Tracking Your Hero's Literal Journey With a Planner

I don't want to use the word "game changer" so loosely, but wow - did using an old planner help me on tracking my hero's literal journey.

I shared this a few years ago with my writing class and they absolutely loved it, so I thought I'd mention it here. Using a planner or calendar is an excellent wait to keep track of the passage of time and events in stories. Here's a few different styles to consider:

Highlighted portions are different long journeys. Also noted are seasons and particular important points that impact the story.

Notes on the side are a good place to write anything you may need to remember, such as who is where, time and speed; different colors can be used to note what different groups are doing on that same day.

Weekly planners can be used for more detailed scenes on particular days.

I just pulled these planner and calendar sheets from a google search. They don't have to be current or even dated; it's just used to help keep visual track.

In the novel for my class, my group of would-be travelers needed to travel from a sub-tropical coastal city to an inland low desert, to a temperate fertile valley. Horses and people have a different speed of travel than say, a ship at sea or a river barge. The distance traveled also depends on topography and environmental factors.

To sort of get it into my head how long they traveled and to make sure that the seasons matched with their time of arrivals, I plotted out where they were and when keeping in mind how far they could travel in one day.

If they started in the spring, the wouldn't get to the capital city until the early summer and the environment needed to reflect that. I know how to describe the sub-tropics in the late spring and I know how to describe a temperate environment in early summer, thus adding more depth to my background. It's the little things.

The war also needed to be tracked; how far could an army advance under specific conditions. Where would they go? How could they be cut off? How soon could a defensive line be created and how would timing impede an invasion?

Using a planner was a way to help visualize the journey and keep track of how long they've been together, apart, and how their relationships may change. I wanted the timeline of the war to be somewhat believable and a good portion of it was timing.

Having the right timing helped add tension.

The invading army needed to move its troops to a border region by time X. However, the defending country found out and went to secure its border before the full force of the invading army could be ready, allowing for the defending country to fight a weaker army.

This can also be used in regards to supply lines. How long until lack of supplies becomes a massive issue? How long until it's noticed?

You can always use a timeline, but having a journey (or plans of war) laid out in a visual system you're already used to can be of massive help. Timelines also can get cluttered the more information is listed and a planner can help organize the small details better.

You can use a planner, a calendar, or even just a calendar-like grid created to suit your needs. Those are readily available online - just search for printable calendar or planner - or you can just use an old one laying around. You can even select how you want it to look - weekly, monthly, even daily ,and for long journeys- just a full year calendar to track your adventurers.

Think of this as just another tool you can use.