Blog | Alison Morton Author

Helping to track the timeline of a story

Writing the first book of my Roma Nova stories, I found I needed to develop a tracking system not only of the action but also of its timing.

It’s so easy when engrossed in producing any story, let alone a thriller, to inadvertently get events in the wrong sequence or introduce a character to another you killed off three chapters before.

So I developed a grid in MS Word which tracks timeline, summarises the scenes in each chapter and where I can note down the word count for each chapter.

I expect it could also be developed equally well as an Excel spreadsheet. Entering the details after each day’s writing not only kept the grid up to date, but also made me re-examine the coherence of the plot.

If you’re a planner, then perhaps you’ve planned out every scene in a logical order, and written a detailed synopsis, and you know everything that’s going to happen, and when.

But if you write by the seat of your pants or are a ‘pantser’, then this grid may help you keep track as your story develops. I found it invaluable when I was reviewing, editing and revising my first draft.

I’ve put an empty grid and a sample, part-filled grid on my files area. Please fee free to download and use them.

(Updated 2025) Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO and RETALIO, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA, Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, starts the Foundation stories. The sequel, EXSILIUM, is now out.

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Musings on my first rejection letter

I arrived back from my holiday and found my first rejection on the doormat. It was a polite letter, but a standard, non-personalised one. Of course, I was disappointed (swallows hard and sobs), but I feel I have passed a milestone, lost my publishing virginity, joined the ‘normal’ throng of writers.

Of course, I sent off to another agent straight away. It’s a reflex from many years of running a small business – when a contract pitch doesn’t work, you get on and contact the next company on your selected list of leads.

Perhaps it also goes back to when as a child I fell over and after a brief hug, and a wipe of the knee, from my mother I brushed the tears away, got up and ran off playing again. I was soon back laughing and shrieking with my friends, having completely forgotten the earlier fall.

So, Pollyanna-ish, I wait to hear from the next agent…

Translating – don’t you just press a button on the computer?

Maybe not strictly a creative writing matter, but when fellow writers ask me about my previous life and I say I was a translator for over 20 years,they seem interested to learn more.

The main thing I tell them is about quality. Google’s great for getting the bare bones out of something, but if you want a professional job, you need a human being.

You really do.

If I had a pound/euro for everytime I’ve heard a version of this article’s title, I’d have a private villa on the Côte d’Azur with built-in staff by now.

Proper translators train over approx 5-7 years. They have a first degree in languages or translation & interpreting, plus a post-grad qualification e.g. the CIOL Diploma in Translation (DipTrans) or MA, plus they are full, qualified members of either the Chartered Institute of Linguists (thus MCIL after their name) and/or the Institute of Translation & Interpreting (thus MITI).

Now like all professional qualifications, this doesn’t guarantee anything, but clients can be assured the translator has been put through a rigorous training programme and professional assessment,they meet accredited competence standards and are subject to a code of conduct.

Oh, and proper translators only ever translate into their mother-tongue. I still translate, working from French into English. but I have French partners who work into French, one of whom is a sworn translator for a French court.

Okay, rant over.

Of course, I’d love to carry out translations for you :-), but mainly, I wanted to de-bug some of the myths and misinformation. I ran a translation company for many years, so know a lot of people translating all sorts of languages, so do contact me for their details (See About & Contact page for email).

Tightening and shaving…

I’m editing the second part of my trilogy and it’s causing some blushes of embarrassment. No, not the romantic scenes, but the proliferation of bland and/or superfluous words.

However did I include so many ‘just’s, ‘I wondered’s, ‘I thought’s, ‘suddenly’s and ‘Well,..’s?
Well, I thought I’d just bash the story out, then suddenly I wondered if it didn’t need a second look. 🙂

My special little target for this excercise is ‘then’.’He did x, then he did ‘y’. Very occasionally, I’ve relented and left it in, but almost every one has been exterminated (as per the Daleks). My laser-like eye has had no pity. The ‘then’s have been put through a process similar to the Star Chamber, then led out to execution.

The more difficult thing is re-working other characters’ interactions with my protagonist. The point of view is first person and she needs to be incredibly observant(!), but I must avoid her saying ‘I saw his eyes show interest.’ and switch it round to ‘His grey eyes showed a flicker of interest.’ The thing to watch here, though, is to make sure she stays prominent in the reader’s eye and mind and is not merely warbling on about everything she sees externally to the detriment of describing her internal conflict.

Ho, hum!

Now to anihilate the ‘just’s…

(Gah! Just noticed the date. This is not a spoof post. Really)

First submission made!

Yes, I’ve got my synopsis, three chapters with a (fabulous!) letter out to an agent. It’s quite emotional, letting the A4 envelope disappear into into the postbox slot and hearing the ‘thunk’ as it hits the bottom of the cage inside. At that stage, my first thought was ‘Oh, God, the postbox is empty – I’ve missed the post’ but I hadn’t. My brain, through my eyes, reminded me it was only 11.45 am. Even in English villages, the last collection isn’t until the afternoon…

What did I do next? Went home and had a glass of red.

That evening, I banished all thoughts of manuscripts, synopses, slaving over a hot keyboard. My OH and I loaded up the car and fled to France for a few days, which is where I am typing this post.

I understand I won’t hear for several weeks, especially as the London Book Fair is approaching. I might start getting a little nervy around mid-May and hope I’ll be grown up enough not to phone up until the end of May.

Well, I have Part Deux of my trilogy to edit/polish up, so in between the wine, cheese and milder weather, I’ll content myself with working on that.

(But I still think it’s exciting…)