A new year has started so happy 2019 to my followers. Whatever project you intend to work on in 2019, may it bear fruit.
It’s been a while since I blogged. Home renovations, the holidays, and a nasty cold knocked me down but I’m getting back up and I’m ready to move forward with my Auros world.
My 2019 resolution is to blog more than in 2018. At an average of about one post a month, 2018 was a good year so even if I only manage a post a month in the coming year, I’ll be happy.
Timeline Software Tool - Aeon Timeline
Since writing Part 2 – Character Timeline, I found a tool that provides the same functionality of my Excel spreadsheet plus a lot more to manage character timelines. I learned about the tool from a member in the Facebook Fantasy Writers Support Group.
The software is Aeon Timeline.
The tool costs a $50 USD one-time fee.
Aeon Timeline has a free 20-day trial period. Unlike Scrivener, the trial period is calculated based on when the software is installed and even if it’s not used on a particular day, the day counts toward the trial.
Pros
I can create my own personalized calendar with my own number of months in a year and days in a month. I could make years that are 100 days long if I wanted. Note that this has to be done from the start because as soon as an event is created, it’s impossible to modify the calendar.
Based on the data entered, multiple views are available. The timeline is very visual. The different ways to view the timeline is what makes this application so great.
Any type of data can be tracked per event. For fiction, the default entities provided are arcs, characters, and places. More entities can be created and managed.
The additional property concept is available to manage other types of data for each event.
Multiple timeline templates are available other than managing a timeline for fiction work. As an example, this tool can manage the timeline in litigation (think a murder case where a timeline is important).
Age of characters appear everywhere characters are visible in the timeline. This can be very useful for series that span multiple years, decades, or generations.
It’s possible to link 2 events so that if one moves in time, the other is adjusted accordingly.
When viewing the timeline using the relationship view, it’s possible to update entity information directly in the grid (like a character’s role in a certain event).
It’s possible to filter the view based on multiple criteria, such as a specific character, place, or arc.
For Scrivener users, the two applications can be synced.
The above is what I know so far or used.
Cons
I hit a few snags in trying out this application, most of it due to the learning curve and because I already manage my data in Excel.
As with any new application, there is a learning curve. In about 3 days, I figured out most of what I needed to do.
A lot of initial set up is required. The first time I set up my calendar, it wasn’t right. I had started to add events so I couldn’t modify it. I had to start over with no events to correct my personalized calendar.
I struggled to figure out when to use an entity versus a property. On the upside, this can be modified at any time but can be tedious if a lot of data has already been entered.
If a new entity or property is added, each event has to be opened to fill the value of the entity or property. There is no way to identify a default value but at least there is a way to update multiple events at a time by selecting multiple events.
I struggled with grouping events linked to a certain main event (like a battle). I ended up using embedded child events to a main event.
The more properties are managed, the more data has to be entered with each event.
Although a list of characters and respective birth date (and death) can be managed, relationships to other characters like son, daughter, and father are not available. There is a workaround but it’s not worth using. For this, a family tree software is more useful. But having a family tree type of management available along with the timeline would be an awesome feature.
A 20-day trial is rather short given how much data has to be entered and to really determine if the application is worth purchasing.
My data currently resides in Excel so to manage my character timeline in Aeon, I have to enter the data in Aeon. This is time-consuming. I don’t want to enter too much information before I decide if I really want to use this application going forward.
My first impressions
In my case, because my calendar is not a regular calendar, I had to properly set up the calendar in the application before I could start creating any event.
Thought has to be given on what to manage for each event. This does require some trial and error and will likely vary based on the fictional world and what you want to manage per event. The tool is flexible enough to manage just about everything except managing character relationships.
The best way to figure out what to manage is to start entering events to see what kind of information would be useful to track and whether to track the information as an entity or property. Entities allow the most powerful flexibility for viewing events especially if a particular concept can have different values over time or multiple values at one time. Entities show up in the relationship view which means they can be updated directly in that view instead of opening the event inspector. Properties can only be updated using the event inspector.
Conclusion
Would I recommend this application?
Based on my experience so far, yes. It’s great to find an application that has fiction writers in mind. I was impressed that it could easily handle my personalized calendar and can easily calculate age based on my calendar. Despite its lack of functionality to truly manage characters, it’s still worthwhile. I don’t have to consult the family tree software I use to manage characters and date of births since I can manage that in Aeon Timeline.
To decide for yourself if this application is for you, I suggest checking out the Support Videos.
Although my free trial is over, I will likely spend the $50 USD to purchase this software. I’ll be able to use it for non-writing projects, not that I have anything else to manage right now except my Auros series.
Do you know of a different tool that can manage timelines as well as Aeon Timeline? If so, tell me about the tool and what you like and dislike about it.
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