# Story timelines...



## KatmanDu (Jan 31, 2009)

...as in, how do you signify events in the past, present, and future- Absolute dates? Relative time periods? For example, when writing about something that happened two years ago, do you write "two years ago" or "2007"?

Normally, this isn't a big deal. Who cares, after all? Does it really matter? However, if you have a story that takes place in the present day... do you identify a date, and therefore make that story "past tense" for anyone who reads it after that date? Or just don't worry about it? Using a relative time period certainly keeps one from identifying a specific date, and the reader infers from events in the story that it's present day. But it does get a bit unwieldy after a while.


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## Chanticleer (Jan 31, 2009)

Honestly I just have a little bar over the top of my chapters that says who's narrating, the time and the place. I know it's cheating, but it seems to work fairly well.

_Specialist level delta Irene Marshal, 35th aeroassault platoon, Northern Gersa, 1912 CY_

EDIT: By the way, if anyone actually reads my stories (Like that would ever happen) that's actually a spoiler.


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## Term_the_Schmuck (Jan 31, 2009)

Depends on the situation.

I wrote a historical fiction story in the form of a journal.  The dates were placed at the top of each new day and absolutely had to correspond with things that actually happened on those days.  So in that instance it was absolutely crucial that I pointed out the day right away to the reader.

On the other hand, with regular fiction writing I've tried to not make such a big deal about passages of time, as long as I didn't make it seem like things like fixing a car took like five minutes or something.  If characters mention passage of time, I think it could.  For example:

"Yo, did that guy get back to you yesterday/last week/etc?"

"Hard to believe it's been a month since we met, huh?"

I wouldn't put specific days or years down unless you specified what the "present" was within the story, preferably early on which could be sneaked into the storyline through a newspaper or some broadcast over TV or Radio that's overheard in the background.  But most present day fiction, I think, should be timeless in that you shouldn't associate your story with a specific year because things don't really change much in culture and society except for, more often than not, inconsequential things.


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## kitreshawn (Feb 1, 2009)

Most of the time I only use a timeline to plan out the pacing.  In story passage of time is told in character with things like "after three weeks hard travel" and other such cues.

That said, there are definitely some stories that benefit very much from an exact telling of what is happening.  For instance, a mystery novel where the timing of events can be one of the clues.

Another possibility is when you have characters doing different things in different places at the same time and you want this to be especially clear.

Finally, if your story has a very military or research tone to it narrating time and place can lend to the overall mood of your story.


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## Kindar (Feb 1, 2009)

I try to avoid using dates as much as possible since it automatically 'dates' the story. Unless time is an integral part of the story I'm telling I keep it subjective and from the character's point of view.


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## Shouden (Feb 3, 2009)

I do find that some genres need the mentioning of specific dates, while others, it isn't as important. Examples: I have a story I'm working on about a war between dragons and humans, and in that instance, dates are pretty important. War stories should probably always have dates. However, I'm currently working on a hero novel, and I find with things like that, dates are far less important and you can easily infer major events that happened in the past simply by using phrases like "it's been so long since..." or "it seems like only yesterday when..."

Some mysteries can use timelines while others (like CSI) don't really need to use them, especially if everything happens within a day or a week.

Historical fiction should probably always include a timeline, as it's historical and the dates in historical fiction are essentially the set and the set is probably the most important part of the story.

Sometimes, I will use a timeline to help me out, and after the story's done, you could always go back and take out the timeline bits. but a rule of thumb is you should always make a timeline of events, whether in an outline or in the story, just to know where you are. I would even say, if you know the important parts of the story, and write those down in an outline and then check or cross them off as you get to them. I did this with my first novel, and it helped me to know where I was, even when I took a long break from writing.


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## Yorokonde2 (Feb 3, 2009)

I almost always have trouble with specific time-lines. Especially when naming years. Months and days I can toss off like nothing, but I hate putting years to a date. I'd much rather leave the story year-less and let the reader decide if this is past, present, or future times. 

I don't write much Historical Fiction and I've discovered that writing journals can be a bit boring to the reader, so dates haven't held much importance. 

So just like everyone else is saying, there are instances when they are necessary, important, and sometimes required, but it depends on the genre you're writing in and what your particular style is.


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