tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post5199331079632868166..comments2024-03-28T05:59:52.454-07:00Comments on TalkToYoUniverse: Dealing with chronological breaks in your storyJuliette Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-70004633636707572082012-02-15T05:50:49.880-08:002012-02-15T05:50:49.880-08:00I'm glad. Thanks for your comment, CM!I'm glad. Thanks for your comment, CM!Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-34002351988663377222012-02-15T05:44:03.034-08:002012-02-15T05:44:03.034-08:00Thank you. This was helpful.Thank you. This was helpful.CMSmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13623922567796370246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-23467864088263713552012-02-05T21:49:42.146-08:002012-02-05T21:49:42.146-08:00I don't ever change narrators. That's one ...I don't ever change narrators. That's one of my personal rules. I agree that it's good to get the person's reaction to the time gap, or some sense of the relevance of the gap to the character. Thanks for commenting, Margaret!Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-79673916043846074872012-02-04T18:19:01.887-08:002012-02-04T18:19:01.887-08:00I hate tracking time, personally, but when somethi...I hate tracking time, personally, but when something needs to be on a distinct schedule, you don't have to go to a distant narrator necessarily to mention the time passing. Similar to your psychological link, make the passage of time itself relevant to the character. Something like, "the next two days stretched out endlessly in front of him, but then the meeting time arrived without warning, time contracting in an instant. This meeting determined whether he would remain part of the clan or be forever cast out."<br /><br />Okay, not a grand wording, but it should be enough to get the idea across :).Margaret M. Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00537558539259791284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-15802830438643756742012-02-02T10:28:41.809-08:002012-02-02T10:28:41.809-08:00J.R., I do topic leaps sometimes (that's my fi...J.R., I do topic leaps sometimes (that's my first example). I fill the space at other times (that's my second example). I guess it depends on what is most important to the progression of the main conflict and the character arcs. I don't want to waste any words saying that my protagonist hung out for eight hours before his next event started. Sometimes a story can flex chronologically and you can just eliminate the break; other times it doesn't work so well. This is the kind of thing that can lead to contracted timelines where the characters don't ever seem to sleep for periods of days (and that can be a bit of a different problem). One reason this particular story is challenging is that I *have* to stick to my strict timeline due to political requirements. That's why I'm having to face the challenge head-on at this particular time.Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-49654497926634242462012-02-02T09:47:26.486-08:002012-02-02T09:47:26.486-08:00Time breaks are one thing I've never mastered,...Time breaks are one thing I've never mastered, nor feel comfortable with. I feel like I'm missing the story if I write "three weeks later" or any other period of time between events. Like what happened? I'd rather fill that space with story and be done with it...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04454406837183787620noreply@blogger.com