#chapter writing

[em-dash-press]

Ways to Skip Time In Your Stories

Finding ways to skip time in stories can feel challenging. Writers often worry it’ll make their work feel too amateur or negatively affect their pacing. 

The truth is that every author includes ways they skip time to maintain their pacing and plot. Check out a few ways to do it with confidence. 

1. Start a New Chapter

Yes, it’s really that simple. Go back to your favorite books and note how each chapter ends. You’ll likely find a few of these tricks that transition the story in ways that match the story’s flow.

Ideas to End a Chapter

The protagonist goes to sleep (likely overused, but practical)

The characters end a conversation

One character informs another of a plot twist

Unexpected action occurs, like a car crash

2. Emphasize the Season

You don’t need to tell the reader exact dates or hours to pass the time. You could mention the season instead.

If a scene or chapter ends in the summer and you need your plot to start in winter, make your protagonist mention something about the leaves changing color and giving way to snow before your action picks up again. It will only take a sentence or two, so it’s also an effective method for short stories.

3. Visualize a Movie Montage

Imagine watching a movie about a character who goes on a summer adventure. They backpack through Europe, but they have to take a flight to get there. 

You likely wouldn’t see them standing in airport security lines, napping in a terminal or watching a full movie on their flight to their destination. Instead, you’d get a montage of them driving to the airport with a shot of their plane cruising over the open ocean.

Writers can do the same thing, minus the soundtrack in the background. Describe how your character got to their destination when a new chapter or scene starts. Your readers will get the general idea and appreciate getting straight to the plot that made them pick up your story in the first place.

Here are a few ideas to do this in just a few sentences:

One delayed flight and a bad airplane dinner later, I was walking out of the Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport with an aching back and excited heart.

My trip began with the perfect flight. I got an entire row of seats to myself, which made napping through the trip much easier. A flight attendant roused me awake when it was time to land. I couldn’t believe how fast I’d arrived in Athens that quickly.

My flight was just long enough to catch up on the movies I’d been missing over the last year. The landing gear bounced along the runway in Rome just as the Barbie credits started flashing across my iPad.

4. Showcase Some Confusion

Sometimes we aren’t aware of what time it is. We only know time has passed. That might be the best way to make time pass in your story if your protagonist gets confused, caught by surprise, or otherwise discombobulated.

These are some examples:

I woke up with a bad taste in my mouth. The sun was already peaking in the clear blue sky. How long had it been since my explosive video call with my ex the night before?

The time machine landed with a thud that knocked me to the ground. The control panel exploded in shimmering sparks. What year was it?

Working a double shift always left my brain spinning. I left work, walking across the parking lot with only the stars watching my back. I could feel the hours aching in my feet, but didn’t care what time it really was. I just needed to sleep.

5. Employ a Phrase

There are many quick phrases you can use to make your time jumps immediately clear. Consider using a few of these when you feel creatively stuck:

Later that morning

A few weeks later

After months of trying

Six hours later

The following week

As the store closed for the night

-----

There are many other ways to make time pass in a story. Starting with these could help you figure out the best way to move your story forward without disrupting its pacing. 

Remember, you’re in control of your story at all times. There’s always a way through creative challenges if you take a deep breath and try something new.

#writing chapters #writing scenes #chapter writing #scene transitions #chapter transitions #writing transitions #writeblr #writing advice #writing tips #writers of tumblr #creative writing #writing #writing community #writing inspiration #writing help #writing resources

[sunsetdew0101]

I have a new appreciation for all the writers out there.

Writing a chapter which, for the most of it, it's a filler, but you want it to be interesting and also give some information necessary about characters details, past, and/or personality... Let's just say my levels of stress are increasing 🤣😂😭

But don't worry, you'll have you chapter

#second chance #Chapter writing #To all writers #You're amazing #ao3 #ash ketchum #I'll try post next week something #Maybe a prompt #An art #Or if we're lucky the new chapter #But we'll see

[twilightgoldenhour]

anyway. chapter 6 is done, just needs to be edited. i'll probably post it next week or something lol

#it's only 4.5k though so #i'm gonna try to write up a good portion of chapter 7 before posting #and start overlapping my chapter writing/posting #la push baby!!!! #chapter writing

[eruanna1875]

(I&S) One: We All Fall Down

Isabella Mallory stopped dead as she stood atop the log—what was that noise? That made the second time she’d heard it in these woods. Whatever it was, she didn’t like it. It made a knot in her stomach that wished her back safe in her bed. But she couldn’t stop now. She couldn’t go back. So she listened a moment more, then hopped off onto a mulch of leaves.

