Question: Time to write or write to time?

[Claire G]

I've been thinking about the significance of time in novels. I heard an author being interviewed who emphasised that the main character in her book is exploring her family history/the past while working towards securing her family's future in the present. I liked the 'big picture' summary (for those interested, I think the book is called 'Acts of Forgiveness' and it's about a world in which the US government has decided to make reparations to those who can prove that they're descended from slaves).

I've written a book spanning several generations, but another which takes place over just ten days. Stephen Baxter's books cover millennia. Kate Sawyer wrote a book ('This Family') taking place over the course of a garden party (with flashbacks, so dual timeline). 'The Time Traveller's Wife' jumps around all over the place.

How do you decide how your novel will be structured with respect to the passage of time? And can you think of any books with interesting representations of time?

 

[Hannah F]

I let the story dictate the timeframe. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke has an interesting representation of time. Also The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.

 

[Pamela Jo]

It's an interesting question. Books that dont have stable time lines give me vertigo. So far I've avoided flashbacks and have some event to measure time by. I want to know the time and place.

The Leopard
The Leopard is a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the Risorgimento. Published posthumously in 1958 by Feltrinelli, after two rejections by the leading Italian publishing houses Mondadori and Einaudi, it became the top-selling novel in Italian history and is considered one of the most important novels in modern Italian literature.

In the first chapters the patriarch tries to control the lives of his children and thinks he's secured the future for them. Always he's accompanied by his loyal black hound, a character in his own right. In subsequent chapters we learn the fates of the family daughters and son. The dog dies and its body taxidermied. It holds a place of honour in the sitting room. Several generations later the villa is sold, its mouldy curtains stripped and furniture burned. The moth-eaten, taxidermied remains of the family dog are thrown on top of the bonfire, the new owners mystified and disgusted by it.
Maybe because it reminded me of the old farmhouse built by my great grandfather I always saw that book as best conveying the passage of time.

 

[GSKaye]

I've been thinking about the significance of time in novels. I heard an author being interviewed who emphasised that the main character in her book is exploring her family history/the past while working towards securing her family's future in the present. I liked the 'big picture' summary (for those interested, I think the book is called 'Acts of Forgiveness' and it's about a world in which the US government has decided to make reparations to those who can prove that they're descended from slaves).

I've written a book spanning several generations, but another which takes place over just ten days. Stephen Baxter's books cover millennia. Kate Sawyer wrote a book ('This Family') taking place over the course of a garden party (with flashbacks, so dual timeline). 'The Time Traveller's Wife' jumps around all over the place.

How do you decide how your novel will be structured with respect to the passage of time? And can you think of any books with interesting representations of time?

What about a novel about time? I've set myself a challenge and am seeing a trend in the reactions I get. The reader must have something to hang on to, whether it be a timeline as in your case, or how time defines reality as in mine.

 

[Claire G]

What about a novel about time? I've set myself a challenge and am seeing a trend in the reactions I get. The reader must have something to hang on to, whether it be a timeline as in your case, or how time defines reality as in mine.

I love your concept!

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I've been thinking about the significance of time in novels. I heard an author being interviewed who emphasised that the main character in her book is exploring her family history/the past while working towards securing her family's future in the present. I liked the 'big picture' summary (for those interested, I think the book is called 'Acts of Forgiveness' and it's about a world in which the US government has decided to make reparations to those who can prove that they're descended from slaves).

I've written a book spanning several generations, but another which takes place over just ten days. Stephen Baxter's books cover millennia. Kate Sawyer wrote a book ('This Family') taking place over the course of a garden party (with flashbacks, so dual timeline). 'The Time Traveller's Wife' jumps around all over the place.

How do you decide how your novel will be structured with respect to the passage of time? And can you think of any books with interesting representations of time?

I write from my heart. I let the people in the story tell it as they live it. I jump in with my authorial voice if another character does not beat me to it. In science fiction, you can find lots of time travel stories. If I were you, I would just write the story and then deal with whatever happens.

 

[LJ Beck]

Interesting topic Claire! When I'm working out the structure of a story, "time" requires a lot of consideration for me. It's probably one of the first questions I ask myself when it comes to what structure I want to use for the story. I took a class on narrative structure, as I was keen to play around with structure and see if there was something interesting I could try. And time can be used a lot of different ways. Was a great class!

In my first book, I wanted to tell the story of my MC's childhood and how she grew up (with telepathy) and what leads her to change her life. So the first quarter was her growing up from 2 - 18-years-old. Then the next 3/4's is her at eighteen at the crossroads of her life, with a lot of action stuff. Originally thought I'd write out her childhood for myself. When I decided to keep it in the story I thought it would be problematic, but turned out not to be. I used one of my favorite books, "Songmaster" as an example, as the story has a similar structure to what I wanted to do. My writing teacher at the time I was working on this story suggested I read "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss, which is a nested timeline, to give me some ideas. It did!

In my current story I'm experimenting with different things, and one is to have two timelines. The main one is the MC's current story with a linear, sequential timeline, but the other story spans 3 generations before and catches up to the current timeline. I'm writing that one through short correspondence between two characters, as they've been alive throughout and know things that the MC does not... yet. It's a SF space opera mystery/conspiracy type story.

Anyway, I have been paying more attention to timelines and structures when I'm reading, and I think it's a really fun thing to play with when developing an idea.

 

[Claire G]

Interesting topic Claire! When I'm working out the structure of a story, "time" requires a lot of consideration for me. It's probably one of the first questions I ask myself when it comes to what structure I want to use for the story. I took a class on narrative structure, as I was keen to play around with structure and see if there was something interesting I could try. And time can be used a lot of different ways. Was a great class!

In my first book, I wanted to tell the story of my MC's childhood and how she grew up (with telepathy) and what leads her to change her life. So the first quarter was her growing up from 2 - 18-years-old. Then the next 3/4's is her at eighteen at the crossroads of her life, with a lot of action stuff. Originally thought I'd write out her childhood for myself. When I decided to keep it in the story I thought it would be problematic, but turned out not to be. I used one of my favorite books, "Songmaster" as an example, as the story has a similar structure to what I wanted to do. My writing teacher at the time I was working on this story suggested I read "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss, which is a nested timeline, to give me some ideas. It did!

In my current story I'm experimenting with different things, and one is to have two timelines. The main one is the MC's current story with a linear, sequential timeline, but the other story spans 3 generations before and catches up to the current timeline. I'm writing that one through short correspondence between two characters, as they've been alive throughout and know things that the MC does not... yet. It's a SF space opera mystery/conspiracy type story.

Anyway, I have been paying more attention to timelines and structures when I'm reading, and I think it's a really fun thing to play with when developing an idea.

Thanks for sharing! What is a nested timeline though? xx

 

[Hannah F]

Forgot about Name of The Wind. Great example of playing with time!

My understanding of nested timeline is you have one main timeline in the main thread of your story with others feeding into it.

 

[LJ Beck]

Thanks for sharing! What is a nested timeline though? xx

It's basically a story within a story. Princess Bride. The first story is the grandfather telling a story to his grandson. The second story, The Princess Bride, is told within that first story's framework. There are more complex examples, but that's the simplest one (and brilliant!) that came to mind.

Here's some examples: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-a-story-within-a-story
And here's a post with lots of ways to do nested stories. 7 Ways to Write a Story Within a Story (Nested Stories) - Bookfox