DISCUSSION: Do you create timelines for your stories?

[canisaries]

Now, naturally every story has a timeline (unless you're, like, really postmodern), but I'm talking about a separate document or section in your story document or so where you list events and the times they took place to help you keep track of who's where and when. I tend to be kind of garbage with estimating how long things take, but nevertheless I've found myself needing to create a timeline of some kind to make sure the mentioned weekdays and months add up.

So, do you do this? In what format? Do you do it for the entire story/universe, or just for select events? Are you good at it? Do you even worry about times in your fics, or do you just trust no one to really care?

(Couldn't find a thread like this with a quick search, but do tell me if you know of one already existing.)

 

[Iggy]

(Just great, I typed a big reply then closed the tab. GRRRRRRRR!!!!.......)

Okay, for my little project (Two Perfect Cowards) I have constructed a time line that keeps a close tab on all dozen characters as they cavort all over Kanto for the duration of a full year, listing their location, day and time, and how their desires and motives chance. It's written in LibreOffice Calc (that's spreadsheet, ya rly) where I sometimes list possible new events to see how they would work out. Lots of cutting and pasting takes place there. Such list of events, once I deem it worthy enough to use, form the fundament for summaries (the reverse also tends to be true). Now, I wouldn't mind posting a screenshot of my timeline for demonstration purposses, but ya know, spoilers and the like.

I don't think time lines is sometime every story requires but mine sure does. I suppose it also depends if they work for you or not.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I haven't made a timeline yet, but I'm going to have to before too long! I'm willing to hear out recommendations for applications I might find useful for this. I heard of an actual novel timeline creation program via NNWM a while back, but I wasn't sure I wanted to shell out money for such a thing. I might yet be persuaded, though.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I've got a timeline at the beginning of my notebook to help keep details square. Apart from avoiding obvious problems like characters accidentally travelling twice as fast as they should do, it also helps keep things like seasonal change or the phase of the moon accurate

 

[Juliko]

I usually do, yes. It depends on how I want the story to play out, but I usually try to pinpoint exact dates and times in my stories so that way I can remind myself what year, what month, what season takes place in when, and so on, so I don't mess things up or get confused as to what happens when. For example, in a Tales of Zestiria fan fic I worked on, the story begins in April and ends in November of the same year, so eight months total. In my current Pokemon fan fic, it also starts out in April, and my current chapter takes place in the month of October.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Since I re-read the previous chapters of my fics before writing the next, I don't keep an overarching timeline, no. I just add details of the timeline to my "list of things to remember when writing the next chapter" as I read and prepare to write if it's relevant, if I think I'll muck up badly (ie., I've gotten winter and spring seasons mixed up respectively between Phantom Project and Love and Other Nightmares before, probably because of Kyurem being a character in the latter), etc.

 

[Iggy]

I have made a template that demonstrates how I use a timeline, see attachment of this post. Use these links if you would like the source files;
- Timeline.xlsx on Google Docs
- Timeline.ods on Google Docs

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

I definitely prefer to have timelines for the types of story ideas that I tend to have, and I could even say that actually need them (along with extensive notes in general). I currently have a rather massive one sitting around right now for one of my story ideas, which I remember agonizing over for quite a long time as I struggled to come up with a sequencing of events that actually somewhat made sense without forcing me to make too many changes to the story that I wanted to tell. There are roughly 120 different events on there right now spanning across almost 70 in-universe years... and that's all just background information from before the actual beginning of the story! You see, I find that having a timeline is necessary for me to not get so disorganized with the many ideas that regularly come up in my head, and that it's also helpful for me to keep the "bigger picture" in mind when it's time for me to actually apply said ideas to the story itself (for example: does new plot development X really make sense considering existing plot development Y over there? Should I move existing plot development Z over here if new development X has to be over there? Should I even really use new plot development X at all?). And as you can probably guess from the amount of time I spend on the timeline, getting the passage of time right in my stories - or at least sufficiently right - is indeed something that really matters to me, even if most readers may not notice every little detail about the timeline in the actual story itself (assuming that half of the things on the timeline are even brought up in the story at all!).

 

[CrystaI]

I do keep an in-story timeline, back dating from the year since my two protagonists born from their mothers' womb. A reason of this is because in my current working fic, there will be a lot of mentioning of the past of the two characters. I need to keep track of what had happened and when it happened for almost everything.

But that is not limited to the past. I also keep track of the future as well. Because there is Pokemon League that will open for challenge in some fixed date in the future. So it means until that scheduled date, the two characters shall have limited time for preparation. During that span, what the two will do and how they will do, and how long it took them to do are all important. Not only it shall demonstrate their time-efficiency attitude, the timeline can also creates an atmosphere of urgency if in case something is delayed or not completed (Yes, the two characters keep track of their own activities, as they have full acknowledgement of the big event coming up in the planned future).

Though, for me personally as a writer, I might not be as punctual as the two protagonists in my fic. I keep record of their past in quite a rough estimated timeline (e.g. year and month, but no exact date). Only if exact date is needed and known, then I'll insert it.

BTW, I simply use tables in Microsoft Word for timeline recording. Nothing special.

 

[lucarioknight56]

I want to make a timeline at some point. Considering that I'll be expanding on the events that happened in the distant past in my PMD universe, I'll need to at some point. That, and after I finish my current writing plans, I intend to delve into different eras to show what life was like, so I'll need a way to keep track of it. As of now, I don't have a timeline document.

 

[Welkamo]

I've tried to make a timeline for events prior to the story I'm writing. The problem is that it's hard to find good sources for timeline/family tree/web diagram makers. I could draw it out, but then it gets complicated fast.

 

[KrspaceT]

I try to, but I also try to keep things not really require it if possible. Exact dates iffy....years yes.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

This thread made me realise that I should make a timeline for an anthology fic I'm writing.