Thread by @Joannechocolat

We haven't had #TenTweets for awhile. These come to you courtesy of the delayed Transpennine train to Newcastle, and deal with TIME IN FICTION. Follow the hashtag to collect them all! #TenThingsAboutTime

1. When planning a novel, it helps to work out the time period your plot covers. Is it plausible? Are you allowing enough time for your key events to unfurl? For characters to get to know each other? #TenThingsAboutTime

2. It sometimes helps to actually use a calendar to plot out key events, to make sure time in your story is operating the way you want it to.

3. Try to be aware of what day it is at any given time in your narrative. Things don't always operate in the same way on all days of the week. #TenThingsAboutTime

4. Remember that your characters' daily routine will probably change at weekends and bank holidays. Don't overlook them. #TenThingsAboutTime

5. Don't have too many things happening on the same day. Allow your characters to have down time, sleep, and intervals where nothing happens. #TenThingsAboutTime

6. The time of day matters. Use mealtimes, light, traffic and any other variables to make it clear at all times when your action is occurring. #TenThingsAboutTime

7. Don't neglect the seasons. Weather, vegetation, light and temperature are all ways of expressing the passing of time via the changing of the seasons. #TenThingsAboutTime

8. Be imaginative. There are lots of ways of telling what time it is without having your protagonist check their watch constantly. Buses going by; church bells; the position of the sun - they're all good. #TenThingsAboutTime

9. You can tell a lot about your protagonist by the way they manage their time. Are they disciplined? Organised? Do they work to a timetable? #TenThingsAboutTime

10. Time in fiction doesn't have to operate at a uniform speed. The way we process time is as much about our feelings as it is about hours and days. #TenThingsAboutTime