Not Only Dr Who Manages Time Lines.

With all the worry of getting words written for Perfect Isn't An Option, I've forgotten about preparing the submission of The Wedding Favour.

There isn't enough time in the day! 

But the kids are back at school... so I might, might, just get some more stuff done during the day.

Admittedly, I did enter it into a competition, so I can't really do much now, although 24th April isn't too far away. But I could at least look at some of the publishers requirements and put a submission pack together, right?

So, trying to write 7000 words for Perfect Isn't An Option this week (I've done 1000 words so far) and where possible, start drafting blurbs, letters etc. Argh!

My wall, right in front of me!

What I have been doing is my time line for Perfect Isn't An Option, making sure it's not wibbly wobbly timey whimey... stuff.

As you can see by the picture, I've printed off four months and decided to fill them in as a calendar. It was easier to work out how many weeks have passed. I've even thought I should put a Halloween scene in. And as Steve has been in the States for 15 years, should I give Thanksgiving a mention?

(I thought I'd share that I have a Robbie Williams calendar and I've moved my two favourite cards up to make space for The Time Line. One is a motivator to leave the housework alone and keep writing).

I have also another sort of time line in an A4 notebook, spread across two pages (so that's A3). This is helping for 'history' before the present day of when the book takes place. I'm going to add in the filmography into this, so I can know what Steve's mother saw before she died, and things like that, because it does get referenced.

Admittedly, this means less words have been written as it's taken some time to figure this stuff out and go through what I've written so far, but it does mean my novel is taking a better shape - I'm a stickler for things being right - and (hopefully) generated plot bunnies for additional scenes that are required.

For example, in One Day - which I forgot to add in the review as a nit - something threw me out of the book momentarily, and I did get annoyed for a bit. Unless Dexter was unsure of his mother's true age, (she could have been the sort to lie about it, thinking about it) she died at 49. Dexter, at the time, was around 29 - I think. (I've just spent 20 minutes trying to find this for certain and have failed lol!) This is fine, but he has a 34 year old sister...(at the time his mother is ill - I found that bit of info!) If I was working this out correctly... Hmmm... This makes his mum 14-15 when she had her - which is doable, but you don't really get the impression she had a teenage pregnancy, especially as his father is supposedly a much 'older' husband. I do hate it when writers don't do the maths!

Yes, so there's me, making sure if something happened two weeks ago, I making sure I don't have my character think it was a month. Which I did have, but it's changed now. 

Do you hate it when you spot something not quite right with the timings? Things like age or dates? Does it throw you out? Do you sit there working it out?



Right, with that, I'd better get some blinkin' words written!