On The Table Read, “The Best Book Reader Magazine in the UK“, author JJ Barnes explains what a story time-lock is, and how to use one to ramp up the tension in your story as you move towards the climax.
Written by JJ Barnes
Time-locks are a technique in story structure to increase excitement and ramp up the stakes. If your story doesn’t have high stakes, it implies what’s going on doesn’t really matter. If it doesn’t really matter, there’s no real reason to follow that journey and it feels boring. In this post I’ll be explaining how to give your story high stakes by implementing time-locks.
What Is A Time-Lock?
A time-lock is a way of adding pressure to your story. If your Protagonist can keep working on their goals indefinitely, there’s no real pressure, so there’s no real stakes. It just means that they can keep trying and trying and the story has no end point in sight.

However, if they have one chance to get it at one specific time and after that the opportunity is lost forever, that is high stakes.
A time-lock is how you add that pressure by setting a point in time in your story where the Protagonist has to achieve their goal, or accept failure. This means as the event approaches the pressure mounts. They must learn their information or perfect their skills and the conflict is active and intense.
Examples Of Time-Locks
Sports and competition stories are the most naturally occurring place for time-locks. You don’t have to artificially create a reason for that situation because the final competition is right there waiting for your to use.
Whether it’s the singing competition in Pitch Perfect or the final match in Dodgeball, everybody knows what they’re building to. The audience knows the conflict will be resolved at that point. They understand the pressure and why it matters, and they know what they’re hoping for. The motivation and stakes for all involved are clear.
However, you can get time-locks into a story without a competition in the climax. You just need to find a reason why pressure is mounting for a certain point. A reason for your Protagonist to have the potential for failure be right in front of them. It’s now or never.
Court room and police dramas can have court dates where proof must be found to convict a criminal. Fantasy stories can have the alignment of planets or a phase of the moon. Rom-coms can have a ball or event your characters want to attend together. External forces coming together to apply pressure on your character to get it done, or lose their chance forever.
Where I Used Time-Locks
I created a time-lock in Lilly Prospero And The Magic Rabbit. When Lilly goes to Adamantine, a magical research facility, she starts to suspect there could be dangerous things happening. I knew I needed to put pressure on her to learn who she can trust fast or it would just start to plod as she pokes about.
I used the concept of “A Final Gathering.” Something she learns about at Adamantine without knowing whether it’s good or bad, what’s going to happen, or who’s involved. But she knows it is coming, and she knows it’s potentially bad.
Once that pressure is added to Lilly, she has to start making decisions fast. She is forced to become active and take risks and make choices. The pressure and tension are up, the conflict is strong, and the consequences are clear. The story is now headed for a climax that matters.
How To Write Time-Locks
It won’t always be immediately clear how to write time-locks into your story. If you don’t have a natural event to build to, an exam or competition or wedding etc, then it can be a challenge.
However, if you feel like your story would benefit from some added pressure and a definite end point, you can usually find a way to make time-locks work.
Look at the circumstances of your story. If it’s a love story create an event such as a party or a prom. If your Protagonist is in love with a person, and perhaps competing for their love with another, that event adds immediate pressure and conflict. That time-lock application is an immediate stakes raiser.

In Emerald Wren And The Coven Of Seven the time-lock is more fluid, and this can work too. The time-lock in this story is that a man is hunting for a girl, and the coven know he will find her. The actual specific time and date he will find her they don’t know, but they know it’s soon, and getting closer. If you’re writing a murder mystery or a crime story, you can use this fluid time-lock style. It’s not definite WHEN, but it’s definitely SOON. The danger is coming.
Adding High Stakes
There’s so many styles of story and so many ways you can do this. It doesn’t really matter what the time-lock is, just that it exists and does it job.
Once that pressure is applied to your Protagonist, your story is driving forwards. There’s no time to sit around doing nothing, no time to let your story drag. Your Protagonist will be active and busy, your story will be entertaining and moving, because that time-lock forces it to.
Your character will be motivated, and your audience will understand why. What they want is clear, and if it didn’t matter the time-lock wouldn’t matter either, so your audience will be invested.
