Time is stretchy.

Do you know one of those tiresome people who when you ask them how their day was, they tell you every minute in plodding exactitude? Time lumbers forward in their recounting like a soporific elephant. Writers, in contrast, put time through its paces: slowing down for scenes, racing through summaries and even leaping forward and backward as it suits the narrative. What you need to know is, simply, that the more important something is, the more words you ought to devote to it. For example, if someone jumps from a train, the action may take only a minute in real-time, but you would want to write every nuance, every emotion and detail to draw out the excitement. Conversely, if your character has an uneventful cross-country drive, sum it up in a sentence. Don't be afraid to play with time.