When I write Fantasy I worry that the passing of time, the travelling from one region to another, may come across as boring in a story. While trying to make a realistic timeline (i.e if my travellers are on foot it is going to take them several days to reach a destination) I try to incorporate danger/attacks/dialogue/ and sometimes just a quick sentence like 'several days later they made it to Joe Bloggs house'. How would you tackle the passage of time?
I understand the concern for letting the setting/world consume a story.
I cut an entire chapter from my novel even before I had finished the first draft because I did the unthinkable and read it back to myself early.
I had about eight chapters down and had written portions of the rest of the story. It was only when I read it back that I realised I had basically described every nook and cranny of my town possible. I had even named animals on a farm that is not even referenced later in the story!
The Lord of the Rings is a very good example of where describing every event is important. I think even more so in the Hobbit where the majority of the book is dedicated to their journey. Sometimes it is the journey that is the most important part.
I have created my own world, drawn maps and the travellers in my fantasy live in harsh times. So I think some of the time is very important to show the struggle of the land, but I am also trying not to let it consume my story, if you know what I mean :/
In the Lord of the Rings the passage of time is important because it gives us a sense of scale for the enormity of their journey and indeed their task. It is described in detail - even down to breakfast, lunch and sleep.
In contrast to that, in Twilight, Stephenie Myer's used 3 pages to describe the passage of time with one word on each page, 'October', 'November', 'December' or whatever the months were. (Sorry I'm going by memory). It obviously described the state of mind of Bella as well as the passage of time.
David Nicholls in 'One Day' takes one day each year for the entire period of time from Uni to the point that that he accepts Emma's death. And yet, in the telling of that one day you were able to interpolate the events that took place in the meantime. It was very cleverly done.
Is time important in the telling of your story? Or is it more important to tell the story and make time insignificant?
Just some thoughts.