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Topic : Re: How can I convey dates (with ordering) for events happening under different dating systems, e.g. a Sci-Fi story spread over the galaxy? So I want to write a Sci-Fi where humans have spread - selfpublishingguru.com

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Is there one POV character or multiple?

I would always aim to put the calendar according to the POV character. If it's just one character, it's pretty easy. Post through their perspective only. They can always make a comment when talking to other alien characters. "It happened in 3987. Oh, I guess that'd be #$nei9 according to your calendar."

If you switch between multiple POV characters, you can try a few things.

Keep the calendar aligned with the POV. This may mean characters explaining things to each other a bit.
Create a galaxy standard. You could create an accepted standard year that pretty much every planet knows. Even if they prefer to keep their own calendar, they would reference it off of the galaxy one.
Create a diagram / reference guide for appendix. Display all relevant calendars beside each other so you can see where events line up on each. Readers can look up most of the dates in there.

How important are the years?

Perhaps characters could just work off of major events. Is it important for you to be specific in terms of how many years have passed between events? If there aren't too many events, I think you could avoid it altogether. If there are quite a few, I could see needing a calendar / dates.


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