How to write the passage of time
Time is a crucial element in writing that shapes the narrative. From linear progression, to flashbacks and foreshadowing, it gives you complete control of how your story unfolds.
Here are some tips to describe the passage of time to make your narratives more compelling.
Describe the changing seasons
Show plant growth and death
Visualise the ebb and flow of tides
Describe the decomposition of flora and fauna
Describe the ways that landscapes change on long journeys
Use the weather to illustrate time jumps
Illustrate the affect that shifting shadows have on a location
Use heavenly bodies like stars, the rise and set of the sun, and phases of the moon
Describe physical activities
Show family gatherings and how they change over the years
Describe the process of finishing a creative pursuit
Create repetitive activities and routines
Have a character engage in an activity, like gardening, that visually changes
Have your characters learn a new skill
Write a change in location that requires a journey to get from point A to point B
Use your setting's seasonal celebrations to illustrate a time shift for individual characters and their world
Describe the ticking of clocks
Have your characters' voice change with their age
Illustrate changing musical styles
Have your characters improve an audible skill like singing, swordplay, or learning a musical instrument
Show a character's conversational style changing as they grow
Use the sounds of nature, like leaves becoming brittle as they crunch underfoot, or rain turning into storms
Use silence to illustrate it getting late
Have food left out go mouldy
Illustrate buildings and settings being overtaken by nature
Show the lifecycle of a family heirloom
Describe textiles fading and degrading over time
Describe the freshness of paint; is it wet and glistening, or cracked and dry?
Illustrate technological change and advancement
Describe the repairs in a beloved object
Show a common object like a pencil to describe how it changes with use
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