This book will contain chapter upon chapter of writing tips for you and all your writing needs!
These tips and tricks can be both from myself and from other sites that I would have searched upon
All websites I have copied from are mentioned before e...
this belongs to lets-get-fictional on tumblr, or https://lets-get-fictional.tumblr.com/post/163733385707/any-tips-for-writing-a-passage-of-time-in-a-novel
check them out and enjoi
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Hiya! Thanks for your question. Stories that jump around in time can be disorienting to readers. So, good on you for asking this question to prevent that!
The best way to show a change in time (in my opinion), is to display the new date at the top of the chapter/section. This will clearly state to your readers that the story has skipped ahead in time. You could also describe in one of your opening paragraphs that "months passed" or "time flew by", any sort of description along those lines. Another direct way to show the change in time, is by having a character ask for the date (maybe they're filling out a form), look at a calendar/clock, or even remark that X amount of time has passed since a specific event or that there's only X amount of time left before a specific event. An entire year can pass in a single sentence.
However, if you want to use a more subtle approach, you can always describe the environment. If enough time has passed, the outside world has probably changed. Is there snow on the ground? What colour are the leaves? How long does daylight last? Do stores have decorations for a particular holiday on display? You can even consider mentioning if there are school buses driving around the streets.
Thanks for your question! If you want more advice on describing time in a story, feel free to ask us another question. Happy writing!
