How to Write Fanfiction

Timelining

Timelining
by paintpastel

So, what is timelining, you might ask? It's exactly like it sounds; dealing with the timeline in your stories. When writing any book, it is vital to consider one of the most important things that make up our world; time.

Time is behind everything, in reality and in worldbuilding. What would society be without a timeframe? We wouldn't know when to wake ourselves up for the day ahead, or how long we have for every task we undertake. Time ages us, time loses us, and sometimes, time can help us. Our world today wouldn't be able to function without the aid of a clock.

The same goes for the characters in your story. Yes, fictional clocks do exist. And without time, there would be no objective for our hero or heroine. In most books of the action genre, time is running out, whereas in a romance, the characters often wish they had more time to spend together. Look at science fiction; time-travel is often a vital plot device that the characters discover and navigate through.

But why bother about factoring time at all? It's only fiction.

That's the first mistake many authors are in danger of making. I first didn't bother with keeping time, and I almost immediately fell into plot holes. Time is essential for the setting; is your book set in the past, future or present, for a start. What comes with this time period? Will serious issues crop up that are key to that year or decade? And that's before considering the fandom you're writing about – are you going to stick with the time period the characters live in, or are you thinking about writing an AU?

What problems or benefits will come from this time period? Say you were writing a romance between two male or two female characters, they might experience homophobia if they were in the 1800s, or they could find community and acceptance in the year 2050. The same goes for race, gender and other topics that would be sensitive 100 years ago.

The background of the protagonist, secondary characters and even the antagonist also involves time, and finally – timelining. What happened to a character to make them who they are today, and what events had an effect on the other characters in the story? This is where you do need to make up a timeline of some sort, whether it be a list on your phone (which I am guilty of) or a diagram in your favourite notebook. It is preferable to make your list along with where all your plans and drafts are, just so you know where everything is and to make it easier for yourself when referring back to information.

But what do you mean about a 'timeline'?

When I say timeline, you're probably thinking about some horizontal diagram you see in history books, but that's not what I'm talking about, not really. It can look however you like – a list or a diagram, like I said – but it has to be something you can add to. That's why I use my phone, as I can move events around pretty easily, and I don't have to take up lots of paper. My timeline is essentially my overall plan, as I know where the story is going, and if I see a gap in said timeline, I can just fill it in.

How complex does this timeline need to be?

Well, it depends. If you already have descriptive notes, then you just need to refer to those, but if this is all new, try to plan in chronological order for both yours and your story's sakes. Another factor is the complexity of the story itself – if you're only writing a one-shot, you have a very easy job, but if you're starting a huge series, then you need to be prepared. Log everything important you write in your story that could have consequences in later chapters, just so you don't have to go through every single previous chapter (that can be time consuming when you've written about 50 chapters already).