How much timetabling is too much?

Triangulos · Feb 17, 2008

By timetabling I mean scheduling your characters' movements including journey times, time taken for each scene or major episode, etc -- potentially important when parallel plot threads need to join up at various points.

It's tempting sometimes just to wing it, but somewhere, somebody would notice. The other extreme however can see you tying yourself up in knots, allowing a good plot to be influenced more by what fits the calendar than by what will keep a reader hooked.

My novel rewrite has just reached the point where I need to see what effect my plot changes have had on the overall sequence of events. It seems that every couple of pages I have a line like "For the last three weeks the view outside hadn't changed" (was it *really* three weeks?) or "Six hours was all it would take to get there" (is A really six hours from B?)

I suspect I'll be doing it in some detail just to reassure myself the timings aren't wildly out, but I also suspect most readers wouldn't notice anyway.

T.

Claudia Gray · Feb 17, 2008

If it's not getting in the way of your story, I don't think there can be too much. Get everything right, and nobody will notice; get it wrong, and somebody will.

Danger Jane · Feb 17, 2008

It's a good idea to make sure all your timing adds up. You don't want readers scratching their heads.

I dread timetabling the most...but I have to do it. If I have to make mistakes in my stories, I'd rather they weren't in the timelines.

Daehota · Feb 17, 2008

I agree with Claudia. A little literary license might be okay, but you know, somewhere down the road some reviewer in, say The Tampa Tribune would notice and mention it in the Sunday A&E section, exposing the discrepencies for all to see.

As a reader myself, I'd bet I would notice, and it would bug me.

sunna · Feb 17, 2008

I think the more you've got the timelines nailed down, the better. I don't get it down to the hour myself, unless everybody's got to meet up on Wednesday July 11 at 7:32 pm EST (lucky for me this hasn't happened yet

), but I do have a nice big spreadsheet of character timelines, and I refer to it often.

It's never tied me up or stalled my plot (I've got plenty of other stuff to do that) - it gets updated by my plot. I use it to make sure my plot doesn't put MC1 in Zimbabwe one morning and in Wisconsin that afternoon, and then have her meeting up with MC3 in her hometown a few hours later.

Ok, that's a little extreme, but you know what I mean.

timewaster · Feb 17, 2008

I don't always worry about them first draft but I always fix them afterwards.
I think you have to.

IceCreamEmpress · Feb 17, 2008

I notice when people get this stuff wrong and it drives me nuts. I think it's important to make a timeline as part of your backstory notes.

L M Ashton · Feb 17, 2008

Of course it depends on the story. Some don't require getting the timing down like you're talking about, but others absolutely do. I have one story like that where the timing absolutely matters, and for that one, before I started writing (I'm a detailed plotter) I worked out all the timing issues for every scene, including distance travelled and a rough map to mark where they would be. It made all the difference, in my opinion.

If your story requires it, then yes, do it.

Matera the Mad · Feb 17, 2008

Yep, it's a bletch, but knowing where your children -- ha ha I mean characters -- are can be as important as spelling their names consistently. I not only had to keep track of a lot of characters in a certain space of time, I also had to know when the sun and moon might have risen and set on a certain day in June at a certain latitude. (I say "might have" because nobody can check me out for sure 20,000 years ago, give or take a few centuries.) I used real maps and checked figures for probable distances traveled on foot -- and I was still winging some, but I'm happy with it. I was not happy when I realized I had forgotten one person and had to go over it all again. :roll:

BarbaraKE · Feb 18, 2008

Matera the Mad said:
<snip>

I also had to know when the sun and moon might have risen and set on a certain day in June at a certain latitude. (I say "might have" because nobody can check me out for sure 20,000 years ago, give or take a few centuries.)

I've done that too (although I only had to go back a couple of centuries). Don't forget the phase of the moon - very important if a character is supposed to be able to see something at night.

lute · Feb 18, 2008

I think timetabling is important, especially with a number of characters that must meet up at one point in time. It's not something I particularly enjoy, but I consider it a necessity with the things I write. It might also depend on the kind of story you are writing as well, like what L M Ashton said

How much timetabling is too much?

Triangulos

Claudia Gray

Danger Jane

Daehota

sunna

timewaster

present

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

L M Ashton

crazy spec fic writer

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

BarbaraKE

lute