Writing Tools

How to Keep Track of Time in a Novel

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

Time and dates can be straight forward or complicated.

  • Are you writing a novel that happens in order of events?
  • Do you jump back and forth in time?
  • Are you writing a time travel novel?

The farther down the list you go, the more complicated keeping track of timing becomes. My novels are in the order the events occur, and I can’t imagine how difficult it is to keep track of a time travel novel.

On a basic level, I use a calendar on my computer. I put key events on a day. This helps me make sure I didn’t make an error.

Things I check include:

  • day of week in a scene
  • scenes are in order
  • an event isn’t happening on a day off, a statutory holiday etc. when a person wouldn’t be at work
  • clues aren’t referenced before they happen
  • when villain is introduced
I also use a spreadsheet to keep track of the details of a scene and combined with the calendar I hope I find any errors in timing before the novel goes to my literary agent.
As an added bonus, when you complete the calendar, you should have the key elements you need to write a synopsis. Anything that helps write the dreaded synopsis has to be good. Right?

What tools to you use?

I made a calendar in Excel but is there anything better out there. I’d really like to know.

Thanks for reading . . .

Top 5 Reasons to Write with Pen and Paper

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 8 Comments

Summer is here, and I love to be outside. Even, or maybe especially, when I’m writing. I don’t want to take the beautiful days for granted. Now some of my friends laugh when I say that because I spend winters in the Bahamas, but I grew up as a Canadian conditioned that summer days are precious and not to be wasted. Do we ever forget lessons drilled into us when we were children?

The computer is usually my place of writing. The words may work their way onto a piece of paper, but somehow the scene doesn’t seem written until I type it in. Maybe that’s weird, but hey, everyone should be allowed a little weirdness now and then.

Top 5 reasons to write with paper and pen:

  1. Practice spelling – no cheating with spell checker.
  2. Create scene descriptions through doodling and drawing.
  3. Make notes in side margins when an idea strikes.
  4. Don’t get interrupted by social media – no announcements of email, FB messages, etc to distract you.
  5. Burn paper if writing is really terrible – this is particularly satisfying.

Does your imagination get sparked by using a new medium?

Thanks for reading . . .