Just What I Need to Track a Timeline

Many writers have to double and triple check to make sure the timeline is correct for all events in a single book or especially a series. I have tried many timeline software programs and have found that Aeon Timeline suits my needs the best. I know I have mentioned it and even shared information on it before, but this time I'm going to talk only about Aeon and how many things work.
When you go to open up a new project you get a screen that has many options including; Fiction, Basic, Project Management, Legal, Daily, Historical, Numberline.

I have only used the fiction. In the fiction setup you can change fix the beginning to end times, Number & name of months, number & name of days and how many hours in a day. This is great for world building. Below are examples of these.

 As you can see, it has great customization features. For those that World Build, you have the ability to create your own times and adjust the names to go along with your stories.

 Here is where you change the skin and set up what you want to show in the inspector. It's really easy to set up and use. You can always go in and change everything if you want it different after awhile.
Managing the Entities is simply.         
 On the left you see the timeline settings. Here you can add and delete Arcs and persons (entities). You can change the colors if you wish. 

Below you can see under "Manage Entities" is where you see, add and change your "Arcs" and "Person". When creating a character, make sure you set up an "Event" for birth and link it in the this section so you can keep track of age and use the participation & observer function. 

To add an event you just fill in this simple form and click add event. As you can see here is where you can add participants and observers. You can always add them later is you're not sure yet. Here is the place to set the duration of the event. I have several that last days and some that last just a few hours. Setting what time it starts it will automatically set the end time at the start time. This is what I usually do as long as I add a time.  The title can be whatever you want, the color is whatever you have chosen for the project, I have several for my series. Leave "Parent" alone until you learn more about it. I haven't figured out a way to use it

with my situation, so I don't. Clicking on "Arc" you can place the event in any "Arc" you have set up. 

Once you have it all set up and "Events" in place your "Timeline View" will look something like this in the light skin:

Here is what it looks like in the dark skin I usually use.

 You can see all the different Arcs on the left. The color lines & dots show the Arcs in my "Global"arc. At the bottom you see the different colors I have chosen for my arcs names. I did that under "Settings" and "Colors". It helps me keep track of the arcs. Now I don't use arcs the way many others do, I use them for each book in the series.  So, you can see here I have four books in the works and the "Global" one that shows everything, last I have births & deaths.

There is a great feature I love and that's the "Relationship" view. If you look below you can see that the arcs or for me books are listed to the left, then you have the events. Looking to the top right you see names, character names that is. Now, look down from those names and you can see the participants and observers. Look even closer and you can see their ages at the time of the event.

A closer look at the left side also shows you the time between events. Like this...

There you have it, my experience with Aeon Timeline. There are youtube videos on how to use Aeon but I found them to be too simple. Feel free to contact me on Twitter ( @jesdeh2o) if you have questions. I will always try and help. 

HAPPY WRITING!

What Time Is It? NANO Time!

Ahh! November is almost here. The one month that gives me great joy and great sadness. Sadness is due to the fact my mom will have been gone for 15 years this year. The great joy is what this post is all about.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a non-profit.
Their Mission Statement
National Novel Writing Month believes in the transformational power of creativity. We provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page. -(from their site).
If you wish to help support NaNoWriMo your donations are tax deductible. Donate here.

What is NaNoWriMo all about?
Well, the best way I can describe it is, you write 50,000 words in 30 days. You think it sounds really hard, it is sometimes. For me it's a breeze. Yes, that's right, I have finished every year and the last 3 I have hit 50k in 13 days.

On many social medias you may have seen "Prep-tober" This is related to NaNoWriMo. Prep-tober is October for us Wrimos (NaNoWriMo participants). Prep-tober means a month long planning, outlining, plotting, researching and pulling our hair out month.

