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Unpopular opinion: a vague timeline ruins a good story more than bad dialogue does
Does setting a scene with a specific date like 'June 14th, 2021 in a laundromat off Third Street' pull you in deeper, or does a loose 'a few summers ago somewhere down south' give you more room to imagine it yourself, and which side do you lean on when you're writing?
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the_sage1mo ago
June 14th, 2021 at 3:42 PM in a laundromat is exactly the kind of thing that makes me trust the writer immediately. You're totally right, it shows they actually did the homework and I can relax into the story knowing it won't fall apart later.
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skyler5161mo ago
Third and Main at noon on a Tuesday is way more interesting to me than "somewhere in the city" ever was. Putting in a specific date and place locks me into the world, makes it feel real and grounded. Vague settings just feel lazy, like the writer couldn't be bothered to think it through. When I'm writing, I drop the exact time and street because it forces me to commit to the details, and that limits the excuses for sloppy plotting. You can always tell when someone leaves it fuzzy because they didn't map out the logistics of the scene.
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