Definition
A timeline error is a type of continuity mistake where the sequence, duration, or dating of events in your story becomes logically impossible or contradictory. Characters might arrive somewhere faster than physics allows, seasons might shift impossibly, or a character might reference something before it happens. These errors are especially common in complex narratives with multiple storylines or nonlinear structures.
Why It Matters
Readers track time in stories more carefully than most writers realize. When your timeline breaks, it undermines the cause-and-effect chain that makes narrative satisfying. A character can't react to an event that hasn't happened yet, and a three-day journey can't take an afternoon. These errors don't just confuse readers - they make the whole story feel unreliable.
Common Mistakes
Even a simple spreadsheet tracking 'what happens on each story day' prevents most timeline errors. You don't need fancy software - just a list of events in order with approximate dates.
When cutting between characters or plotlines, map how much time passes in each strand. If Character A's storyline covers three days and Character B's covers two weeks, their scenes can't sync up at the end without accounting for the gap.
Writing 'some time later' or 'a while back' when you're not sure of the actual timing just delays the problem. Decide the real timeframe, even if you keep the language vague in the prose.
Characters need realistic amounts of time to get from place to place, recover from injuries, or complete tasks. If your fantasy city is a week's ride away, your characters can't arrive the next morning.
Try It Yourself
Create a simple timeline for one chapter of your novel. List every event in order and note how much time passes between each one. Check for any moment where a character reacts to something before it happens, or where the time math doesn't work. Fix the most glaring error you find.
Does your story's timeline actually add up?
Novelium's Timeline tool maps every event in your manuscript chronologically and flags when the math doesn't work - overlapping events, impossible travel times, and sequences that break your story's internal logic.