time

[tamlyn]

sorry if this has been asked and answered.
I seem to have trouble blending time in my things. It always seems rather,jerky i guess is the best description. Is there something that,i don't know, helps or some sort of secret or something. that sounds stupid.

 

[Bardos]

Can you be little more specific?

 

[tamlyn]

I'll try. when time goes by, whether it's hours or days or even just minutes, what i write seems to be out of place, like well you know this is more difficult than i thought. You have things like 'moments passed..' and 'The following morning' but when they are put in they are really obvious and stick out, they don't blend in with the words. Does that make sense? It doesn't actually to me. Maybe i just need to learn to put my thoughts into words.

 

[Bardos]

When time passes you usually leave a space between pagaraphs like this:

<<[...] And so they started riding towards the misty mountains...

On the morning of the fith day of their travel, Alariel felt sick, because [...]>>

That's one way to show the passing of time. Another is to write it like this:

<<[...]And so they started riding towards the misty mountains. They traveled well for four days, but in the morning of the fifth, Alariel felt sick, because [...]>>

Hope I helped.

If not, don't hesitate to ask me again!

 

[tamlyn]

thanks - if it doesn't help me i'll come back and ask again.

 

[wastra]

Another way to mark the passage of time is simple, but makes for a mor esophisticated style of writing.

For the next morning type of thing:

end of preceeding paragraph/chapter:
"Allaric cast himself on the ground , weary from his long day of travel. His eyes closed and immediately, he slept."
Beginning of next paragraph/chapter:
"He awoke to a bright sunrise..."

For other periods:

"Several day of riding lay ahead."
then mention them arriving- it is logical that it took several days.


Or go into the next section of hte story, nad have them flash-back ALA Paul Atreides in the "Dune" series by Frank Herbert.


Basically, don't force-feed/hand-feed hte info to the reader. Don
t come out and say "He is evil", make im out to be evil. Don't just say "three nights passed," write the story so that time passage is clear without coming out and saying "Three nights passed."

Make it clear what time/season it is currently, then whe nthe time/season changes between sections and chapters, make it clear what time/season it has become. The reader can figure it out.

Example: chapter 1- talk about how cold and snowy it is. mention high winter,-just let the reader know. Then come ot a stopping point in the story.

in chapter 2, mention hwo the spring has really brought out hte foliage or something. Mention how nice it is that summer has brought new rains-


you get the point.

 

[Bardos]

You mean the diffrence between telling and showing. Yep, I agree, but I also think that both methods have their pros and cons.
G.R.R. Martin uses them both well, depending on what he's writing at the momment. In fact, I recomend to Tamly to take a look at Martin's work, to see how he makes the time pass.

 

[tamlyn]

if you go look under one of the posts in the fantasy section you will understand i have NO idea who Martin is.

 

[Bardos]

You had best find out!