Help! How do I write a story that takes place over 10 years?

[Andrea]

I'm writing a trilogy. Over the course of the three books, the time is going to be over 10 years, so about three years per book. What are your methods to showing the passing of time? I figure I'm going to have to jump around a bit. I'm trying a diary entry sort of thing. Do you recommend stating the m/d/yyyy above the chapter? Do I need to even say how long the story takes place? Is there a way to just vaguely show the reader the time passage?

Futhermore, could you suggest any books that do the same thing, so I can see how that author chose to tackle it? Thanks!

[Kat]

Yeah, you're pretty much going to jump around a bit. Weeks, months maybe. Have you read One Day? That is one book covering twenty years. :)

[Andrea]

Kat Desi wrote: "Yeah, you're pretty much going to jump around a bit. Weeks, months maybe. Have you read One Day? That is one book covering twenty years. :)"

I'll check it out! Thank you!

[Philip]

I was going to recommend the same story. Of course a lot will depend on the genre and complexity. There are lots of famous stories that have expanded time frames. Harry Potter is another example seven books covering 7 school years from the age of eleven but with references back to previous times.

I have used the date marker in my current work in progress but I think it jars - it is not unusual in some thrillers and may set the pace of the story

Outlining on a spreadsheet or other software may help you calculate dates. One person I know even uses genealogy software to track the relationships of families in his stories. I write some very complex timelines so I use a specific piece of software called Aeon Timeline to track all the events and make sure I don't confuse myself.

Good luck

[S.]

Im using month sometimes, other times it was the season and the year. I.e In the summer of 2014, Dolores found herself without a date..etc etc..

[Linda]

You could look at A Place For Us that jumps around.

[Andrea]

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Sarah]

I would split your chapters with the season or month/year - Lesley Pearce uses this method in some of her books.

[Andrea]

Okay. I'm going to do some more planning, but I'll definitely check out the other books mentioned. I want to see if their method gives the same effect that I want.

[S.]

But my editor did complaint that it was difficult with the tenses though since the writing jump around in times.

[Andrea]

It can be tricky

[Susan]

Write Better Stories and essays http://lumoslearning.com/llwp/parents...

[Ruth]

Hey, I'm hoping that this won't seem like self promotion but my story, "Through a Yellow Wood" actually spans over about twenty years, so if you'd like to read it and get some ideas here's the link:
https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...

And if you don't like this here just tell me, I'll delete the comment :)

[Sarah]

Separate it into several chapters covering each year, and perhaps before each new year introduce it with a snippet of news-maybe something that actually took place.

[V.W.]

I would suggest showing the passage of time through things that happen to the characters. Birth of children, death of friends and relatives, moving to new locales etc, which will give them an excuse to mention the time jump.