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wurdwise said:Let's see -- 1968. Does your protagonist go to see Night of the Living Dead in the movie theatres? Or want to and be forbidden because of the article in Reader's Digest that her granny read? What's on TV? News about Vietnam? Is the TV black and white? How are people dressed? How do they talk?
If the exact date isn't important to the story, you can just not mention. But you, the author, should know exactly when it is. Follow it out on the calendar. Note what was happening. Be consistent. Your sureness will make the reader trust you.
Yup, put a date on it if it helps you, but if the author (you) know what date it is, put in th details. I usually don't like to spell out the time/date for the readers -- it makes the book seem dated, unless there's a particular reason like I'm doing a back story or something or the story happens at a specific time (like WWII). Otherwise, I leave it vague but I would fill in some details so the readers would get a feeling of the time, and if they're astute enough, they'd guess the date. For example, in one scene I mentioned "The Last Temptation of the Christ" at a theater... I mean if you really want, you can do an imdb search and find out when exactly that movie came out...
They do that a lot in movies. No SUPER saying "1975 NEW YORK CITY." Just by looking at the scene most people would know it's the 70s in NYC if they get the details right!