I've always been fascinated with time travel in various forms of media (legacy of kain is probably the best use of it I've seen yet) but I'm curious of how much literature uses it and how creative one can be with it while still avoiding plot holes, keeping the story unpredictable, and still having the story feel like the author actually put time into producing it and didn't seem o use it just to be lazy.
is time travel still considered overused if utilized creatively? (Moved from Novels)
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Well, it seems like if there's anything that would be timeless, it's time travel. 
It's one of those things that is always there for somebody who can do something compelling with it. Terminator is a modern classic. But there have also beein Minority Report, Returner, Twelve Monkeys and more really excellent/prestigious/high budget films in recent times.
The way to make it look like you spent some time on it and didn't just cop out, would be to spend time on it and not cop out.
It's one of those things that is always there for somebody who can do something compelling with it. Terminator is a modern classic. But there have also beein Minority Report, Returner, Twelve Monkeys and more really excellent/prestigious/high budget films in recent times.
The way to make it look like you spent some time on it and didn't just cop out, would be to spend time on it and not cop out.
Do something interesting with it and, for god's sake, make it sensible and internally consistent. Everyone's sick of time travel stories which contradict themselves.
Personally, I love seeing time travel used intelligently. I can never get enough of it. Trouble is, most of the time the writers introduce massive plot holes by failing to to understand the time travel theory they're using.
Personally, I love seeing time travel used intelligently. I can never get enough of it. Trouble is, most of the time the writers introduce massive plot holes by failing to to understand the time travel theory they're using.
It can be done in a fresh and creative way if you put your own spin on it, for sure. For example, The Time Traveler's Wife did really well because no one had ever seen anything like that before. A favorite example of mine is "Cowl" by Neal Asher. It's another totally original take. The pitfalls are that the standard time travel plots have been done so much that they are tired now. I'd suggest you look around at what's in the bookstore and how they do things so you get a good idea of what's been done and what's waiting to be done.
Also, there were other good time travel thread recently here:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142953
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136001
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120258
Read them for a bunch more examples.
Also, there were other good time travel thread recently here:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142953
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136001
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120258
Read them for a bunch more examples.
The ultimate "time travel" story remains the classic: The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells. As readable today as it was when published in 1895. Anyone contemplating a time travel story must read it.
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Kitty Pryde mentioned The Time Traveler's Wife already. I seem to be saying this a lot, but I have to ditto it. I'm usually not for time-traveling because it has been used so many times (and badly), but that book is amazing and definitely puts a new spin on it.
I read the summary on wiki, and it sounds amazing. even though I'm not one for romance novels I loved the way it utilized the concept. might give me some inspiration. might get it for my girlfriend as a gift sometime though I'm not sure how she'd take the time travel stuff. can always give it a chance though.
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The time-travel plot device is basically a way to look at cause and effect. What are the consequences of specific actions? What if we could go back and change a decision, will it have a different effect? What affect will my decisions NOW have on my future?
This theme is at least as old as "A Christmas Carol" - where the device for 'time travel' was a 'spirit guide'. No science needed. So too a 'bump on the head' in Connecticut Yankee. So either bone up on your quantumn physics - cause people are going to be fact-checking you, or come up with a new 'door into summer ' - either way, the device is really only a way to examine the theme of "Choices and their consequences".
Have fun.
This theme is at least as old as "A Christmas Carol" - where the device for 'time travel' was a 'spirit guide'. No science needed. So too a 'bump on the head' in Connecticut Yankee. So either bone up on your quantumn physics - cause people are going to be fact-checking you, or come up with a new 'door into summer ' - either way, the device is really only a way to examine the theme of "Choices and their consequences".
Have fun.
The movie comes out soon. Take her--it's a sci-fi plotbut it's gonna be a total chick flick so surely you'll win points
The writing's what sold me though. I'm not sure how well it'll be portrayed in the movie.
Hehe. The way that my friend pitched it to me was that it's not really focused on the sci-fi element and more on the relationship between the two MCs.
Hehe. The way that my friend pitched it to me was that it's not really focused on the sci-fi element and more on the relationship between the two MCs.
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Mmm, this subject makes my head hurt.
I don't see why paradoxes and plot holes should stop you from writing a time travel story. Heck, enough people have done it already, and they sure as hell didn't fix those problems. ^_^
I'm partial to the parallel universe/timeline take on time travel. That is, when a person time travels, they don't travel into the past of their current timeline- they travel to (or create) a new timeline. The timeline they travelled from (their "original" timeline) ceases to exist. Additionally, they can't recreate their original timeline exactly, as you can't replicate events (take one unexpected step to the left and you've already altered the way things panned out in your original timeline).
As soon as a person creates or travels to a new timeline, they have the opportunity to take another shot at the future. Thing is, though they've escaped the future of their original timeline, they still can't predict events, because the very act of replaying the timeline is going to change how things happened. All they can do is hold on tight and hope that their future in this timeline is less buggered than the one from their original timeline.
I also think that time travel should not be readily available. If it's difficult to time travel, people won't do it for any ol' little reason. That means not being able to go back 6 hours into the past to avoid eating that chicken burrito.
I don't see why paradoxes and plot holes should stop you from writing a time travel story. Heck, enough people have done it already, and they sure as hell didn't fix those problems. ^_^
I'm partial to the parallel universe/timeline take on time travel. That is, when a person time travels, they don't travel into the past of their current timeline- they travel to (or create) a new timeline. The timeline they travelled from (their "original" timeline) ceases to exist. Additionally, they can't recreate their original timeline exactly, as you can't replicate events (take one unexpected step to the left and you've already altered the way things panned out in your original timeline).
