That other old devil of mine; time jumps

[Jo Zebedee]

Ok so I have a novel which stretches over the space of 40 years and not all of them are eventful. Plus I only have 8 main characters (10 at a stretch), which means there are time hops in it, and which keep consistently coming back to me as a structural problem. I did consider leaving out the first section which is the worst offender and got told to behave by my lovely alpha readers. Which still leaves me a problem.

I don't want to do flashbacks; this is a very personal journey that the reader undertakes with the characters and I really feel that playing with that journey isn't what I want.
For the same reason I don't want to extend the character range, they're fulfilling what I need for the story line.

So, what's the best way to structure this so it's reasonably unobtrusive to the reader?

I can

a do the 18 months on job (which will happen about 7 times if I do it each time I jump

b divide it into sections incorporating chronological chapters; the first ones woud be c. 10000 in length (3/4 chapters each) with a final section of about 40000 which is pretty chronological.

Which do you find easier to read? The big bold seperate sections of the subtler time's moved on note.

 

[Hex]

How many devils do you have?

(I need to post just so you don't get hopelessly away from me, and I get to see Gary dance in the 1000+ club too).

I don't have a problem with time jumps -- I just need to know that the big ones have happened, and I think the way to do that is to label them.

 

[Warren_Paul]

As Hex said, just find a way to indicate the time jump, like the first few lines make a reference to the passing of time or something along that line.

Myself, I used the dividing up into sections method. I have the prologue, then Part One starts and time has skipped forward 3 months. 6 chapters later I have Part Two which skips another 3 months.

Part Two returns to the character from the prologue and on the first page of chapter 7 she reflects for a couple of lines on the passing of seasons to let the reader know how much time was skipped, which was 6 months since we last saw her.

 

[Hex]

See, I think I actually prefer the Alistair Maclean approach of starting each section with the time/ date (although as discussed in the chapter title thread, I don't normally read them)

 

[Warren_Paul]

See, I think I actually prefer the Alistair Maclean approach of starting each section with the time/ date (although as discussed in the chapter title thread, I don't normally read them)

Steven Erikson also does this. A date at the beginning of the chapter.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

i think yours is a bit more complex than mine WP. I think part of the problem is the new chapter often runs on from the last in terms of the character's in it; I could try moving things around so that when there's a jump in time a new character/pov starts it? and I indicate it in the text?

 

[Hex]

"Six months later, Kare was finding his uniform uncomfortably tight/loose/flarey..."?

 

[Warren_Paul]

If I remember rightly, Sara Douglass wrote a book from the PoV of one character and it skipped time quite often, sometimes right in the middle of the chapter, might make for good research to check it out. Its not long.

Was called Beyond the Hanging Wall. A short novel based in her Wayfarer Redemption world.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I'll have a look for that one, cheers WP.

 

[Gumboot]

I have this problem in my own work. Would it be worthwhile putting brief "linking" paragraphs between the major events that let you know how much time has passed, but could also be used to give the reader a bit of a feel for "normal life"?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

It's possible and I have used a lot of small linking scenes to try to pull the jumps into sections a little. HMM, this always gives me a headache when I mention it and I then spend three days looking at WIP stupidly....

 

[Bowler1]

A difficult problem Springs1971, one that I mull over a lot when deciding structure. If there is a journey (spaceship travelling), or time frame to reference to (a war with major events) and/or someone getting older would allow the reader something to hook on to. A background event as a point of reference, seasons/weather etc. I don't know how useful this advice is, but I hope it helps even a little bit.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I mostly use the getting older as the main protagonist starts as a kid, I'm really starting to think that what I've tried to do is smooth the passages by linking POV's and I should have maybe went the other way. For some I will have to do the time has passed stuff but I'll have a look at this Bowler, see if I can use the others as well.

 

[r_j_dando]

I have this problem as well, and will be reading responses with interest! I have a novel that spans around 20-odd years, but not evenly. Probably 1/2 of the story happens present day, with the rest dotted around. If I try to write it chronologically, it won't balance at all. I tried writing flashback chapters, but then found that I had smaller flashback scenes that also required fitting in for character building, and...well, the rest goes from there.

It's stalled at 40k and is waiting for me to figure out how to restructure it with the new flashbacks in...

 

[Vertigo]

If it makes you feel any better, Springs, the story I would like to write has a number of events spread over about 40 years in the first part but the bulk of the story takes part in less than a year. To make matters worse the first part has two threads with different relative times; one is aboard a vessel travelling close to the speed of light. I have pretty much decided that I will have to use date headings!

 

[Ursa major]

Surely it's best to be reasonably up front about long gaps between scenes/chapters/section, unless you, the author, have a good reason to be coy or unclear or mysterious. Why confuse the readers for no good reason?

As an aside, I recall** one of the Rendezvous with Rama sequels having a paragraph where something was happening, then a lot of time passed (months, a year or so; I can't remember) in a few words, and then something else happened. The clumsiness - though I expect the writer*** thought he was being clever - pulled me right out of the story.

If it makes you feel any better, Springs, the story I would like to write has a number of events spread over about 40 years in the first part but the bulk of the story takes part in less than a year. To make matters worse the first part has two threads with different relative times; one is aboard a vessel travelling close to the speed of light. I have pretty much decided that I will have to use date headings!

Alastair Reynolds does this in Revelation Space. (With long distances covered by sub-light ships****, and scenes set on those ships and on their origins and destinations, not to mention some folk kept in some sort of suspended animation, apparently contemporary events, in terms of the plot, could happen decades apart. He had to put dates in.)


** - Though I've done my very best to try and forget the sequels. *shudders*

*** - Not necessarily Clarke: the sequels were collaborations of some sort.

**** - They accelerated for half the flight, turned the ship round, then decelerated for the rest of the journey. High fractions of c were achieved, with all that means for relatavistic effects to come into play.

 

[Vertigo]

Alastair Reynolds does this in Revelation Space. (With long distances covered by sub-light ships****, and scenes set on those ships and on their origins and destinations, not to mention some folk kept in some sort of suspended animation, apparently contemporary events, in terms of the plot, could happen decades apart. He had to put dates in.)

I'd forgotten that he did that in those books, and that's exactly the same situation I have, though I'm not bothered by the origins. Unfortunately I also have a problem that the ship and destination are two different races who have never met before and so wouldn't even have the same units of measurement. But I think I have a fix for that and I don't want to derail Spring's thread!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

. But I think I have a fix for that and I don't want to derail Spring's thread!

Derail away, Vertigo, all distractions welcome.....

I think I am overcomplicating things and Hex and Ursa are right, just tell 'em. The feedback I'm getting isn't about the content, just that I'm takng the reader out by making them work out how far along we are. I will swallow my dislike for it and do the 18 months on etc job and see how I go with that. I might run my chapters a bit longer too when they're a run on.....

 

[Hex]

Ursa and I are always right. Especially when we disagree

@springs -- it's okay. You can be right too! Let's all be right.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

My apologies, it should have read Hex and Ursa are, as ever, correct.

And I am not.