How to Make a Timeline From 2001 to 2010
A timeline is useful for seeing events at first glance to make sense of what happened in your life and for understanding state or local happenings. It is also useful for presentations or to trace a biography. You can further use a timeline to help write novels or papers. A timeline from 2001 to 2010 is roughly a timeline of the 21st century.
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Instructions
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Write the title of your timeline at the top of your page. Writing the title first allows you to decide if your timeline is going to be personal or historic, centralized or worldly, random or specific. Separate your timeline in two if your timeline has too many entries, such as one timeline for world events and one timeline for local events.
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Write down a list of the events that interest you in a chronological manner. Group the events per year to make it easy to organize your data. Write the events on separate pieces of paper. Use one page per year, and put the date at the top of the page to make it easy to find the year and compare the papers. Use markers of different colors to identify general events from specific events.
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Research each individual event in detail with the exact date, and include your sources in case you need to go back and make more research. You can write each event in the exact same manner: name of the event, date, description and source. Use flash cards to jot down events you want to include in your timeline; this way you can easily add or remove them and change place on your timeline. This will also help if you do not remember the exact date so you can include it later without crowding your timeline.
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Draw a horizontal line. Draw nine thick vertical lines of the same length along the horizontal line. Write a different year over each line. Write 2001 on the first vertical line to the left. If your event has a long description, draw boxes underneath your timeline and prolong the event thin line until it connects the box. Write your description in the box.
Write the individual events vertically; it takes less space, and you have room to write more.
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Count the number of entries you have in your timeline per year and decide a scale. You might have enough space to write down one event per inch on your paper. In that case, draw a vertical thin line every inch along your horizontal line. Write down the event underneath each thin line, in order of happening.
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Tips & Warnings
Write the most important events on your timeline. Print the less important events on transparencies. Superpose the transparencies on top of the general timeline when you need to. This is useful, for example, if you trace a personal timeline, but you want to have the timeline of other people to compare with your timeline to see how their personal lives coincided with yours.
Label the dates left to right. Add an arrow at the end of the line, to the right to indicate the direction for reading your timeline.
Remove less important dates from your timeline if you do not have enough space to write all the events. Select the events that are the most significant to what you want to explain. A crowded timeline accomplishes the opposite result to what you intend it for. A crowded timeline is unappealing and overwhelming.
References
Resources
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