When I first started writing, I just had to get started and go. This jumping in with both feet is a great way to get started on your first book. I have found many people advise doing this rather than editing as you go, as it allows the creative juices to flow freely. However, I soon discovered that I had a reasonably messy timeline to work with. As I got into the editing stage, I found that organizing my timeline was extremely important, especially with all the books I plan to write in this fictional world. I now have a timeline that sits on my plot board. It is still a work in progress as I encounter more things I need to dive into and build a background on to keep the history in order. Let’s just say I now know why Tolkien spent over twelve years building his fictional world of Middle-Earth. But because I didn’t want to wait that long to publish my books, I started tracking each piece of history as it arose, both on paper and digital platforms. So how did I do this? I started on paper, taking a lesson from a grad school history project I did when I was younger. Let’s take a look at this crafty approach to building a timeline.
Note: Keep in mind that you don’t have to make a physical timeline. I just like to do this because it is fun and easier for me to think through things when I have a craft to interact with, rather than just typing things out.
What You Will Need
Ruler or some other way to keep your lines straight.
Build Your Timeline
Start by writing out a tentative history of your world. This can be a simple timeline either done on paper or on your computer. Your goal is to organize your main timeline events so you will have something to base your other timeline details on.
Build your timeline. Get your paper, tape, and ruler. If you use individual printer pages rather than a roll of paper, tape the pages together on the short edge to form a long thin strip. Make the timeline longer than you think you will need unless you plan on just doing a short timeline. Using your ruler to keep it straight, draw three lines, one down the middle from left to right, then two more, one two inches down from the top and one two inches up from the bottom.
Take your main timeline events and write them on the paper. Keep in mind how far these events are from each other, time wise. I prefer to start with the earliest one and the latest one. This way, you can have your beginning and end marked and then fill in the middle, estimating visually the amount of time between each event. Once you are finished, you should have your main events marked on your timeline in chronological order. It can be helpful to write your main events on sticky notes and move them around until you know where you want them, then write them onto the timeline once you are ready.
Fill in the gaps with the lesser-known events. This is where the three lines become important. I have three lines for the main categories of characters. The good guys (not including my main characters) are on top, the bad guys are on the bottom line, and the main characters are in the middle. This way, I can keep track of what the bad guys are doing while my characters are going through one event and what the good guys are doing to impact both the bad guys and my main character. If you need more or wish to do one for each character, you can. Just note how much space you will need and accommodate for that needed space. If you have a lot of characters, you may want to make an overall timeline and separate timelines for the good guys, the bad guys, and your main character. Again, it can be helpful to use sticky notes to be able to move things around until you know where things go and are ready to write them directly onto the timeline.
Once you have all the gaps filled in, you can still add things in on colored sticky notes. Just like before, if you decide to keep an event permanently, you can transfer the information from the sticky note to the timeline. Now you have your paper timeline! Whoo-hoo! Now that you have your paper timeline, I suggest you create a digital one just in case something happens to your paper copy. Have fun!
Do you like DIY crafts? Make a timeline and share a picture of it below in the comments! I would love to see it!
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