Tense Tension

[Captain Pike]

Occasionally, I drift in and out of the past tense. I'd like to think of this as "my style", but maybe, it's just wrong. Consider the following paragraph. I describe a building in the present tense -- the building remains that way today, as far as I know. Then, I talk about what my character did there using the past tense. Is this okay? Is it distracting?

The front of the building features a glassed-in porch that is a natural extension of the open walkway decking that wraps around the side of the building. The design of this porch allows these windows to open, letting in the sound and scent of the sea breeze. I brought my laptop computer out in the morning, imagining it to be the perfect place to write. As it turned out, it was a great place to sit, drink coffee and daydream. There was a lot more life and activity there than I noticed, that first time, un-locking the side door. Many different small fishing vessels went out in the morning, returning in the late afternoon or evening. Crawlers, draggers and lobster boats could be heard in all manner of weather and sea condition. They came and went in fog and darkness as well as on clear, bright days.

[DickZ]

I think it's best to do it exactly as you have it. If you put the building description into the past tense to match your action, it would sound as if the building no longer has those characteristics.

Writing it the way you did conveys a more permanent nature to your building description, which is what you want to convey.

[Captain Pike]

Thanks DickZ -- I guess some things are obvious to most folks. Turns out, I'll do just about anything to keep from writing, sometimes. Sheesh!