Days, Times, and Seasons in Novels

I have the same problem with remembering the time-line of my own life. I think because of that, I'm extra careful in my writing, but still slip up sometimes. It's not something I've found a way around. I just have to watch for it when writing and editing. And when I get beta readers it will be one of the things I ask them to watch for.

I print out a calendar and plot the events on it as I go to avoid time confusion. Since I usually write historicals, it's easy to find the exact year and month on timeanddate.com. I keep it next to the computer and note as I go. Maybe the story opens on a Tuesday in May--I pick one, write "opening" in the square. Two days after, there's a party--I write "party" on that square. The dates don't always make it into the text, of course, but it keeps me from having the characters go to church on Sunday when it's just two days after they saw each other on Wednesday.

If the exact year isn't important, just find a calendar the fits your needs and use it for consistency (like, you want your MC's birthday to be May 24, and it should be a Saturday so she can have a big party--Google to find a year where May 24th is a Saturday, and print out how ever many months you need to cover the time frame of your story).

I've been known to be half way through a scene or chapter and write about it being dark, or the sun being hot and think, hang on, what time did this scene start? Is it day or night or what?

The whole two days later it's teh weekend again is very easy to to in a first draft (I had an extra slipup-machine in my WIP because the city changes every three days so I had to keep track of what day it was and what change it was in and...and yeah. That was a headache. Lesson learned!)

But that's what edits are for. I wouldn't sweat it, unless you do a final readthrough and find three more. As long as you find them during edits, you're cool.

I'm usually pretty good about keeping time from scene to scene, but I do usually create a master timeline for the work to make sure everything fits together in a plausible manner. (E.g., if a trip takes one week in one direction, a comparable or return trip should also take one week.)

May I suggest something for you? Use Scrivener and attach "time" attributes to each and every scene, then periodically review those and map them to a master time-keeping sheet that you keep somewhere else in Scrivener. This way, whenever you're writing in a scene, you'll have a constant reminder of what time it is right then. For instance, say your scene is two people having a cup of coffee and discussing a crime. That'll probably take half an hour, so add the 2:30 - 3:00 tag to the scene. If the travel to and or from the scene isn't described in its own scene, add the travel time to the scene itself. (That way you don't have a character in an office building in Manhattan from 1:00 - 2:30 and a coffee shop in Brooklyn from 2:30 - 3:00.) That's going to be a lot of work, but this is a serious problem that you're describing and it has the potential to derail even promising work.

If you haven't seen Scrivener before, here's how I'm using it:
http://imageshack.com/a/img541/3707/scrivenersampleann.png

You'll note that I'm using the metadata to keep track of characters, but in other places I also have metadata for events or things that get mentioned, too. (For instance, one of the characters carries four letters around with him. I'm using scene metadata to make it easy to find every scene in which they're mentioned and make sure the date of their receipt is consistent, as well as the content of each letter.)

I have this problem. Mine usually comes down to weather, and keeping track of seasons. In one scene it will be cold and raining, and in the next it's 40C and they're sitting on a beach.

I agree with Mr Flibble - that's why we have edits. Don't sweat them while you're writing; go back and fix them afterwards.

Anna Spargo-Ryan said:

In one scene it will be cold and raining, and in the next it's 40C and they're sitting on a beach.

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The answer to this problem is just to have the setting for all your books be Florida.

tricksterpython said:

The answer to this problem is just to have the setting for all your books be Florida.

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Ooh, yes And having never been there, they are bound to be excellent, culturally accurate and relatable stories

I just had this issue in my WIP when I noticed we were in winter and then six months later winter was beginning again. I went back through and noted all the time shift references and made a few minor corrections for now.

I added a few comments in the mark-up section of my Word doc so I can periodically glance back and see where I'm at season-wise. When I do hard edits, I'll add seasonal/holiday references.

tricksterpython said:

The answer to this problem is just to have the setting for all your books be Florida.

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Hmmmm... this could solve a lot of issues. LOL

I don't outline in any formal way, but find that, with long works, I reach a point where I do have to bullet-point the timing of events, to make sure I keep them straight and that it makes sense. It's easy to make a time-sequence mistake in early drafts, even if you do formal outlining.

In addition, recently I've needed to do some historical research into how long it took people to travel by wagon train across the western U.S. in the 1850s, how many miles per day they could expect to make, and what weather conditions might do to slow them down, that sort of thing.


caw

I had a horrible time with this during one chapter in my first draft. This kid was walking across town and had to be back before his little brother got out of school, but then his dad was back from work even though he only left like three hours ago and he usually worked a twelve-hour shift...

