Time is a magical concept. It can pass in a flash or make the day feel like it will never end. All stories and worlds consist of time, as a writer, we must learn to harness and take control of the timeline in our stories. Whether it is a linear story, a time travel story, or perhaps a circle story. Time and learning how to utilise it to the best of your ability is an important factor in good storytelling.

So how do I keep track of time? Time is similar to conflict in my creative mind. I like to break it down into three categories: Chapter, Arc, and Magic.

I shall start with the more peculiar of the three categories, magic. Now magic might seem like a weird factor for time, yet it is crucial for my world building and story structure. Time plays a huge factor into the way magic is harnessed, and magic has affected the world throughout its rich history. To better explain we shall dive into the main female character a little, Morgana.

Morgana has powerful magic potential, and is a sworn follower, Death. Yet while she can hold large amounts of magical energy, she can deplete her magic quite drastically if not careful. Commanding an army of undead taxes her. This limits her ability to use large magic spells or cast multiple small abilities in rapid succession. Morgana is constrained by the time it takes to replenish her energy. So, on a grand scale, I must carefully track how much magic Morgana uses, replenishes, and plans to use.

Building onto that, we have our next category, story arcs. Due to magic being strong throughout the series, certain events or story arcs in the books contain magical conflicts. Without spoiling too much, some magic can be tied into moon cycles. Morgana has an ability that can only be used once per moon cycle (once a month in our terms). In the opening arc of book one, we see her use this ability once as the story spans a month. Yet in the second and third arc of book one, there are time skips, and the seasons change. This allows Morgana to use certain abilities more frequently later in the story. I must track this carefully and ensure the reader understands how time has moved forward and cycles have changed.

It is no use knowing everything about the world if the reader does not follow along. Or enjoy keeping up with my madness. Which leads into chapter factor. Chapter 1 happens over a morning in the story, chapter two is the same day, yet chapter 3 happens a week later. Why?

Because that is where the important scenes happen, or the action takes place, or we show enough build up and preparation, we can now skip the smaller events. We do not need to always show how they get from one place to the next, or every single time they eat, or go to sleep. Chapters are about making sure we show what we need to and move on. Does this chapter benefit the arc? Does it impact the grand series? Does it help world build and showcase the magic in a way the reader will enjoy? Did Steve steal another boot in this chapter? Perhaps not, but chapters must always serve a purpose.

Time and word count are precious tools we must maximise. Yet on the other hand, it is sometimes necessary to utilise time as a weapon against the reader…

The magic of storytelling is we can manipulate the narrative; we can make the characters sometimes believe time is moving slower or faster than it has. We can make the characters themselves second guess time. If the characters do not know, how can the reader?

Let us take Morgana again as an example, on the outside she is a human who is most likely in her thirties. Yet she does not know her own age. She has served Death for… Years? Decades? Centuries? Morgana is not only a tool to show the passage of time, but can be utilised as a weapon to not just confuse the reader, but to confuse and cause conflict and circumstances within the story itself.

Time is both a tool and weapon writers must utilise to help their story, yet you must also make sure you keep a tight rein, or it can get messy. There have been a few times during editing drafts that timelines went a bit sideways, or arcs didn’t match up with chapter timelines. I have now found a method that best suits me for keeping track of all the different time factors. Whatever timeline you craft, keep it clear and purposeful. After all, mastering time is one of the greatest powers a storyteller can wield.