Twin Sub-Plot Lines

[Loren]

Greetings!

I am wondering how best to manage this. I have two converging sub-plot lines. One takes place on Earth. The other begins on another world.

Each has a significant contribution to the story's main plot.

The conundrum is this. The main character is on Earth and I would prefer to open the book with that person on chapter 1.

However, temporally speaking, the action begins on the other planet before things begin on Earth.

I will need to bounce back and forth between the two worlds (probably alternating chapters) until the converge later in the story.

My concern is the time difference for the off-world happens years before we start on Earth. So, as much as I would like to put the main character first, I think it will be more confusing for the reader to time-hop back a few years from what is happening on Earth.

Also, Earth and Turfel (this other world) have no idea the other exists.

 

[hopewrites]

From a readers standpoint I don't see a big problem.

Alternating chapters with time indicators in chapter names should be enough to follow along with what's up.

I agree with starting with the MC as being more important than time line. We need to know why we care about what's going on on that other planet more than we need to know what's going on on that other planet.

In all honesty it sounds like your specific situation wants a beta reader.
If that's the case pm me and I'll give you my email.

 

[Loren]

From a readers standpoint I don't see a big problem.

Alternating chapters with time indicators in chapter names should be enough to follow along with what's up.

I agree with starting with the MC as being more important than time line. We need to know why we care about what's going on on that other planet more than we need to know what's going on on that other planet.

In all honesty it sounds like your specific situation wants a beta reader.
If that's the case pm me and I'll give you my email.

Wow, thank you for the offer!

This is a work in progress and while I have the plot nailed down, I am still learning how to write.

I have had some eyes on parts of it and the feedback on the writing is not good, so I am not ready for a beta read, just yet.

However, I have been adding a time stamp for each chapter. I was thinking of removing them, but I can keep them.

The syntax I have been using is:

Earth Time: June 13 2026 09:58 hrs
Kamal: Day 6 06:10 hrs

Kamal is a desolate planet, so there is no formal calendar, just the number of days my main character is stranded there.

I could do the same thing for Turfel and just keep the Earth date/time as a consistent reference.

Oh, just to make things complicated, Earth and Turfel share the same rate of time passage, but the planet Kamal experiences time passing 7.975 times faster. Yes, there is a reason that supports the plot for this.

 

[hopewrites]

Sounds like you've got it sorted then.

Anne McCaffrey used time/place stamps for chapter headings in her Pern series... so it wouldn't be anything readers haven't seen before.

 

[Shyrka]

I don't think it'll be a problem if it's presented consistently. It's essentially just a series of flashbacks that you're interleaving with the 'present' plotline.

 

[Mad Alice]

What you are describing. Is a two. Story. Plot. This is a common device.
Shakespeare used it. Television uses it.. Lord of the rings and Robert Jordan used it

 

[Bhairavi]

You will surely mention, directly or indirectly, the different time parameters for the planets so readers will be well informed.
A beta reader seems to be a good idea.

 

[The Judge]

I'm one of those people who get annoyed at time jumps. I like everything in as near chronological order as possible unless there is a good reason for doing otherwise, so I can sympathise with your dilemma -- similar problems in my own WiPs have me fretting uncontrollably.

If all, or a good many, of the Turfel chapters were set in the Earth character's past, then it wouldn't worry me quite so much, as the interleaving of past and present can work very well. Though there are two arising issues. First it's important the structural tail doesn't wag the plot-dog as happened in a fantasy novel I read last year when the "past" chapters were extended far beyond what was needed simply to maintain the alternate chapters structure. Second, it can be a lazy way of dumping backstory which could be better integrated into the plot.

If -- which is how I read your opening post -- it's only the first chapter on Turfel which is in the Earth character's past, and all the other Turfel chapters would be slotted in chronologically with the Earth chapters, then I'm more ambivalent. I wonder if it might then be time for *shock horror* a Prologue. Otherwise, does the chapter need to be seen, or could it be slipped into the Turfel character's current chapters in some way, like other backstory?

Having said that, even with date stamps, probably few people would notice the time jump, so it's probably one of those things that you'll only know is a problem if your beta readers/writing group get confused or annoyed when reading the whole thing. For now, don't worry about it, and just press on. (Easier said than done, as I know to my cost!)

 

[Venusian Broon]

Having said that, even with date stamps, probably few people would notice the time jump, so it's probably one of those things that you'll only know is a problem if your beta readers/writing group get confused or annoyed when reading the whole thing. For now, don't worry about it, and just press on. (Easier said than done, as I know to my cost!)

Yep, time/date stamps annoy me and I don't pay any attention whatsoever to them. It should come out in the cooking, as they say, and the writing should make it pretty clear. Alastair Reynolds had relativistic date stamps on his, which he probably laboured over to calculate...but I didn't take any notice (and I didn't need to!)

