Author continuity guide
Using Story Years to Keep Fiction Evergreen
Maintain precise internal chronology without assigning the series to a visible real-world year.
By Nathan Ardwell · author-planning perspective
Define Year 1
Year 1 is simply the project’s internal starting period. It need not correspond to a public calendar year.
Add seasons and relative events
Spring of Year 4, Christmas in Year 9 and three weeks after Chapter 6 can coexist in the same timeline.
Anchor later only if useful
A real-world year can be assigned later without rewriting the internal Story Year structure.