As soon as a person creates or travels to a new timeline, they have the opportunity to take another shot at the future. Thing is, though they've escaped the future of their original timeline, they still can't predict events, because the very act of replaying the timeline is going to change how things happened. All they can do is hold on tight and hope that their future in this timeline is less buggered than the one from their original timeline.
I also think that time travel should not be readily available. If it's difficult to time travel, people won't do it for any ol' little reason. That means not being able to go back 6 hours into the past to avoid eating that chicken burrito.
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Nothing is overused, not time travel, not vampires, nothing. Catch is, you have to be able to write it well.
Tiny niggle - it doesn't cease to exist, they just vanish from it never to return. To the people watching their attempted time travel, there is no perceivable difference between a successful jump and the testee simply being obliterated by the absurdly high energies involved.
But frankly, I for one don't really care whether a story is scientifically viable, so long as it's consistent in its application of (bad) science from beginning to end. (Well the story obviously has to be good too, but that goes without saying.)
Unless the act of eating that burrito was directly responsible for the destruction of an entire galaxyThat means not being able to go back 6 hours into the past to avoid eating that chicken burrito.
Then you're probably fine.
This is the be all and end all of Time Travel media. The Terminator, although an awesome film is not really about time travel, and anyway, it doesn't make sense.
I am going to try and explain the Box in Primer now:
You have an A end and a B end. Imagine A is 12:00 and B is 12:01. If you put an object in the box and turn it on it will oscillate between the A end and the B end about 1000 times before coming out at the B end. So it'll have "travelled" 1000 minutes instead of 1, but still come out at 12:01.
Following?
Now, where is gets clever is what happens if you put an object in at the B end. Of course, for the A end to exist the machine has to be already turned on and running. Going in at the B end, you will come out at the A end, which is whenever you turned on the machine.
This is more believable than any other sort of time travel. For a start you can't go back to medieval times because you'll only go back as far as the machine was turned on.
I am going to try and explain the Box in Primer now:
You have an A end and a B end. Imagine A is 12:00 and B is 12:01. If you put an object in the box and turn it on it will oscillate between the A end and the B end about 1000 times before coming out at the B end. So it'll have "travelled" 1000 minutes instead of 1, but still come out at 12:01.
Following?
Now, where is gets clever is what happens if you put an object in at the B end. Of course, for the A end to exist the machine has to be already turned on and running. Going in at the B end, you will come out at the A end, which is whenever you turned on the machine.
This is more believable than any other sort of time travel. For a start you can't go back to medieval times because you'll only go back as far as the machine was turned on.
Time travel has been around for quite some time. Since The Time Machine, at least; possibly well before then.
It really doesn't matter if a concept is "overused," if you write it really well. Tell the best story you can, and don't worry about whether it has a feature that we've seen before.
Unless it's vampires. I'm fricking sick of vampires.
It really doesn't matter if a concept is "overused," if you write it really well. Tell the best story you can, and don't worry about whether it has a feature that we've seen before.
Unless it's vampires. I'm fricking sick of vampires.
I think time travel is easier to screw up than anything else in fiction. Even experienced authors often mess it up to an unreadable degree.
Yes, Time Traveler's Wife is an example where it's done right. So is The Accidental Time Machine (by Joe Haldeman) - it's a simple book, but he does it well, and with good humor.
So, yes, if you have a creative idea, go for it, of course, but be extra cautions, because it's so easy to mess up.
Yes, Time Traveler's Wife is an example where it's done right. So is The Accidental Time Machine (by Joe Haldeman) - it's a simple book, but he does it well, and with good humor.
So, yes, if you have a creative idea, go for it, of course, but be extra cautions, because it's so easy to mess up.
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Even more so than vampires and zombies, time travel is a topic that can always work when put into the proper hands.
You know, screw it I'm going to write my own time travel epic.
An American college football player wanders into a time vortex and wakes up in Southern Italy at the time of the Emperor Titus. Naturally, everyone speaks Latin and assume he's speaking some form of pigeon latin, he's tall and blonde haired so he has to be an escaped slave.
He becomes a gladiator and yadda yadda yadda. The real reason I'm doing it is for the line when he goes to the Coliseum and is like 'Dude, you said this was like the Superbowl' after a guy gets his guts ripped out. The majority of gladiator combats outside of the big shows were non lethal! It's fun and educational!
An American college football player wanders into a time vortex and wakes up in Southern Italy at the time of the Emperor Titus. Naturally, everyone speaks Latin and assume he's speaking some form of pigeon latin, he's tall and blonde haired so he has to be an escaped slave.
He becomes a gladiator and yadda yadda yadda. The real reason I'm doing it is for the line when he goes to the Coliseum and is like 'Dude, you said this was like the Superbowl' after a guy gets his guts ripped out. The majority of gladiator combats outside of the big shows were non lethal! It's fun and educational!
I don't take issue with time travel as a tool. Many already mentioned Time Traveler's Wife - I actually don't care for the story that much, but I love the concept. I think it was case where I didn't think the story lived up to the concept.
Just look at this summer ... both Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation integrated time travel as a tool, in different and not necessarily emphatic ways, but nobody really batted an eye. LOST is using it, and although the series has lost some viewers over the years, it's not because of the time travel element. Harry Potter's done it to great effect, as well, along with hundreds of other stories.
Your headline says it all - utilized creatively, you'll be fine.
Just look at this summer ... both Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation integrated time travel as a tool, in different and not necessarily emphatic ways, but nobody really batted an eye. LOST is using it, and although the series has lost some viewers over the years, it's not because of the time travel element. Harry Potter's done it to great effect, as well, along with hundreds of other stories.
Your headline says it all - utilized creatively, you'll be fine.
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