on Live Write Thrive:

We’ve been going over the element of time in many recent posts (start with this one). Time is a matter of perception, and fiction writers need to learn skills to help them become adept in conveying the passage of time.

It’s important that writers create a sense of continuity regarding time passage. What do I mean? We want to avoid readers getting confused about when events are taking place in the story, particularly how much time has passed since the last scene with a character.

By paying attention to how time flows for you, at different moments of your life, you can pick up ideas you can use in your fiction. But don’t leave time out of the equation. Great moments in film are often the ones in which time slows down or has a jagged cut to it. So think of places in your novel in which you can skew time for your character, creating an emblematic scene perhaps, that will be long remembered.

One last consideration when dealing with the perception of time: regardless of how you show time passing for your characters, be sure it’s not confusing for your readers. You want readers to be able to follow your story. And that requires showing continuity.