I plan meals and snacks more than anything else. I don't outline in a traditional way, my plots are usually thought out months if not years before. So, what do I plan for meals & snacks? At least 20 crock pot freezer meals, recipes can be found on my Pinterest, click on the link to the left. I stock up on Halloween candy all of October, make rice krispy treats, puppy chow, brownies and ranch oyster cracker. In October, I make a bunch of cookie dough and freeze it in balls so I just pull them out and pop them in the oven.
As for my outlines, I said I don't do them in the traditional manner but I sort of outline. I use Aeon Timeline to get the event in order. With it I can even have the event timed out, as in it lasted years, 3 hours or 12 seconds. This helps when I'm doing 2 point of views (POV). It is also what I keep all my events for the series in. Each series has it's own file. If I didn't have Aeon I'd never get anything in the correct order. Between books events happen and I can look and say "She did that months ago." if it is brought up in a future novel.
This is what mine looks like.

Yep, that's my outline stuff... Now, what do I use to write? Scrivener! It has everything I need, no hopping over to another window or screen. I keep my inspiration photos, notes, names, rules, definitions, etc. No need for individual programs for it all. They say it's a typewriter, scrapbook and ring-binder all in one. Take a look for yourself...

You can see on the left is my binder , the middle is my writing space and the right is my scrapbook... Yep just like their website says. I used to use Microsoft Word but after trying Scrivener 5 years ago, I can't go back to it.
I bet you wonder what I do when I have an "ah ha" moments, well I carry pen and paper everywhere.

The last week of October is my "try not to write" week. With all the preparation I do it's really though not to. My brain keeps saying "WRITE!" when I can't. On November 1st my manic state will kick in and I will write starting at midnight.

This year my 13 yr old neighbor girl is joining me NaNo through the Young Writers Program. It's for all kids under 18 years old. This year she asked about it and we got her started. I am amazed how into it she is. Asking all the right questions and she has more planned out than I do. I love seeing young ones get excited they was she has.

SO, what are you doing this October? What's planned for November?

Why? Why? Why?

Today I was sitting here and found out I have many questions about many things. Most start with "Why?", now I've found some answers. I'm going to express them here.

Why do people think PTSD reactions are only caused by loud noises?
      Most think of only veterans and war. The form of PTSD I have is from extreme abuse in my childhood. I suffer from PTSD and most noises don't trigger a reaction. Mine is more certain words and smells, though the neighbor brats slamming the doors all the time have been making me jumpy. Another thing some people don't know, night terrors are a form of PTSD. This is my main issue, after 20 years without them, they popped back into my life. I have went 10 years without symptoms, you never completely recover from PTSD. It can spring up and surprise you at any time.

Why do people think I'm lazy?
     This is pretty easy to answer. I have increasing anxiety, bipolar, rage issues, PTSD and some physical troubles. I can't do much of anything, even checking the mail and running to get milk is hard. I haven't been like this all my life, I've worked 30-50 hours a week for years, raised 2 kids (running them, shopping), and if I could I would work. I hate staying home 24/7. Since the night terrors came back, my anxiety is more easily triggered. My neighbor, Ann, has been wonderful. She and her kids have been getting my mail, running to the store, carry my groceries, visit me, and take my trash out. I only have to leave the house for appointments. If this makes me lazy, then so be it. My damn doctor's refuse to even let me try and work.

Why do teenage girls cause more trouble than teenage boys?
     This I haven't found an answer. My son was the one I thought would cause me trouble, but no. He never got into trouble, always home on time, no drugs, no alcohol, no sex. My daughter on the other hand has been causing so many issues, having sex, lying to, running away and pushing every single one of my buttons. If you have an answer to this please leave a comment.

Why do people have their phones glued to their eyes?
     Not sure about this one. This generation relies on electronic connections, mine didn't. When you wanted to call someone and they weren't home you dealt with it. If you wanted to play games with your friends, you had to go over to their house and ask them, usually playing outside with balls, sticks, rocks, and action figures. Most kids my kids' age don't know how to research without GOOGLE. huh! Mine do, they can use a card catalog, look in books for answers and everything. Damn electronic age!

Why is the sky blue?
     This is a science question. We all know why, but to a kid that's not an answer. My son kept asking why, so I said "Someone named the sky blue." He replied, "Why didn't they make that color purple?" I have no idea why a color is named what they are. Another unknown answer.


Why don't you share your "Why" questions.