Description
Compare a character's age change with a story time jump.
Story planning separates the order of telling from fictional chronology, continuity records and practical writing budgets. Explicit labels, counts and invented calendar rules can make a local convention consistent without deciding narrative quality or inferring facts from manuscript prose.
Compare a character's age change with a story time jump.
When to use this tool
Use Story Time Jump Age Residual when checking a supplied story-continuity, chronology, calendar or drafting-budget convention.
How to use the tool and how it works
- Enter beforeAge, afterAge, elapsedYears. Use the units and conventions below.
- Run the tool. Correct any format, range, or cross-field input error before interpreting the output.
- Read ageChange, residual. Use the output convention below.
Compare a character's age change with a story time jump. ageChange = afterAge-beforeAge, residual = ageChange-elapsedYears.1
| Input field | Meaning and units | Accepted input |
|---|---|---|
| beforeAge | Before Age | Required. Finite number. |
| afterAge | After Age | Required. Finite number. |
| elapsedYears | Elapsed Years | Required. Finite number. |
| Output field | Interpretation | Returned shape |
|---|---|---|
| ageChange | Age Change | Required. Finite number. |
| residual | Signed difference in the direction stated above, with matching units. | Required. Finite number. |
{
"input": {
"beforeAge": 20,
"afterAge": 25,
"elapsedYears": 4
},
"output": {
"ageChange": 5,
"residual": 1
}
}Limitations and assumptions
- Years must use one convention; birthdays, nonstandard calendars and the plausibility of supplied ages are not resolved.
- Inputs must satisfy both the field types and the cross-field conditions above. Invalid input causes an error; a successful false flag or documented placeholder is a different result.
- Numeric calculations use binary floating point unless exact decimal-integer arithmetic is explicitly stated. No hidden measurement tolerance or decimal rounding is added; nonfinite or out-of-contract results are rejected. Numeric signed-zero results are exported as zero.
Alternative or Complementary methods
Use the manuscript, scene outline and the chosen style/calendar policy for a complete editorial review; interpret numerical budgets in their narrative context.
References
Similar or alternative tools
- Story Timeline Flashback Offset
Return a scene's timeline offset and ending anchor.
- Screenplay Montage Time Compression Term
Return story-to-screen time compression.