Is there any good time-line software out there?
I write mostly speculative fiction, and use Scrivener for writing and note-taking.
But I'm looking to start crafting timelines to keep track of the exact year and months events in the distant and close past occurred.
In a perfect world: I'd like for the software to be easily manageable, relatively low-maintenance or easy to deal with, automatically "sorting" (or "pinning" the event in the correct place on the line) and easily scalable.
Does anyone know of anything at all like this? If not, what do others use to create time-lines?
Here is an app that tries to make plotting out your story very easy: Plottr It's got a timeline that is a very graphica …
9y ago
We are currently working on Plotist, a timeline software created for writers. It's still a beta, but anyone can sign up …
9y ago
I use timeglider.com Only drawback is that it's online, not on your desktop. So if your WiFi doesn't reach all the way …
12y ago
GNU Timeline is a basic timeline building application with some nice features. It is free, and it works on Windows and L …
13y ago
For the Mac, try Aeon Timeline. It's being developed by a Scrivener user, so a key feature is being able to import your …
13y ago
Scrivener is available for Mac or Windows, but not all timeline software is cross-platform. Which platform are you using …
13y ago
Other than Scrivener :) I find Excel (or another spreadsheet program) works surprisingly well. - First column: Year - S …
14y ago
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GNU Timeline is a basic timeline building application with some nice features. It is free, and it works on Windows and Linux (Probably Mac also).
http://thetimelineproj.sourceforge.net/
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I use timeglider.com
Only drawback is that it's online, not on your desktop. So if your WiFi doesn't reach all the way to your favorite writing spot down the garden path you're screwed :)
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We are currently working on Plotist, a timeline software created for writers. It's still a beta, but anyone can sign up and try it out.
The main feature is that it connects notes and visualization, so you can check and edit your notes while building the timeline.
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For the Mac, try Aeon Timeline. It's being developed by a Scrivener user, so a key feature is being able to import your timeline into Scrivener. I used a very early version for my last book and it was pretty easy to use and had all the features I needed.
Some nifty features include custom calendars (for those non-Earth settings) and a way to track which events each character is present at.
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Scrivener is available for Mac or Windows, but not all timeline software is cross-platform. Which platform are you using?
If on the Mac, try StoryMill, which has a dedicated timeline function.
On the PC, there's Timeline Maker, TimeLinear, Timeline Studio... lots of choices, really.
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Here is an app that tries to make plotting out your story very easy: Plottr
It's got a timeline that is a very graphical way to show each story line (main plot and subplots) and each scene. Across the top are the scenes and along the side are the story lines. You aren't held to specific dates on the timeline. It let's you put in whatever description you want across the top.
The nice thing is that you can flip it so the scenes are down the side and the story lines are across the top. It's better for some people to see it like that.
Where the scene and story line intersect you can add a card which is just a place you can write a description about what happens at the intersection of those two.
You can even drag and drop cards easily anywhere around the timeline.
It also has a place for general notes, a place for characters, and a place for settings. For characters and settings you can add custom attributes which is really handy.
And the notes you can tag with your characters or places.
I use it for my stories and it's been invaluable
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Other than Scrivener :) I find Excel (or another spreadsheet program) works surprisingly well.
- First column: Year
- Second column: Month
- Third column: Day
- (Insert more columns as needed.)
- Last column: event
If you have multiple items on the same Day, repeat the Day data and use a 24-hour clock, so you would have:
1898|July|Holmes and Watson move into 221B Baker Street
1898|October|Adventure of Irene Adler, aka That Woman
1899|March|23|2:47|Holmes and Watson break into C.A. Milverton's house
1899|March|23|3:15|Holmes and Watson escape with goods
1899|March|23|12:22|Milverton discovers the theft
1899|March|23|14:36|Lestrade is called
1899|March|23|17:56|Holmes explains all to Lestrade, Watson goggles anew
1902|June|Watson marries third wife
and so on.
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