Things happening to different characters at different times in different places.

The more I write, the more a strange thing keeps happening.

I have a complete story in my head.  A whole world, where things are happening in different places at different times to different characters.  It's perfectly clear in my own head.

But when I write it down, I realize that the reader doesn't have access to the whole story, so it may not be so clear to them.

I figure if the story is valid, the reader will sense that -- if I do a good enough job of trying to explain it.  But I'm not sure.

Timeline issues.

The events of Tuskers III start when the events of Tuskers II are still happening, just to different characters.  Then a few chapters in, they start to overlap.  I think I've managed to integrate them, but I won't know until people read it.  Linda thinks I should make sure I clearly mark the dates, but I'm not sure that is a solution because it would require the reader to go back to II to realize the dates are different.  Actually, not even then, because I don't have dates in II.

So the only thing I can do is try to be as clear as possible.  Mention it more than once -- probably in each of the first three chapters.

It's all one big story, and I'm just dipping into with different viewpoints, sometimes at the same time.

Thing is, I'm putting faith in the reader to figure it out.

Same thing happens in IV.  Events begin to different characters before the events of the previous book are finished.

I think if my internal sense of story works, then most readers will also figure it out. I mean, if they are reading Tuskers III and Tuskers IV, I assume they are invested.

I hope.