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Leaping time?

Rho

Dreamer
Hi guys.
I'm still nutting out the plot of one of my ideas which I suppose might be considered a historical fantasy of sorts. The lead character causes a wee bit of mayhem at the start of the book and the Maori gods curse him to wander the earth to atone for his actions forever, unless he can repair the damage he has done. The books time line is roughly 300 years and this characters story will be told at 4 key moments during that 300 years.

But how do I start and finish each thread? Do I say "well nothing much happened for the next 60 years, and then one day....." Meh, that just seems....well, Kind of lame. I've thought of a few other ways but they all seem stilted and I feel they'd ruin the flow of the story.

Is there a standard method of expressing a long period of time where "bugger all" happens or is it a tricky bit of business?

Cheers all.
 

Butterfly

Auror
In starting the threads there are a few things you could do...

Use the advances in technology to set the time frame.

Point out the change in fashions, changes in society's views.

What are the different between each time period?

Or simply start the chapters with a reference date.

No ideas for closing the threads though, sorry.
 
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If you've chosen exactly four periods, you've already done most of the work. Just start each with whatever event makes the MC realize this is a pivotal time-- or a bit later to get him more in the process of doing his work, or just maybe earlier if you think you can capture "okay another day in the century... wake up, walk, try not to think too much about how it's all changed-- oh wait, what was that?" Endings are like most stories': end when the thing is finished, and maybe a little windup afterward, wherever makes the best effect considering there are more segments to come.

The hard part would be if you wanted to write about the times between those, and how much detail to give to what. A paragraph for a year in one place, then a sentence for the next five years? Ten one-page episodes? Cut straight ahead two centuries and then drop a few lines into the next scene about how much has changed? Infinite possibilities.
 
Hi,

My thought would be that since there's such a large disjoint in time between the periods, write each as a separate section of the book, like episodes in a series. Make each one complete in and of itself.

Cheers, Greg.
 
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Rho

Dreamer
Thanks for the useful replies guys. I thought I might try out the separate books within a book idea with the year at the start of each one.
I'd just like to say thank you everyone for this site, it is so useful, especially when I read some of your posts I realize I'm not as weird or unrealistic as I sometimes feel for wanting to do this.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
I'd just like to say thank you everyone for this site, it is so useful, especially when I read some of your posts I realize I'm not as weird or unrealistic as I sometimes feel for wanting to do this.

Oh no... You're quite odd and weird. You've just found a place with a lot of like-minded, strange folk.
 

Saigonnus

Auror
I agree with many above in that if you have the four time periods plotted out, do each part as a section of the whole, though perhaps not each a seperate "book". Perhaps the layout of the books could be four "parts" each with its own prologue touching on the broad events that occur during the "down time" between the series of events; where it concerns the story.
 

Rob P

Minstrel
If you are dealing with four defined time periods then it could be possible to tell all four sections simulataneousy, darting between them from one chapter to the next. It would possibly give you an additional tool to employ of symmetry between the time periods to play around with. It would also make the story less linear and most imprtantly not worry about the stuff in between.
 
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