{EP. 19} How to Get Creative Writing Time and Seasons in Your Fantasy Novel

Writing about time in your fantasy novel is a real see-you-next-Tuesday. I mean, all our months, weekdays, and seasons sound so...Earthly. And if you’re wondering if your reader notices when you say “February” when describing a month of the year in your fantasy world....they kinda do. 

The days, months, seasons, and even the year itself are all products of our human—aka real—history. So, how the heck do we talk about the passage of time without using names in the Gregorian calendar?

In case you haven’t guessed it, that’s what we’re talking about in today’s episode. We give you, our listeners-come-writers, tips and tricks for choosing the names of your own months, days, and seasons, and we also tend to talk pretty harshly about Mondays (but seriously, who likes Mondays anyway, amiright kids?).

While we’re at it, we take a stab at science—that’s right, science—to explain how writers can play with the very idea of seasons, even though Genny likes to point out that if you’re going to mess with units of time, you’re probably going in way too deep. 

As the very witchy, Celtic-obsessed one, Katrina gives our pagan-curious listeners some inspiration for their fantasy calendar: the Wheel of the Year. And of course, the second after we stopped recording we realized that we spent all this time talking about ancient and mystical calendars without ever once mentioning the Mayan calendar…so yeah...oops.

Here are our tips for creating your own fantasy calendar:

1. Decide how intense you want to get.
2. When in doubt, follow the seasons! 
3. Get your inspiration from the sun, the moon, and the stars.
4. get inspiration from the Wheel of the Year. 
5. Demonstrate society values in your calendar.

SOURCES:

• The Wiccan Year, by Judy Ann Nock
• https://www.britannica.com/technology/sundial
• https://www.time-for-time.com/history.htm
• https://www.space.com/20433-game-of-thrones-seasons-science.html
• https://www.worldhistory.org/Wheel_of_the_Year/

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Let us know what you thought of our episode! You can reach us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or email writingthebroomstick@gmail.com.

Do you like Celtic folklore, YA urban fantasy, AND free stuff? Read the first three chapters of Katrina’s debut novel, “The Wise One”.

And, if you want to see what Genny’s reading lately, check out her Goodreads review page.