Technique for illustrating converging timelines?

cacoethes scribendi · Dec 10, 2012

Hello

I'd be grateful for some advice.

I'm using a technique of separating timelines in order to weave backstory into the novel. I don't know if it has a name, but I would like to show the reader at first glance, which timeline the chapter relates to.

I recall The English Patient used something like this and more recently, the movie, Barney's Version with Paul Giomatti.

In case this isn't clear, please consider the following example. Suppose a novel covers a series of events over the course of one week, starting from Monday. Monday's and Tuesday's events are contextual and hopefully entertaining in their own way, but the story starts to build pace on Wednesday. The pace really picks up on Friday, leading to a 'clash of symbols' ending on Sunday.

Instead of reporting it perfectly chronologically, I will stagger the timelines.

Wednesday (pull in reader)
Monday (context 1)
Thursday (pace quickening)
Tuesday (context 2)
_________________________________
Story now flows chronologically...
__________________________________

Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Of course, if this example were real, I could just name chapters by the day and there would be no problem. This would convey clearly to the reader that the story had jumped back by two days initially. My novel timeline isn't as uniform as this however.

I guess I could use different font or italics for the early backstory, but I wonder if there is a more elegant tool available?

I hope my question is clear...

Many thanks in advance

benbenberi · Dec 10, 2012

Write it clearly, and trust the reader.

DON'T rely on gimmicks like fonts or italics. (Among other things, they may not transfer with the text into ebooks & other formats.) As your example of The English Patient shows, you don't have to clobber the reader over the head with dates & headings in order to keep it clear what's happening when. (But good technical control & a consistent approach to things like pov & voice are important to avoid unnecessary confusion.)

JustSarah · Dec 10, 2012

I don't think it matters whether its italics, so long as it isn't a great big font, the font is colored or something like that. I'll definitely read it if its italicized. Although I'll add typically when submitting a manuscript, you underline what you want italicized.

cacoethes scribendi · Dec 10, 2012

benbenberi said:
Write it clearly, and trust the reader. ...good technical control & a consistent approach to things like pov & voice are important to avoid unnecessary confusion.

Thanks. The novel is written from the same POV throughout (1st person, past tense). I'm not sure how I could play with that or the voice to highlight the different timelines... hmm...

cacoethes scribendi · Dec 10, 2012

JustSarah said:
I don't think it matters whether its italics, so long as it isn't a great big font, the font is colored or something like that. I'll definitely read it if its italicized. Although I'll add typically when submitting a manuscript, you underline what you want italicized.

Thanks for your reply. If I can avoid using italics, I will. As benbenberi says, it may appear gimmicky. I'd like to find another way if possible...

Orianna2000 · Dec 10, 2012

I agree, avoid italics and different fonts. A large block of text in italics will give me a headache. Plus, I'm more likely to assume it's unnecessary to the story and will, therefore, skim past it.

You could try time stamping your chapters. You know: "Monday, June 11th, 2008." But that can get confusing because not everyone reads the time stamp, and some won't be able to keep track, so they'll have to flip back and forth, checking the chapter headings. The way around that is to add a bit that says, "Three Days Earlier" or "One Day Later."

Or, you could just make it clear in the text when you're transitioning to another time. For example:

Three days earlier, I knew nothing of the trials that awaited me. I was innocent. Naive, even. They say ignorance is bliss--and I was extremely blissful when I woke Monday morning.

For a book that uses really twisted timelines, and somehow doesn't get confusing, read The Time Traveler's Wife. The main character jumps from year to year, crossing his own timeline repeatedly. It's been awhile since I last read it, so I don't recall exactly how she handled the time jumps, but it was very well done.

pyrosama · Dec 11, 2012

cacoethes scribendi said:
Instead of reporting it perfectly chronologically, I will stagger the timelines.

Wednesday (pull in reader)
Monday (context 1)
Thursday (pace quickening)
Tuesday (context 2)
_________________________________
Story now flows chronologically...
__________________________________

Friday
Saturday
Sunday

I guess I could use different font or italics for the early backstory, but I wonder if there is a more elegant tool available?

I hope my question is clear...

Many thanks in advance

Sounds a lot like a time-compression montage.

goshirn · Dec 12, 2012

Well in my drama that I'm writing, I'll be writing about 3 different main characters, 1 will be in the present, the other is a kid and he was born in 92 or 93 and in the book the time for him will pass faster, I may put something like "A year had passed since he joined the militia, a year since he first took a life" to pass time quicker, eventually he and the present character will meet.

Also the 3rd character I have no idea of what I'm doing with her in terms of timelines I want to make her in the present but the future would be cool, but very hard to pull off xD

Anyway, I think there have been some very good suggestions, but just write some pages, go back read it, if it looks weird or not good, even if it's acceptable, don't trust yourself, do it until you're like "uhhhh that was so smooth I'm so awesome"

And you can also just put some samples here and see what others think, because when it all comes together something that theoretically should work may not work anymore, and don't change the fonts.

I hope I helped

Technique for illustrating converging timelines?

cacoethes scribendi

benbenberi

practical experience, FTW

JustSarah

cacoethes scribendi

cacoethes scribendi

Orianna2000

Freelance Writer

pyrosama

Pyrosama

goshirn