Time

Dogs can’t tell time and neither can readers

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If you own dogs, you know that old joke about dogs acting like you have been gone for 10 years when you just stepped outside to get the mail. We have two dogs, Paxil, a border collie/ Australian shepherd mix, and Lunesta (Lulu) who is a Papillion. Every morning the routine is usually the same. My husband, who is a saint and can deal with mornings better, gets up lets the dogs out to do their business, does his business and gets the coffee going. This is my husband’s time to relax and start the day slowly. Later when I have to get up, the dogs want to go out again. No matter if I get up in one minute or one hour later.

Dogs really don’t have a sense of time. They are event driven and base their actions on reactions to actions around them. Therefore no matter what time I get up, it is time to go out again, much to the annoyance of my husband. When you come through the door, that is an event and you must be greeted.

While I was laughing with my husband over his frustration with this, I realized it is the same thing with readers.

Not that readers can’t tell time, but that in our stories there is no way for them to. So it is up to us as authors to create events to orient the reader to when things are and to the passage of time.

What do you think?

Have a great day!

Paula

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Quick Links: Passing Time Is The Secret To Improving Your Story

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

When we write, we get so deep into the story that sometimes it is hard to see any problems, especially ones that deal with the timeline of the story. But if you have been to any fan sites on the internet, you know your readers will figure out this plot hole fast.  from Standoutbooks will help you take control of time in your story and even use it to enhance your plot.

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Passing Time Is The Secret To Improving Your Story

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Time – the fourth dimension, and one over which an author possesses complete control. Like every aspect of a story, the way in which time passes is completely in the author’s hands. That I’m suggesting this is noteworthy may surprise you – you may think that time just happens as you write – but it’s an ability on which many authors fail to capitalize, and that’s frequently to the detriment of their stories.

Yes, as any sci-fi fan will tell you, time can go wrong. More than that, time can go wrong in ways you’ll never even notice, but that will jump out at your readers. Like all our articles, though, this isn’t just a warning; time can also go right, and a compelling sense of time passing can bring a story to life in ways you’d never expect. In this article, I’ll be talking about how authors can take control of time in their stories, and the advantages this can give them in crafting an engaging tale. To do that, let’s start with an example.

Time waits for no man (unless they’re an author)

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

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