@Sheriff Deputy Without getting overly complicated research the Roman Military structure and standard operating procedures. With little digging, there is a lot of information on a common solider. His kit, food and pay structure. Also, how far he could march in a day and what could be generally expected of him. This leads easily onto distance predictions on reaching a target within a time limit. Supply chain of food consumption again another measure. Using horses to relay tactical information back for. How far out is the distance of reliable information. So, from seasons in a year to day night cycles to a rider’s observational horizon to how far a man can march in a day. Then how much food will he consume. This builds your measures. The Japanese used as currency the amount a single man consumes rice within a year a Kuku. These types of measures were very real and used well before today’s lengths. Have a look at Simon Scarrow’s Roman fiction book series for an idea. If your story is historical you need to use measurements of the time, if not you run the risk of the reader dropping out of the image. If fantasy likewise, must be based around practical movement in that world. Sci-Fi you run into upper limits of speed... All observable measurements of TIME and DISTANCE started from a practical need. Whether when to plant crops or cutting off a single sized chunk of meat for a soldier’s daily ration. Whatever reference used needs to fit in practically going unnoticed by the reader. Just my idea, take it for what it’s worth MartinM.
@Sheriff Deputy [I've been using in-world metaphors but then it all gets sketchy when getting into details. Help me with this one: A character wakes up off-world and looks out the window. What time is it? (without using any earth-world terminology)] Sorry, I missed this… So, this becomes a good show don’t tell piece. The character as no observable trustworthy information. If its sunny outside it could be mid-day. Unless this Off-world planet is in a locked rotational orbit around its sun. It’ll always be sunny here at this point… What he does have that is reliable his is own body clock. When did he last eat or drink? You will drink something every couple of hours. Sleep, think about Jet Lag… this literally will tell you what your body thinks the time is. Use this conflict between the character’s situation now and where he’s come from. With time he’ll build on his observations against what he knows as normal to give a better understanding of his surroundings. Use it as character development. Stephen Baxter in PROXIMA uses this to good effect as the main character is dumped onto an un-known planet. Again, use the small observations at first, that build up onto bigger assumptions. This should stop your repetition problem… MartinM.
