What tense to use when writing about an ongoing action in a text which will be published / read in the future?

Question

What is the correct form, if any? If no form is correct, please advise.

I'll start by underlining that this article is typed on a Logitech G15 keyboard.

vs

I'll start by underlining that this article is being typed on a Logitech G15 keyboard.

vs

I'll start by underlining that this article was typed on a Logitech G15 keyboard.

The article will be published a few days after I write the text, and, of course, read anytime between then and the next year.

Answer 1

Use is being typed.

Articles describe the world at the time of writing. Your readers understand this. They don't expect you to point out to them that you wrote it some time before they read it, so using the past tense (was typed) will just confuse them.

The present simple (is typed) is used to describe habits (all my articles are typed...). You are not writing about your habit, so don't use the present simple.

The present continuous (is being typed) is used to describe what is happening right now. This is exactly what you are trying to describe, so use this form.

Answer 2

Definitely with the use of the third sentence.

I'll start by underlining that this article was typed on a Logitech G15 keyboard.

Was means that it already happened which in this context is correct.

If you use

I'll start by underlining that this article is being typed on a Logitech G15 keyboard.

then it just means that you're still typing it when you have already published the article and that'll just make it sound weird.

While using

I'll start by underlining that this article is typed on a Logitech G15 keyboard.

I believe that the first sentence would then mean that the article was published on the day itself so you don't need to use 'was' in this case but an 'is'

I hope my explanation was clear-cut enough

If I was wrong in any sense, could someone correct me?

Answer 3

Certainly, the usual form would be ..is being typed on a Logitech keyboard.

Is typed... sounds peculiar, but not, I would say, to the point of being mistaken. (Note that ...is written in American English would be considerably better than ...is being written in American English.)

And was typed on a particular keyboard is wrong, but only semantically, because the first words are "I'll start". You haven't written more than the first few words yet, so logically you don't yet know that you won't switch keyboards before the end. If your last sentence were Acknowledgments: this article was typed on a Logitech keyboard, with editorial support from my flatmate and coffee from Nescafe, nobody could object (except to your brand of coffee).