You just need a username and password to access it. It can be exported to a printable format and the timeline never expires.
#Aeon timeline set current date for free#
One program I know of, Tiki-Toki, allows people to create one timeline for free or multiple timelines with a premium account. Going digital, obviously, makes it a lot easier to change the information repeatedly as your novel progresses.Įven more tech-savvy is using a online timeline program. You could do the same thing in a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel, which allows for limitless columns. You could use plain paper or index cards (one for each event) on rings. I like organization and detail, so I'd spice it up by creating several columns of information, including name of event, character point of view, start time, end time, and maybe which characters were involved. You could use plain paper, index cards, or a word processing program (which allows for easier info changing).
and then write down the time and date next to it. You make a list of all the events in the book that you want to be able to remember - plot points, phases of the moon, chapter lengths, etc. So how do you go about making a timeline? There are a few ways, depending on your resources and preferences. No more rereading your chapters just to figure out if little Johnny should be dead by now (most of my character should probably be dead by now regardless of time frame, but that is beside the point). All the events of your novel get put into a easy-to-read format so you can easily see when everything happened. But every time you need to figure out how much time has passed you have to whip out a calculator or take notes while rereading over the last few chapters.Ī timeline solves all this. Do you ever find yourself going back over your draft with a calculator, wondering how long it has been since Johnny left home with nothing but a sandwich in his pocket and a half-filled canteen clipped to his belt? You have to figure out if he'd be dead from starvation by now, but you have no clue how long it's been since the wolf attacked, since he lost the stockpile of berries he gathered in the river, or since his canteen sprung a leak during the rock slide. Why would anyone make a timeline for their novel, though? What is the point of it?
I'm talking about timelines for your current WIP, by the way - not the timelines you made with a scissor and gluestick in elementary school.