As she hopped, she felt something shift in (and then out of) her backpack. With a grimace, she spun to catch whatever it was. It took some magnificent fumbling, but she managed to grab it before it hit the ground. She breathed a sigh of frustrated relief.

“Alone at last, and the first thing you do is drop your supplies. Very smart.” She added, in an almost mocking imitation, “‘Gotta keep it together, little lady!’ Well, I better.” Despite the tone, the phrase brought a solemn reminder of what she was leaving behind. Isabella bit her lip and blinked down. “I better.”

But no. Couldn’t be thinking that way now. She sighed again, puffing a strand of blonde hair from her eyes, and shook memories from her mind. Instead, she tried to call up other such—specifically, what in the world this thing was she’d just kept from the ground.

At any rate, it was one of her dad’s old weapons. She’d swiped it from his collection on the way out. Try as she might, though, she couldn’t recall if he’d told her what this one did. That’s what you get for not remembering to bring a weapon until the last minute, she frowned at herself. And not turning on the lights to find one.

“Too bad I didn’t grab one of the guns. At least I’d know how to use it if I needed to.” She held up the baton-like instrument. “I don’t know what this thing is.” She tapped at a little metal ring on its side, then sighed. “Well, if I happen to meet an axe murderer out here, maybe I can perplex him to death.” Or blunt-stab his face with it, she added in thought, weighing the metal ball attached to one end in her hand. That’s about all I could do with it.

Rolling her blue eyes to shut down any further trains of thought, she started to put the object back in her pack. However, just then, she heard the noise again. A thing like a low moan, though whether it was human or not, she couldn’t tell. Biting her lip, she dropped her muttering to a whisper. “Nope.” She shook the thingamajig. “You’re staying out. Better something weird than nothing.”

Upon zipping her backpack, Isabella stood straight again, unidentified weapon in hand. She adjusted the pink sweater under her jacket, and trudged forward through the silent trees.

And they were silent, now. Whether the noise had been a person or animal or something else, it was gone now. The nigh-spring night was chilly and still around her. Even the leaves beneath her feet were quiet. And she preferred it that way. The quiet had wrapped around her like an invisible cloak that night, hiding the fourteen-year-old from the ears and eyes of any good-natured people who might try to urge her home.

But she wouldn’t have had ears for them either. She knew what she wanted to do, and told herself she knew why she had to run away to do it.

As she watched for movement, her gaze caught on a pair of dark, thick lines, stretched across the ground. They made her breath a sigh of relief. Train tracks! Finally, I’m where I’m supposed to be!

Isabella walked now with these always in sight. Eventually, she could follow them to the next town (she knew that wasn’t far), and hop a rattler there. Then, every place on the face of the earth would be open to her.

There was a rustle in the bushes just ahead, and she stood alert, weapon gripped pointlessly in hand. It’s probably just a bird, she told herself. Just a bird. But the noise she’d heard thrice before came again and falsified this hope.

All of a sudden, a sandy-coloured creature barreled out of the bushes with a yelp. She barely had a moment to recognize it as a coyote. But before she could even raise her weapon or cry out, the dangerous beast darted past her, and scurried like a scared rat deeper into the forest until it vanished.

Isabella stood there a moment, more confounded than alarmed. I thought coyotes were worse than wolves with attacking people. So why didn’t he? Unless something else had it running scared. But, listen as she might, she could hear no other creaturely sounds. So, after a moment of hesitation, she inched onward, avoiding the bush the coyote had sprung from (in case there was a snake or something else she couldn’t hear).