Having read it through I think your WiP @Loren doesn't really need them. The text is, with a few tweaks, more than sufficient.

Possibly there is a case for putting where the chapter is set, as some readers like that...but again it should be clear after reading a few lines.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I'm one of those people who get annoyed at time jumps.

Uh-oh...

Anyway, to address the question, I'd follow the advice above but at the same time realise any problems will be easier to identify and solve on the second draft.

pH

 

[The Judge]

Ah, no... not those kind of excursions into the distant past. They come under the "good reason for doing otherwise" viz "the interleaving of past and present can work very well". So you're safe. Well, safe-ish...

 

[Loren]

Ah, no... not those kind of excursions into the distant past. They come under the "good reason for doing otherwise" viz "the interleaving of past and present can work very well". So you're safe. Well, safe-ish...

Are you saying that interleaving Earth's present with Tufel's past is okay?

Eventually the two timelines need to catch up.

As far as date/time stamps at the beginning of each chapter, they can pulled out easily enough if it turns out they are superfluous.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Sorry for the confusion Loren; TJ is referring to my flipping back and forth between 1100s, mid-1300s, 17-1800s and the present.

Her Hon. has been advising and helping with my WIP hence my 'uh-oh'. Sorry for the brief hijack

pH

 

[Loren]

Sorry for the confusion Loren; TJ is referring to my flipping back and forth between 1100s, mid-1300s, 17-1800s and the present.

Her Hon. has been advising and helping with my WIP hence my 'uh-oh'. Sorry for the brief hijack

pH

No problem.

 

[Ihe]

How about relativity? The time difference (from both character's perspectives) could be because of the long trip to that strange planet (assuming the stranded character is also from Earth). The timeline of both peeps can sync over the course of the story if time flows at a different pace in the second planet (don't really know much about the science behind this). Voila! I'm not aware of how the events on each planet play off of one another, so I don't know if this is viable. But it is a pretty elegant solution that leaves no loose ends IMO.

 

[ralphkern]

I face a similar issue to you. I have three parallel sub-plots with three groups of characters in three different time periods.

I know I personally tend to either ignore date stamps on chapter headings or get annoyed with having to cross reference with other chapters to find where I am temporally.

As things stand, and bearing in mind this is still a work in progress, I have indicated where each time frame starts in the narrative (circa 23rd, 24th and 30th century - although the story within each of these periods crosses long periods of time as they draw together). It is somewhat simplistic with the present being the middle time period. But it gives the reader a quick easy idea of where they are.

 

[Loren]

I face a similar issue to you. I have three parallel sub-plots with three groups of characters in three different time periods.

I know I personally tend to either ignore date stamps on chapter headings or get annoyed with having to cross reference with other chapters to find where I am temporally.

As things stand, and bearing in mind this is still a work in progress, I have indicated where each time frame starts in the narrative (circa 23rd, 24th and 30th century - although the story within each of these periods crosses long periods of time as they draw together). It is somewhat simplistic with the present being the middle time period. But it gives the reader a quick easy idea of where they are.

I am thinking I can just ignore the time differences and let things merge at the right time. I have the time stamps and can keep them if it makes sense.

 

[michaelhall2007]

Greetings!

I am wondering how best to manage this. I have two converging sub-plot lines. One takes place on Earth. The other begins on another world.

Each has a significant contribution to the story's main plot.

The conundrum is this. The main character is on Earth and I would prefer to open the book with that person on chapter 1.

However, temporally speaking, the action begins on the other planet before things begin on Earth.

I will need to bounce back and forth between the two worlds (probably alternating chapters) until the converge later in the story.

My concern is the time difference for the off-world happens years before we start on Earth. So, as much as I would like to put the main character first, I think it will be more confusing for the reader to time-hop back a few years from what is happening on Earth.

Also, Earth and Turfel (this other world) have no idea the other exists.

Could you add that information in the Prologue?

 

[Tim Murray]

Greetings!

I am wondering how best to manage this. I have two converging sub-plot lines. One takes place on Earth. The other begins on another world.

Each has a significant contribution to the story's main plot.

The conundrum is this. The main character is on Earth and I would prefer to open the book with that person on chapter 1.

However, temporally speaking, the action begins on the other planet before things begin on Earth.

I will need to bounce back and forth between the two worlds (probably alternating chapters) until the converge later in the story.

My concern is the time difference for the off-world happens years before we start on Earth. So, as much as I would like to put the main character first, I think it will be more confusing for the reader to time-hop back a few years from what is happening on Earth.

Also, Earth and Turfel (this other world) have no idea the other exists.

I read a book from a famous author who used the alternating chapter format, it didn't work for me. I suppose it all might depend on how it is written.