First of all, let me explain. A while ago, I was writing a short story set in the present day with flashbacks to WW1. In the story, it was important to know in what year a character might feasibly have married, had a baby, become a grandmother etc. I got into such a muddle (I tried to marry off my lead character when she would have been only eight!) so decided to draw myself a time line to work from. This was time consuming, scrappy and only usable for one story.
When I looked online, I could find timelines but nothing specific to my needs.
These were the things I wanted:
- My character's age to be automatically calculated against each year on the timeline..
- A column to show major events logged against each year
- A column where I could record events in my character's life
- A timeline that could cover any century
- A timeline that could be filled in for my story, saved and a new one started for the next
This was when I turned in desperation to my husband - who kindly dedicated an evening to creating the perfect timeline for writers. I want to share this resource with other writers and would just ask that you leave a comment or give me a mention if you use it or share it.
To go to Wendy's Story Timeline Click here. You will then need to click file and download to use it. It should be straightforward to use - after all it was made for me and I'm pretty useless at technology! I have filled in kings and queens and some major events but you can fill in events of your choice.
Below are simple instructions for how to use it. (Note: The timeline will show from 1961 but you can open up the timeline to increase the range of years.)
If you have any problems or questions about using this timeline, please let me know and I will try and help.