At any rate, she saw no other animals. The woods were silent again, silent as a graveyard, and there were no more mysterious noises. Her invisible cloak had settled again, and as she followed the iron lifelines once more, she was less anxious. For a time.

Yet, slowly, as she passed like a shadow through the woods, Isabella began to be aware of… well, she wasn’t sure what. At first she thought it a sense of her own uneasiness after the coyote’s appearance. But no, it was more than that. Her shroud of silence was beginning to decompose, changing slowly into an unquiet something.

It was buried in the earth. It was floating along the ground. It was hiding between the trees. It came from the heart of nowhere and cluttered everywhere, rattling fallen twigs and tiptoeing her spine. At last, with a start, she realized what it was, and Isabella stood as stiff as the leafless trees:

It was music.

Not a song, not any tune made by voices or instruments, nor played through any loudspeaker or radio. But somehow still music. There, existing, without any man or manmade source, as if heard in a dream (or a nightmare). It seemed as natural as a chill wind, and as unnatural as a corpse. She could feel it coursing through her bones.

Blinking, Isabella glanced around her, unsure of even what question to ask. What it was, how it was being played, even where it came from, all seemed impossible questions, for it seemed impossible sound. Yet she grasped upon one at last. This was the question of why. Why was this music… manifesting, if such was the word? Why here? Why now?

The moon, long hidden throughout that night, emerged from behind a ragged cloud, throwing the wood into an eerie pale. That sudden light gleamed on a swarm of motion nearby, catching her eye. Against the frantic, desperate pleas of her better judgment, Isabella crept nearer. What she saw there would never leave her, nor what came after.

Just past the trees, the train tracks flowed out into a wide field, with hills beyond, and glades scattered across the ground. There, in just such a grey glade near the tracks, a throng of skeletons circled each other violently. They seemed in the midst of some wild dance, almost riotous with speed, but as orderly as a funeral. The ring-around-the-rosy of a methodical madman.

The moon gleamed on their whirling bones as Isabella watched, transfixed. She’d heard about the Danse Macabre—in her home, it was a necessity to know such things—but never had she thought it would be so frenzied and so fastidious at once. Yet it did not frighten her. Bewildered, yes, and a little perturbed, but she was not yet tempted to scream or run away. She stared on as calmly as if it were one of her mother’s black-and-white films.

All at once, the formation of bones shifted. They departed their wheels within wheels and scattered, each to their own separate place in the glade. Some went in twos, some in threes and fours, some went alone. But when they found their spot, each struck up some odd routine or other. And no one group did as another.

A troop of four began leaping onto each other’s shoulders, balancing upon them with hands and feet and skulls. Two began tossing stones from one to another, adding more as they went on. A solitary skeleton, who had climbed a nearby tree, began swinging between the branches. Then three others, lurking about the base of the tree, threw leaves at each other and posed and tripped until one’s rib came loose.

“It’s a circus,” Isabella couldn’t help breathing to herself. These skeletons were acrobats, jugglers, trapeze artists, clowns. The music, wherever it came from, was for their performance. They were rehearsing their acts—what was that old phrase? “Practicing their terror with ghoulish delight.” Her mouth slipped open in an uneasy amusement. It was a circus of skeletons. And so she watched them, performing each of their own little routines all at once.

But moonlight doesn’t last. A cloud at last reclaimed the escaped glow, and the grey world turned from heather to ash. It was enough. One of the acrobat skeletons looked up, as if able to see properly for the first time. To her alarm, it seemed to alight the hollows of its eyes on the trees nearest her.

That skull, soundless as the rest before, shrieked. A piercing, sickening scream that no living throat could have produced. The sound alone shook her soul, but that was not the worst effect. All motion ceased at once, and she felt a hundred emptinesses stare back at her. Her flesh ran cold with dread.

A single, boney finger raised to point directly at Isabella.

Then, as if it had been a long-awaited signal, each and every skeleton in the awful horde started scrabbling in a furious stampede towards her, swarming forward, trampling each other in their pandemonium. With a gasp of a scream, Isabella stumbled back. Then, tearing her eyes from the screeching creatures, she turned and ran, ran, ran, ran as desperately as ever her legs could carry her.