It was a whole mess, but an easy fix. I kept a notebook full of things that needed fixing during my second draft, and this was on the top of that list. For things like this, I find that keeping it all down on paper helps a lot, rather than keeping track of it in a word document.

The Good Typist said:

Lol, Mr. Flibble--I totally relate! Quinn_Inuit, I really like your Scrivener idea. I haven't used that program before, but I'm seriously considering it now. It looks like it could really come in handy in dealing with my weird time warps.

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Thanks! It's only $40, one license covers (IIRC) up to five machines. It can also integrate with cloud systems like Dropbox, so I can work on my desktop, close it, and then fire it up on my laptop where I left off.

Oh, and one other idea for you. In Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort-of History of the USA, he said that he didn't want his readers to have to memorize too many dates. Therefore, the only date he gives for every event is October 8th (his son's birthday--he only had one child at the time).

tricksterpython said:

The answer to this problem is just to have the setting for all your books be Florida.

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I have a whole trilogy set in Florida (the one in my sig). I live here, too, so that helps. Of course, there are still seasons that must be dealt with: Hurricane Season, Wildfire Season and Snowbird Season.

Seriously, I did have this timeline problem with my first couple of books. I'm a pantser - no outline, no notes, nothing - so I just have to be very conscious of the time and setting. I edit as I go, though, which helps me catch those things without too much trouble.

I usually prefer to just write based on what the plot demands, then go back through my story to figure out how long it took. Then I'll add a smattering of dialogue or context here and there in revision to indicate how much time has passed since the beginning of the story.

Beachgirl said:

I have a whole trilogy set in Florida (the one in my sig). I live here, too, so that helps. Of course, there are still seasons that must be dealt with: Hurricane Season, Wildfire Season and Snowbird Season.

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I've lived here for quite some time, too, and I've noticed that Florida seasons come down to: Hot, not as hot as our usual hot, or hot but raining.

Anna Spargo-Ryan said:

I have this problem. Mine usually comes down to weather, and keeping track of seasons. In one scene it will be cold and raining, and in the next it's 40C and they're sitting on a beach.

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Apart from the beach, you could be talking about the weather I live with in Missouri. Except there'd probably be tornadoes in between.

In the first draft of my WIP, I had ridiculous time jumps. Mostly it was things like a journey taking three days one way, and two weeks the other… Not only that, the plot was apparently set in a never-ending summer, because despite it taking place over several months it was always sunny and hot - except for the final scene, in which it snowed.

Now that I'm in the process of re-writing, I've created a spreadsheet with all the information I need. I've decided on the distances between places and how long they take to cover, what month the story begins and ends in, when different events take place, and so on. I printed out a calendar and wrote "beginning" on January 1st (not when it actually begins, but I found it easier that way), and I mapped out the scenes and important events from there.

Yep. Those damn seasons are always mucking things up.

I do a similar thing with days of the week - I know sometimes I have a weekend, then talk about 'a couple of days later', then it's a Saturday again... so I start a 'timeline' page, and just write down what day(s) of the week it is in each scene.

Even doing that, a large portion of my edit notes at the end are 'check the timeline for this' or 're-arrange this so it makes sense with the timeline'. I think it's just a case of finding a system that works for you to keep everything straight.

I usually fix timing with edits. I've begun keeping tabs though, and it helps immensely.

Anna Spargo-Ryan said:

I have this problem. Mine usually comes down to weather, and keeping track of seasons. In one scene it will be cold and raining, and in the next it's 40C and they're sitting on a beach.

I agree with Mr Flibble - that's why we have edits. Don't sweat them while you're writing; go back and fix them afterwards.

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Haha well you're from Melbourne, so it's actually quite accurate.

The problem I generally have is with just not telling the readers what day, month, season, or time of day it is. I forget that details like that are important. xD

Only if knowing them is relevant to the story.

GrammarshineHyena said:

The problem I generally have is with just not telling the readers what day, month, season, or time of day it is. I forget that details like that are important. xD

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Anna Spargo-Ryan said:

I have this problem. Mine usually comes down to weather, and keeping track of seasons. In one scene it will be cold and raining, and in the next it's 40C and they're sitting on a beach.

Click to expand...

This happened to me one NaNo. My story was set in New York in July, but I was writing it in California in November. Reading my draft later I was startled to find my characters enjoying hot chocolate in one scene and sweltering in the heat of a Fourth of July barbecue in the next. Oops. Throughout that NaNo draft my story weather mirrored my actual weather, which had been swinging wildly from cold rain to hot, dry Santa Ana winds. What a mess. Now I pay more attention to what's appropriate to the story instead of mindlessly incorporating what's happening outside my window.