Since I’m working on editing a project, something I’ve found to be absolutely vital is a solid timeline. Today, I’d like to go over a few methods of creating a timeline for your project, and what mine looks like. 

Some things to decide first:

What does your story’s calendar look like? 

• Some stories will use our real-life Gregorian Calendar, and that’s okay! It makes things simple, you know what the months, days of week are, how many days go into each, and what significant dates there are already.

Does your story move in a linear fashion, or does it jump back and forth between past and present? If so, you’ll want to consider:

• How do you transition between past and present? What does this actually look like on the page? 

• Do the narrators change? What kind of labels do you need on scenes/chapters?

Now, that you’ve made some decisions, it’s time to make the timeline. You want to use your timeline to keep your head on straight about what scenes go where and how they fit into the larger story. Here are some strategies and methods of actually creating your timeline:

1. Digital templates can be found or created in many programs, including excel, word, and even powerpoint! The good thing about digital is that you can update it and move things around as you work on the story. I’m working on a template pack so keep an eye on this blog for that in the future!

2. I like paper! Real paper. So for me, Post-it Timelines work really well. I take a piece of paper, write out key events on small post its, and arrange them how I think they go. This way, since they’re on a post it, they can be moved without much hassle if things change!

3. Bulletin boards, Dry Erase Boards, or magnets on a file cabinet or fridge can be another way of arranging your ideas and scenes in a physical space so that they can easily be move around and edited. 

4. Planning Programs

• Scrivener is by far my favorite writing program for stories, because, as a key part of its makeup, it automatically organizes your chapters and scenes on a digital bulletin board. You can view your scenes as notecards, write summaries, label them with colors or mark draft progress—it’s very versatile.

• Campfire is another program for authors, though this one is specifically for planning your novel rather than writing it. I use it in conjunction with Scrivener and love it. It allows you to make digital boards for organizing—not just timelines, but relationships, characters, and other worldbuilding too!

Do you have any timelining methods you use to boost your story planning to new heights? Share them in the comments!

Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

– Ember