But it was not enough. The skeletal legion gained ground faster than she could possibly steal it. She couldn’t outrun them. She couldn’t get away. They would snatch at her legs as they closed in. She had to put ground between them somehow.

There, just ahead, she saw the log she’d climbed earlier. She ran for it and scrambled up. But she found there was no ground left to her. Skeletons gathered ahead of her too. Nowhere to leap. Nowhere to run. No distance to put between them. Only grasping fingers, clacking bones, and horrible, horrible shrieks.

Isabella did her best. She kicked away a number of grabby hands (sending one or two flying off), and her own gripped tight the weapon she did not know how to use. But she was not given a chance to try. The skeletons swarmed up onto the log at last, mobbing her, overwhelming her.

Then, a boney hand seized her, and she knew no more than cold and black for a long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[One: here. Two: ____]

#my stories #happy halloween #writing #Isabella and the Skeleton #writing wip #chapter writing #salt and light

[arowrath]

#text #copypasting a 21 chapter chat fic i wrote in 2018 into one big document #seeing glimpses of it #most of the time it's like. man. i did not write this #but then i see a phrase i was certain i came up with last year #and im like ah . so ive been making that joke since i was 15 ? #peer reviewed banger #rbsoff

[tariah23]

The manga industry, especially JUMP, needs to hurry up and do away with weekly scheduling for mangaka. There needs to better regulations put into place for their health and safety because this is pitiful. Two weeks - monthly updates should’ve already been the standard for the manga industry at this point. These money grabbers will only continue to put the lives of these artists at stake for the sake of capitalism unless some serious changes are implemented.

#it’s just??? #at the end of the day all these people want to do is draw and write their stories and share them with the world #why is death from stress the end game for so many of them #this should not be part of the package when finally deciding that this is what you want to do with your life #rambling #I still never got over miura’s passing man #and Togashi is still here but he’s been suffering from the consequences of overwork #it’s just… all so bleak #fans just need to learn to be patient if these changes are ever made and to be respectful #your fav series is not gonna die just because you can’t get it right now #I’m glad that gege does this now like he takes a break every 2-3 chapters and that’s good #this should be normalized

[ryukatters]

bf!bkg ignoring you because you won’t call him baby or handsome or whatever nickname you usually call him

“Katsuki— have you seen my charger? I can’t find it anywhere.”

You call out as you make your way down the hall from your bedroom. Your boyfriend is sitting on the couch, having a rotting party all by his lonesome to really live out his day off. It’s a rare occurrence for him to be so inactive, but you surmise even pro heroes can be lazy every once in a while.

“Kats?”

Still nothing. You know for a fact that he can hear you, because you can see the way he subconsciously perks up the minute you say something. Definitely charming, but not enough to quell the growing mix of irritation and worry (mostly worry) brewing inside the pits of your stomach.

You make your way across the living room, standing in front of his place on the couch. He’s still not looking at you. No matter, you just decide to straddle him instead. His hands automatically find purchase on your hips, fingers just a few millimeters shy of your ass.

“Katsuki. What’s wrong?”

“Dunno who that is,” he huffs, head turning to the side so you can’t see the way his lips quirk down into a pout. (Because he swears up and down that’s something he never does.)

“Kats?”

“No.”

“‘Suki?”

“Close, but still no.”

“Baby?”

“Yeah, baby?”

"Have you seen my charger, handsome?"

"In your desk drawer on the right."

You smile. You press an innocent kiss to the tip of his nose. He pulls you flush against him before you can pull away, capturing your lips with his, appreciating the way the two of you meld against each other. He tries not to look too disappointed when you lift yourself off him and stand up. You lean down to give him a fleeting kiss on the cheek.

"Love you, Katsuki."

"Think you've got the wrong guy, sweetheart."