A character that is motivated and driven will capture your audiences interest. The high stakes will keep it entertaining. And applying the time-lock is the perfect way to make that happen.
More From JJ Barnes:
I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.
You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk
Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books
Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose
We strive to keep The Table Read free for both our readers and our contributors. If you have enjoyed our work, please consider donating to help keep The Table Read going!



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That doesn’t imply pushing it till you’re injured – widespread sense guidelines ought to
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Ladies who are comfy with larger doses of Anavar and who don’t endure virilization results can consider adding another 5-10mg to the Anavar
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is Winstrol (Stanozolol). Anavar has a benefit here and may even have a more constructive effect in your tendons and joints.
You’ll additionally need to contemplate the time of
day – some folks find sleep points develop with Anavar29,
so the greatest way to reduce impacts on your sleep is to take Anavar within the morning.
Taking it to the next stage at 30mg daily
will start more severe water retention, but the muscle and energy features will start
approaching thick and fast. Yes, other sides may
even improve at this level, however the majority
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This led to Dbol turning into a popular steroid for bodybuilders of the “golden era” throughout the 1970s,
due to its ability to shortly promote massive gains in muscle.
Anavar’s results of serving to you sculpt a lean, exhausting physique may be extra
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Utilizing post-cycle therapy (PCT) afterwards can be necessary for well being.
The ingredient in TBulk is Diindolylmethane which is clinically confirmed to hurry up
muscle progress and burn cussed belly fat by balancing estrogen levels in men.
As a strongly androgenic steroid, Tren has also been linked to zits, hair loss,
and adjustments in mood like paranoia, aggression, and despair.
Trenbolone, additionally known merely as ‘Tren,’ is amongst
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Testo-Max is an different to the popular injectable anabolic steroid Sustanon, which has
varied harmful unwanted effects. D-Bal Max is a pure various
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Evidence suggests that weightlifters who misuse anabolic steroids have stiffer tendons,
which may lead to an elevated risk for tendon damage 123.
The unwanted aspect effects of anabolic steroid use can differ from
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just like testosterone and can activate the body’s testosterone receptors.
As Quickly As the testosterone receptors are stimulated, a domino effect of metabolic reactions takes place because the drug instructs
the physique to extend muscle tissue production. These doses are much
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Though medical doctors do prescribe them to patients, when they do it’s to assist individuals with certain types
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The outcomes of the medication shall be enhanced when combined with a healthy diet.
Clenbuterol may be extra popular than anabolic steroids with female bodybuilders due to fewer unwanted effects.
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In this page, the time period ‘steroid’ specifically refers to
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There are also behavioral remedies for substance use disorders, such
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It can set off mood swings, fatigue, restlessness, achy muscles, and despair.
This article pertains to steroidal androgens;
nonsteroidal androgens like the selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) andarine and enobosarm (ostarine)
usually are not included here. The last group consists
of progestins with mostly only very weak androgenic/anabolic exercise.
AAS that are listed as marketed could also be marketed as one or more esters rather than as the
listed AAS itself. The penalties for illegally administering steroids varies for each
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Preliminary signs that anabolic steroids
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different types of steroids, including anabolic and intercourse hormone steroids.
Corticosteroids and sex hormone steroids usually are not abused in the identical method as anabolic steroids for
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These abbreviations stand for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST).
Acute damage to the liver can be detected by an increase in the ALT enzyme; however, if harm to the liver
leads to additional deterioration of other organs, this can be
highlighted by a spike in AST. Thus, the liver will
nearly actually turn into broken throughout a cycle of Dianabol.
Nevertheless, the draw back to Dianabol being resistant to such hepatic breakdown is increased hepatotoxicity.
Gynecomastia is when breast tissue in men begins to enlarge,
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Dianabol (methandrostenolone) doesn’t just aromatize; it also converts to 17 alpha-methylestradiol, which is essentially
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Be Taught more in regards to the effects that performance-enhancing drugs can have on health.
