Writing Tip: Writing About Time

By TheRaven6825 on August 31, 2016 • ( 1 )

Time has always been an interesting topic to write about. We talk about how we never have enough time to do things, or time is taken away via a loved one; the way time stands still in a special moment or even going back in time to change an opportunity lost. Time is often spoken about using clocks, pocket watches and even the hourglass. But there are a few other ways we can write about time to make it even more interesting.

Give Time a Twist

Tap into some Science Fiction when writing about time. Be a time traveler like in H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine and explore the possibilities of the future. Or maybe revert to the past and change one little concept like stepping on a butterfly like in Ray Bradbury’s story “A Sound of Thunder.” Break the timeline and write about an alternate universe. Create a ripple in time however you want to.

Adjust Time

What if we didn’t have 24 hour days or 12 months in a year? Think about the time on another planet in the universe and how a normal day or week would be like. Think about the life cycle of plants, animals and even another being. What factors would affect their existence in this timeline you created? You hold time in your hands in this literary feat.

Be the Grain of Sand.

You are the last grain of sand in the hourglass, or the last tick of a clock. Write about waiting for that last moment in time from the point of view of these concepts, or even time itself. If time had feelings, what are the thoughts invoked throughout its life? What are the things time has seen? Time is something we often take for granted, so put yourself in time’s shoes.

Give Time an Image

What if we could see time? What would it look like? Is time like a shooting star in a never ending sky or perhaps a like the waves of a raging sea? Time can be beautiful or ugly according to one’s point of view. Give time a face if you have to. Create your visual concept of time.

Time is certainly a human’s most precious commodity. It is a subject that we can write about over and over again. The next opportunity you get to incorporate time into your writing, go a step further and give time a makeover. There are so many other possibilities with time.

Written by: Donna J. Sanders