Time is an important
element of structure as it has a major impact on your story defining when you
begin and end the chain of events. Writers use time to create a past, a present
where the action* is taking place and to indicate a future. This textural depth
creates belief that the world where your book is set existed before the pages
were opened, and that it will continue after you put the book down.
There are two kinds of
time in play in a novel. Habitual time is used to establish those habits and
patterns which are part of characters’ lives. ‘He slammed the door shut as he
left for work’ implies this is repeated on a regular basis (the leaving for
work that is, although if you’ve an irate character, maybe he does slam the
door every day). Telling is often used to establish habitual time as it allows daily,
monthly and annual routines to be conveyed in a sentence or two.
The dramatic present is
the second kind of time and is about setting up the where and when of a story. This is often accomplished through showing: ‘An hour later, rifles in
hand, they pad up Second Avenue with Cherry sheltering behind Carlos’s broad
back.’ Showing enables the reader to connect
immediately with the protagonist and their situation.
You’ve probably spent
some effort creating a backstory for your character, yet you choose at which
point in their life your story starts. We
use habitual time to give the reader insights into the world and life of your
character up to the point the novel begins, and we use the dramatic present as a
jumping off point for the action* which takes us towards future events.
* Action can be
something as simple as choosing a new coffee house to visit; it doesn’t
necessarily mean action hero violence (especially the unrelenting kind - though
it doesn’t exclude it either).
I’ve finished editing
Strand B! Yeah! Next step: put the chapters from the two strands in the correct alternating order for the
second read through. It’s going to be interesting to see how this works as I’ve
not read my novel through from beginning to end in the way it’s meant to be
read.
If I sound like my
brain is stuck in a time loop, well, today it is. I’m not a regular insomniac,
just an occasional one, and last night was just such an occasion. The question
is, what do you do when you can’t sleep? The answer’s simply enough - write!
You’d be surprised at how eloquent a sleep deprived brain can be.
Today’s Haiku
SUMMER
Dark and sea dampened
parapets, turrets,
walls, moats -
sand castle world
If you enjoy reading haiku, my book Gold Dragon Haiku is now available
as an ebook at the Amazon Kindle Store. I’ve been told it makes a lovely gift (especially
along with the Kindle...).
Here’s the link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/GOLD-DRAGON-HAIKU-ebook/dp/B00CLJ0RGK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1367505326&sr=1-1
Today’s link is to a post I enjoyed reading. I hope you will too.
http://hotkeyblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/language-adapting-the-rules/
And to all story lovers
out there, good reading, and to those who write, good writing.
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