1374) on :
Use "What the hell was going on?" based on the tense issues. As Survior said, the present tense version only works if the previous two sentences are in present tense and all three are in italics. The direct thought still maintains the deep POV.