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If you inject anabolic steroids and share a needle with others,
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We have had sufferers develop cholestatic syndrome, which
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We have discovered common cardiovascular exercise to be essentially the most useful protocol
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He attributed the damage to his heart as the results
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This superior ability to get well is how Arnold Schwarzenegger and different traditional bodybuilders may get away with coaching for several hours every day
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This is why bodybuilders eat copious amounts of protein in an try to shift this nitrogen stability into a constructive state
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Consequently, a user’s coronary heart fee can velocity up
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Ranges of testosterone are naturally a lot higher in males than in women. SARMs
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the effect on the body much like testosterone.
Oral anabolic steroids are prescribed to treat delayed puberty in boys, low muscle mass as the end result of AIDS or HIV, breast cancer, anemia,
and testosterone substitute therapy. Throughout treatment with anabolic steroids,
clinicians should periodically get hold of the affected person’s lipid profile, hepatic operate
checks, hemoglobin, hematocrit (at 3 to 6 months, then every year), PSA, and testosterone ranges.
Patients on testosterone ought to be monitored for their response to
therapy and antagonistic effects 3 to 6 months after
initiation of therapy after which every year, especially for cardiac antagonistic occasions.
Women treated with testosterone for breast most cancers require monitoring for indicators of virilization. Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are artificial derivatives
of testosterone used to increase muscle mass and improve
athletic efficiency. Their results span muscular,
cardiovascular, endocrine, and psychological systems, typically with each important benefits and critical antagonistic
consequences.
While some unwanted effects could additionally be manageable through correct precautions and management,
others could require medical intervention and long-term care.
In addition to therapy or counseling, individuals can also take different measures to manage temper swings attributable to
Trenbolone use. These measures embrace participating in common exercise, practicing relaxation strategies corresponding to meditation or deep respiration, and sustaining a nutritious diet.
Injectable testosterone esters are among the AAS most used, however there is all kinds of synthetic derivatives obtainable.
Testosterone, as most different AAS, undergoes in depth metabolism when administered orally.
Subsequently, some AAS have been alkylated to increase bioavailability after oral administration. However, a
long time ago, it turned evident that 17-alkylated androgens
are hepatotoxic and clinical application was largely deserted (5).
Although most AAS abusers are properly aware of this, oral
AAS, such as methandienone (Dianabol), chlorodehydromethyltestosterone (Turinabol),
oxandrolone (Anavar) and stanazolol (Winstrol), are still broadly abused.
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is virilization. This refers to the development of male physical characteristics, similar to deepening of
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Many girls use it to boost their athletic performance or to
realize a sure body aesthetic. In the following sections,
we’ll delve into the potential unwanted effects of Anavar
in females. Although selective oestrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), corresponding to tamoxifen and clomiphene, have a possible
advantage over testosterone substitution, some caveats must be thought-about.
SERMs act as an oestrogen or an anti-oestrogen, depending on the uncovered tissue.
Anabolic steroids are Schedule III substances
beneath the Controlled Substances Act. Solely a small number of anabolic steroids are permitted
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are at great danger of getting HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
It’s true that utilizing certain steroids in small
amounts under medical supervision won’t hurt you. Nevertheless,
using giant amounts of anabolic steroids for an extended time period can do you real harm.
Men would possibly develop gynecomastia (breast tissue growth) and expertise testicular shrinkage,
while ladies may notice excessive hair growth and irregular
menstrual cycles. Many customers report experiencing nervousness, mood swings,
and aggressive habits.
If you do start to expertise Tren cough, attempt to keep calm and breathe slowly and deeply.
In most cases, the signs will resolve on their very own within a few days.
Nevertheless, when you develop problem respiratory or a fever, it’s
necessary to stop using Tren and search medical attention instantly.
This makes it an attractive option for bodybuilders looking to obtain a extra outlined
and sculpted physique. Additionally, Anavar has been discovered to reinforce energy and improve muscle recovery times, permitting for
extra frequent and intense exercises. Throughout a
steroid cycle for bodybuilding and muscle development,
doses are usually much higher than medically prescribed quantities.
Common monitoring of bloodwork and general well being
can even scale back potential dangers, but it could
be very important understand that risks cannot be utterly eradicated.
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