Is it possible to write about Time Travel without making paradoxes?

[Queshire]

Did anyone actually see the dog die? If not a time traveller could swoop in at the last moment and rescue it without any paradox. Mind you, there would be no body in that case unless the time traveller drops provides an alternative body or they wouldn't see the body at all to begin with; for example falling off a cliff, being burned to ash, etc and so on.

 

[Svrtnsse]

You could also use the dead dog as source of ethical dilemma. Will your MC use time-travel to save the dog and risk the paradox or will she soldier on without her dog so as to not put the world at an unnecessary risk.

 

[Ruby]

Did anyone actually see the dog die? If not a time traveller could swoop in at the last moment and rescue it without any paradox. Mind you, there would be no body in that case unless the time traveller drops provides an alternative body or they wouldn't see the body at all to begin with; for example falling off a cliff, being burned to ash, etc and so on.

Hi Queshire,

Thank you for this.

No one directly saw the dog die but the MC was in the vicinity. Someone else finds the dog and is almost murdered, too. He is going to become the MC's love interest as a result of this scene, although previously they hated each other! (Remember Pride and Prejudice - although there was no time travel in that, that I can recall, anyway. ) Then the time traveller appears to save the day and the dog. He is no common time traveller, you see. The MC has not experienced time travel at this point in the story and thinks he's mad!)

So, if the time traveller revived the dog by taking the scene back in time, say one hour, my useful plot progression/character development would disappear. Also, don't forget there is an assassin lurking nearby!

I was going to be ruthless and let the dog die, but the MC needs it in her act and I'd have to write about her buying another dog and training it which would be tedious.

I've found another solution using steampunk and magic.

This is turning into an interesting book. I'm a Plantser, you see. That means Pantsing and then finding a plan and a structure. I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next.

 

[Ruby]

You could also use the dead dog as source of ethical dilemma. Will your MC use time-travel to save the dog and risk the paradox or will she soldier on without her dog so as to not put the world at an unnecessary risk.

Hi Svrtnsse,

Yes, you're correct: time travel now would result in a paradox. The MC will do this later, but to save a human being.

I was worried that time travelling at this stage would create a very complicated plot. There would have been two time lines. I can't begin to tell you how difficult this book is to write! However, it's beginning to make sense! Yes, of course it is...

 

[Ruby]

Hi,

The time traveller says to the MC, "Your dog is as dead as a Dodo!"

Would the MC be confused to hear this, or would this expression have been used in Victorian times?

 

[Devor]

The time traveller says to the MC, "Your dog is as dead as a Dodo!"

Would the MC be confused to hear this, or would this expression have been used in Victorian times?

I'm not sure, but I wouldn't use it. It was a big deal when the dodo went extinct, so maybe, but we only talk about it because it was in Alice in Wonderland. I wouldn't risk it.

((edit)) Apparently Alice was written in 1865, so before then, no, after then, yes.

 

[Ruby]

I'm not sure, but I wouldn't use it. It was a big deal when the dodo went extinct, so maybe, but we only talk about it because it was in Alice in Wonderland. I wouldn't risk it.

((edit)) Apparently Alice was written in 1865, so before then, no, after then, yes.

Hi Devor,

My story begins in 1899. The time traveller is from the 20th/21st Century.