#you can act tough all you want but i see through your lies kacchan #in honor of the latest chapter #bkg liking nicknames confirmed!! #he just wants to be babied but he’d honestly rather choke before admitting that #i lied i posted about bkg first 😔 #kat’s writing #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugo x you #bakugo katsuki x reader #katsuki bakugou x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugo fluff #mha x reader #bnha x reader #mha fluff #bnha fluff

[knife-filled-plushies]

i love the Smiling Critters as a cartoon concept and if it ever developed like mlp or something like that I can absolutely see something comical like this happening djkfskf

lesson at the end would probably be something about getting a healthy amount of sleep and staying on a good schedule jfhskf

#pastel doodles! #smiling critters #poppy playtime #poppy playtime chapter 3 #catnap #dogday #hoppy hopscotch #bubba bubbaphant #picky piggy #kickinchicken #craftycorn #bobby bearhug #wanted to write something about this but writer's block is an ass shjfhsf #also like the idea of a reverse scenario happening in contrast to the official cartoon short #the smiling critters wanna sleep and catnap is just like 'no. now drink your green tea.'

[frownyalfred]

you're in her DMs. I'm in her fandom discord server validating her headcanons. we are not the same.

#sorry i'm shitposting tongiht #brain is on #fandom #fanfiction #writing #discord #tumblr #fandom nonsense #you're in her DMs #i'm giving her extended feedback on her latest chapter #we are NOT the same

[bababaka]

Yall need to interact with fanfiction author's more.

So. After the ddos attack on ao3.

I was encouraged to write more comments and make my love known to fanfic writers.

I dont really like commenting. Because im a bit shy and soooo lazy.

Now though. I am writing more comments. And dude. This is so heartwarming. Ya'll need to treat writers better. They are doing the lord's work.

Take for an example, couple of days prior, i was searching for something interesting to read, and found an oneshot quite compelling.

I read it. At the end of it, i was blown away by how good it was. It promised me something and it went beyond my expectations. But then i saw a crime, zero fucking comments!

At that moment, i wasn't feeling up to writing a comment. Because, normally i like to write huge paragraphs. But because im lazy i decided to be brief.

Next day, the author answered that the comment lift their mood for the whole day.

That warmed my heart.

Duuuuuuuude! Write comments! Suport the writers of the fics you like! No need to be something super elaborate. Just give your thoughts. Freak out. Ramble. Ask something. Make theories. Compliment. Make a joke about how you wished to give kudos every chapter but ao3 sucks(not true bby) and won't let you.

Truly. Just. Comment. It can make someone's day. And that is part of the apeal of writing fics. Interacting with people.

Just give love to fanfic writers yall. They deserve this and so much more.

#fanfiction writer #fanfic #ao3 #ramble #it was a naruto fanfic #a narusasusaku fic #also had another thing #i commented on my fav fic that hasnt been updated for a while #i didnt pressured the author to write #because you dont fucking do that >:( #but #just freaked out and talked about how much i loved their writing and the fic #two days later they updated the fic #and then told me i inspired them to finish the chapter #and that's what you're supposed to do! #interact with the author #the fic! #no need to pressure them into writing! #sometimes just words of love and support is enough! #be nice to your writers! #or im gonna smash some sense into yall

[anna-scribbles]

thirteen_decemberLOADING.jpeg

#posting this as a morale boost…. #i WILL write this chapter i WILL i WILL #I WILL WRITE IT NOW #ml #miraculous ladybug #emilie agreste #my art #thirteen

[ponds-of-ink]

Descent into Cacophony Chapter 8 might create a few Cacophony theories. Or not. I obviously dunno yet.

#just a head’s up #a descent into cacophony #fanfic update #chapter writing #pond chatters

[sancticide]

see writing is funny because sometimes you have to google things like “can the human body survive with every rib broken” and other times you have to google things like “is there an ikea in manhattan???”

