Fast Start for NaNoWriMo Day 13 - Setting - When is This?

[ladyseishou]

The “Scene” is the place where an event is unfolding.
It is, essentially, what lies underneath the characters’ feet at any given time.

- Ken Brosky




It is one of the essential questions that a writer must answer for the reader almost right out of the starting gate: when?

But before we speak of "when" as a writer, it may be more a question of "how" that should be considered first, especially for writers of speculative fiction.

How is time measured in this world? How does your character perceive the passage of time? What is the method used in your world to mark the passage of time? Is time measured by the planet's orbit of a sun (seasons) or rotational period (day and night)? And what is this passage of time called in the language of your world?

Today's exercise is to finish the following sentence:

The time my story begins is: ________________________. Simple enough, right?

As a bonus, Timeline Generator will create a list of major events for your story. All you have to provide is the name for your world, the year that the timeline begins, the number of years that the timeline covers and the number of events to be listed. The events are random, running the gamut from treaties and epidemics to uprisings and military campaigns, but makes for a great resource to help kick start a stalled storyline.


There's only 11 days left until the start of NaNoWriMo! Tomorrow, we'll look at a quick start exercise to make our story world "real" for both character and reader! Until then, keep writing!