when you guys are starting out your story do you like to give the year and place or wait to kinda tie it in somewhere
I suppose it would depend on the type of story and how crucial it was for my reader to know that information. As a writer I have a lot to learn. As a reader I like to be reeled in. If it's a familiar date and location like Pear Harbor December 4th 1941 then probably the sooner the better but if it's an invented year and location I wait until I've given my reader a chance to give a crap or get invested before I lay it on them. I'm sure there are better writers here who could offer more constructive thoughts though. Best wishes
No. Not unless it is immediately important. In fact, sometimes its best to not mention the date at all, depending on what you are doing. I just finished up an SF novel, and I only vaguely allude to it being some hundreds of years in the future. That lets the reader kind of determine for herself how much time she thinks is reasonable for humanity to have advanced to where they are in the story. Of course, that might get changed in editing, but I personally think it's a good idea. Really, I suppose I would say that it depends on how the story starts. I mean, one of the most famous opening lines in all of literature was a sort of time/place identifier: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...." So there is certainly a place for it. Just depends on whether or not it works, if that makes any sense. In The Year of Threx 23, Somnovar Fortress fell. <---- Something like this could work. It's a nice, clean setup that gives you the where, when, and directs some of the action as well. Oh, and I know that as the complexity of the story increases, the addition of dates and places can very much help your reader, too. See, for example, the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Holy geez, thanks for starting every chapter with a place/date flag, Mr. Erikson.
I did with my first novel. Only because an MC was pulled out of the freezer after being in there for 150 Years. And he was thawed out by a Reptilian species that actually get him to go renegade after showing him some damning evidence against his own faction.
========== Only if it is necessary to understand the story. The place should be worked in naturally not just stated. The year not at all unless it is key.
Thanks for the input I think not starting with the date right off the bat would leave me more room for throwing it in at the end or in another book
(Date appears at the end of 5th book) Still can't figure out why everyone keeps asking me when it takes place, the flying cars should make it bloody obvious. You mean Sam's birthday is March 11th, and he is 26, didn't tell you anything? Come on people that should have said everything. (Sorry had to poke at that a bit)