#writing #daredevil #matt murdock #writers block is killing me #writblr #please end my misery this chapter of gay people in ikea is not chaptering the way it should #WHY IS WRITING GAYS IN IKEA SO GODDAMN DIFFICULT #WHY CANT I JUST HAVE MY MATTFOGGY IN A FURNITURE STORE MOMENT

[hajihiko]

Nice night 🌘

#fuyuhiko kuzuryu #hajime hinata #kazuichi souda #akane owari #sonia nevermind #sdr2 #super danganronpa 2 #danganronpa 2 #danganronpa #an art #Me drawing this at 8 in the morning: #I was drawing this after working on the fic a bit. I'm struggling....but trying.... !!!!!!! #Please for the love of God don't focus on the hand size changing. You think u can keep track of that??? #Edit: the final chapter is almost done. I drew this as a comfort before All That lol so. Enjoy #Me after writing: ...... and then it was all a bad dream the end :) #Vi if you see this. I'm waving. Tysm for your hard work

[x-i-l-verify]

Something that I've noticed ever since the Smiling Critters were introduced is that they can so easily be paired off into complementary duos, ones that are specifically designed to teach children fundamental lessons about life and self-care from two different angles. It's really interesting to me.

Like obviously you have Dogday and Catnap, with their sun/moon, dog/cat dichotomy, that stress how important it is to have fun and get things done during the day, but also that it's important to wind down, relax, and get a good night's sleep.

-

Bubba Bubbaphant and Craftycorn were introduced as a duo in the Smiling Critter show's intro, and their dichotomy is quite obvious. They are basically the right and left sides of the brain personified. Bubba is the left side of the brain, logical, analytical, focused on math and science. Craftycorn is the right side of the brain, creative and imaginative, focused on the arts and self-expression. They represent learning and academia in all its forms, the different ways people engage with and understand the world.

-

Hoppy Hopscotch and Kickin' Chicken form the sportsmanship duo. They are both portrayed as enjoying sports and the outdoors, but in different ways that highlight the different ways sports can be played and enjoyed and also what it entails to be successful at them. Hoppy Hopscotch may be loud and impatient, but she is also a team player, shown in her willingness to slow down her fast pace to make sure none of her friends are left behind. Kickin' Chicken, on the other hand, is laid-back, relaxed, and chill, the described "cool kid" of the group, but he's also described as having a ton of perseverance, more of a "slow and steady wins the race" type of person.

-

This leaves Bobby Bearhug and Picky Piggy as the last pair. Fittingly, these two are all about how to meet the fundamental needs of yourself and others. Bobby teaches children how to nourish themselves emotionally through showing and receiving care from others, while Picky teaches them how good food is important to nourish the body and soul. Depriving oneself of either of these things only makes oneself and therefore everyone around one miserable, because those fundamental needs are no longer being met.

-

Like fr, this is some pretty genius marketing right here. You have enough characters that every kid will have their favorite, but not so many that any would get lost in the shuffle, because the lessons each one of them would teach would be integral to the group as a whole. It really makes me that much sadder we saw basically nothing of the Smiling Critters during the game itself, because Mob Games struck gold with this concept, only to ultimately do nothing with it. :/

But I guess that's what fandom is for, eh?

#poppy playtime #poppy playtime chapter 3 #smiling critters #dogday #catnap #picky piggy #kickin chicken #hoppy hopscotch #bobby bearhug #craftycorn #bubba bubbaphant #xi writes #tbh that 'slow and steady wins the race' comment makes me really wish Kickin' Chicken was a turtle instead #just to drive home that parallel even further #ngl i've been thinking about making this post for ages but i finally got off my butt and did it #me holding the Smiling Critters like Marge Simpson holding a potato: I just think they're neat! #it'd be a shame if the game company that came up with them never DID anything with them HUH MOB GAMES? #mob games don't walk away from me #MOB GAMES GET BACK HERE I HAVE THOUGHTS-

[purpleneutrino]

"Will it sting?"

Art for Chapter 1 of my new zosan fic 'Because It's You'

here on ao3

#one piece #zosan #zosan fic #zoro x sanji #sanji #zoro #this will be a full illustrated fic like i've done in the past! #6 chapters total and currently writing the final one now so I plan to have a regular update schedule! #so excited to finally share this haha ive been doing nothing but write this these past few weeks orz #nearly done! just the artwork to do now #my fic #my art #fic: because it's you