Of Times

One of the very important things in writing is the time period that you're writing in. For the reader, it might change their mind of whether they pick up the book or not, now you can't really help that, but it's good to let everyone know what time your book is in.

The first thing you should do while addressing this problem, is figure out what type of story it is. If it's something like a girl book, then you can set it now or anywhere in the past sixty years. I'm not saying that these are set in stone, I'm giving examples. If you were writing a pirate book, more likely then not, it'd be set in the Revolutionary War, or something.

So, I have a couple questions for you to ask yourself to find out when your book should be. This is if you're just starting the book, not when you're in the middle, things could get confusing if you changed the time now. :) (I'll be answering the questions myself too.)

1. What is my book about? Well, my book is a mystery. The three main characters are kids, they live in an old house with their mom and grandmother. 

2. Are you planning to include a lot of technology in your book, like cell phones and computers? Not so much that it's a Sci/Fi novel, but maybe some. I hadn't really thought about it too much. 

3. What are your characters like? The oldest is named Daphne, she's fifteen-ish. She's pretty and a bookworm, she's also really smart. The middle kid is Trevor, he's thirteen, he's the best looking and was a fencer when they lived in their old house. The last kid (the main main character) is Kylie, she's eleven and she doesn't know what she wants to do. 

4. Are there any things that would interfere with the book being in any time period? (Like are there dragons? Do you want your characters to go back in time? Is there a king? Well, the mom and the dad are separated, so yes I could say since not many people did that back a while ago then yes there is. 

5. What time period do you think your book should be in? (noticed I italicized you and your)  I was thinking now times. I wouldn't go too much into things that are happening now because it's going to be a mystery, but it's definitely modern. 

There you go. Those are your questions, they're simple and not painful. Ask yourself these and figure out what would make sense for your book, what wouldn't really matter and what you want. It's still your book.

Enjoy :)