I’m beginning to think the easiest thing to achieve when writing is the impossible. Make a character arrive someplace before they left wherever they started from. Make them leave in the morning travel all day to arrive at lunchtime… huh? This is so easy to write and not so easy to notice when my attention is elsewhere.
If there’s any chance to mix up a time, distance or something or another then I’m your man 
In the case of my writing the reason this happens so frequently is on a first pass, okay maybe even on a second draft read through, I’m usually focused on how a character deals with a challenging situation. My attention might be on the emotion or another element of the plot that is currently rattling around in my brain. Perhaps the character could be injured somehow or emotionally distraught. If this happens I then have to factor that into what they do in the scene.
The characters are hugely important. If a reader cannot relate to a character then the story alone is not enough to satisfy them. As I focus on my characters, it’s often the details of an event which catch me out.
I only raise this today as a close friend discovered and diligently reported back to me, two continuity errors within the first quarter of Impatience which I have already fully proofed, or thought I had.
Thank god for proof readers and the ability to edit!
It also shows how some readers just miss all that detail – and you can’t rely on them. Sorry Jason for what I’ve missed!
I have to agree with you Dave. I devoured the first half of Impatience so fast that I can’t say I noticed any continuity errors. I think I managed to read it in 3 or fours hours of solid reading. I did pick up other things but not continuity. All I can say is that I’m really looking forward to reading it all again when it is at the other end of the editing process. Overall I loved the story Ja! Well Done!
thanks guys