“I am tired of knowing nothing and being reminded of it all the time.”
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
When writing you’ll most likely skip time in your story. It’s very rare that you will come across a story during a short, unbroken chunk of time. So, skipping time is an important skill to learn, and I’m here to help!
With the exception of very short fiction, most stories are broken into scenes. Each scene tells the tale of a particular movement or event. In longer stories, such as novellas and novels, the scenes are grouped into chapters. Sometimes a chapter contains only one scene. It all depends on what needs to be conveyed in the certain chapter. Either way, starting a new scene or chapter is a natural way to represent the passage of time in your story. Unless stated, readers will automatically assume that time has passed between each scene. But, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make the transition between each scene, because without that transition, the passage of time will seem clumped together and won’t flow properly.
The key to skipping time between scenes or chapters can be done two different ways:
Set up the time skip: At the end of the chapter, hint at what is to come.
Example: My eyes focused on the board in front of me, the words reminding me of my impending doom. Our first test of the year in a class I hadn’t paid attention to at all. My heart rate accelerated as I wondered how well I will do on the upcoming test.
Clarify time, place and -if necessary- POV at the beginning of the new scene, or chapter, playing off the set up from the previous scene or chapter.
I found myself back in school monday. As I walked into class, my eyes twitched and my hands shook. I took my seat, all the way in the back of the classroom, chewing on my pen cap, wishing I had studied.
Notice how the set up at the end of the previous scene/chapter flows seamlessly into the beginning of the new scene/chapter? Because the passage of time is expected between scenes and chapters, it’s not always necessary to be direct about how much time has passed. Especially if the amount of time is unimportant or already implied.
Direct: Early on Monday morning Margaret dragged herself out of bed, painfully aware that her ability to pass highschool hinged on the test she would be taking today. She hated the uncertainty of what was ahead, but what grinds her gears even more was the thing she did know: today was going to be a horrible day.
Two hours later, Margraet walked into her classroom, cold coffee in hand, trying to seem bubbly and happy even though she knew that her entire life depended on whether or not she failed this test.
Less Direct: Early on Monday morning Margaret dragged herself out of bed, painfully aware that her ability to pass highschool hinged on the test she would be taking today. She hated the uncertainty of what was ahead, but what grinds her gears even more was the thing she did know: today was going to be a horrible day.
With cold coffee in hand, Margaret sat down in her seat, trying to seem bubbly and happy even though she knew that her entire life depended on whether or not she failed this test.
In the second example, even though you don’t say “two hours later” it’s clear that time has passed, and so has the setting. No one is going to assume that Margaret is going to be taking her test in her bedroom. Try to save “two hours later” and “walked into the classroom” transitions for when the context would otherwise be unclear, or when those specific details (how much time or a specific location) would be important.
If no time is passing between the two scenes or two chapters, try to make that clear. For example, if one scene ends with Margaret falling asleep and then being woken up by a loud knock at her door, the next scene should continue with something like, “Heart pounding from shock, Margaret jumped out of bed to see who is at her door.” Now, it is clear no time has passed in the next scene, but since a new situation is beginning, it still warrants being its own scene.
Expository Time Skip
Sometimes you need to show a quick glimpse of something that happened but it doesn’t really warrant its own scene or chapter. In this case, you may want to illustrate the time skip using exposition within the scene. It may look something like this:
Winter Break was over in a blink, and I soon found myself back at school, dealing with all the problems I left behind during a break that felt far too short. I quickly headed to my locker, avoiding Melinda and the newly formed rift between us. She glared at me across the hallway as I spun the combination on my locker.
Later that day, during lunch, I sat at the table Micheal and I had always sat at. Despite the amount of people in the lunchroom, I could still feel Melinda’s icy glare shooting me down.
Terms such as “later that day” and “two hours later” help the readers understand that time has passed, without transitioning to a new scene or chapter. This allows you to cover smaller moments and events that don’t warrant their own space.
Whether you use a transition between scenes or chapters to show the passage of time, or whether you clarify the skip between time through exposition, just remember to pay attention to where you left the readers before the skip, and where you take them. Make sure it’s clear, flows well, and wouldn’t leave anyone confused. Do that and you’ll be in good shape! Happy writing!
Gryffindor
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Henry V by William Shakespeare
Beowulf
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Histories by Herodatus
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
Hufflepuff
East of Eden by John Stenbeck
Othello by William Shakespeare
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Love In the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
White Fang by Jack London
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Ravenclaw
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Odyssey by Homer
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Slytherin
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Dracula by Bram Stoker
“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.”
— David Viscott
“Please be stronger than your past. The future may still give you a chance.”
— George Michael
With miniature narratives, have a gentle/delicate ending. You don’t need to have an explosion or anything dramatic, the story should gently build up to an ending that seems natural.
Everyone knows the age old rule “show don’t tell” but people rarely explain what that actually means. Don’ tell your reader what happened, put them in the scene so they can experience it with the characters. Don’t say “Ella walked to the dining hall and discovered Stacy and Rick arguing in the corner”. Write about Ella walking to the dining hall, how she heard hushed voices and couldn’t make out the words at first but recognized the voices. Write about how as she got closer she could make out fragments of the argument and when she passed them in the hall they stopped speaking as soon as they spotted her. This will make for a much more interesting story.
I am currently writing my debut novel (while working a full-time job) so I thought I’d share my tips on writing quickly.
Writing the first draft is actually the easy and fast part! When you start editing, that takes the most time.
I work with brief outlines. Some work with strict outlines, but others use basic outlines for writing. I find that with basic outlines and a few points on what is supposed to happen helps me write faster because making the outlines basic gives me more room to keep it exciting.
If you work shifts like I do, identify what time in the day you are most productive and try to write then. For me, I won’t consider working in the afternoon because that’s when I’m in a slump. I prefer working in the morning or even late at night (even when I’ve just gotten home from work).
Block distractions – I use Forest and the screen restrictions on my phone.
I use OmmWriter (I got it when it used to be free) to block distractions and keep the music off, but turn the keyboard clicking feature on – since I love the sound so much it encourages me to write on!
NEVER go back and edit or re-write. Going back to fix anything is the worst thing you can do. Instead, write a note for yourself, a random liner in the document or outside of it, and get it on the second draft.
Research later. If I forget a word or term, I put ELEPHANT or TK and search for it later to replace. If there is something I want to research, I quickly add a comment or note so I can research later.
There are plenty of writing processors that have Talk-to-text. Use it!
Do writing sprints with friends, or by yourself. If you have friends who write or study, get on FaceTime or Zoom together and set a specific time where you all get something done. When I’m by myself, I put up “write with me” or “study with me” videos on in the background sometimes to get in the mood of wanting to do something productive. If you’re an ARMY, try this.
Keep writing notes on hand. Notes are important for names, birthdays, character descriptions, and more. You can have this digitally of course, some have use a binder, others a small booklet or note book. This saves time in finding information.
Schedules are very important. If you want to write for a living, treat it like a job! Even as my passion, I treat it like a job and strive to be consistent with it. I find it helps to keep up a schedule instead of setting a deadline! The schedule has to be made a priority. You can set a schedule with your family or your partner, where you write after or before work every day, and let them know it is important for you to do. Treat your writing like a priority and everyone around you will, too.
“Be thankful for all the difficult people in your life, and learn from them. They have shown you exactly who you do not want to be.”
— Unknown
I'm just a weird girl who likes to read about history, mythology and feminism.
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