Tracking Alternate Timelines

[Cli-Fi]

I know a lot of stories just have one or maybe two alternate timelines, and they eventually meld together, but as my novel deals with a bunch of timelines intersecting and people viewing them also from different times while they are in their own times, I have created a rather unique way of sort of making sense where each of the perspectives are coming from.

For instance if there are two timelines in a scene. EG: Characters from the future looking at characters in the past, but each scene is rather important to story details. I have it cataloged in the beginning of a scene much like novels that are really time sensitive drill the story down to the minute. For instance, I've seen many thrillers use something like: Munich 12:34 PM to easily describe the time and place an event is taking place.

Mine follows a similar format in that Timeline 1: represents the main timeline or rather the time viewers who are researching, witnessing the events in the secondary timeline take place. Timeline A in effect, represents events happening in that timeline that timeline 1 is witnessing.

There are certain points towards the beginning and end of the novel where I actually have to view this from 3 angles. In that there is another all encompassing timeline that is watching ALL of this AKA the Illuminati/evil doers so to speak. So in those scenes Timeline 1 represents the big picture, Timeline A represents what used to be timeline 1, and timeline B represents what used to be Timeline A.

As an example I will catalog the events in Back to the Future as if I was writing a novel about someone who noticed something funny with the movies and documented how they came to the conclusions and the results thereafter. Dang it that actually sounds like a neat story idea actually.... Anyway.

So let's say we are watching BTTF today. Timeline 1 would be listed as
Timeline 1: September 2016

If we are actually going to go into the BTTF Story, then Timeline A would be listed as
Timeline A: November 1955.

So the beginning of the chapter would read:
Timeline 1: September 2016 (events taking place now as person watching events in 1955)
Timeline A: November 1955. (events happening in 1955 from characters perspective)

I don't like the idea of breaking down the action as:

September 2016

PLOT DETAILS
PLOT DETAILS
PLOT DETAILS
PLOT DETAILS
ACTION
ACTION
ACTION

AND MORE STORE HERE ETC....

and then say November 1955 and repeat.

The way my novel is written and the way events take place. It wouldn't flow as well as the concept I came up with.This is all relatively explained within the world's rules at various points in the novel so it works rather well I believe. Thoughts, Comments, Concerns? Confused? Let me know what you think.

 

[zmunkz]

I tried to follow along, but I got pretty confused. Will you actually preface the dates with "timeline" indicators? If so, I wouldn't use "1" and "A" as the two labels, maybe something more descriptive, or a character's name or something.

Are these actually different time streams... or you are just jumping forward and backwards in the same time stream? If the latter, the dates alone will suffice.

Anyway, I can tell there are some thoughtful concepts at play here, and I'd be very interested to see how it works out on the page. Sounds cool, as long as I can follow it.

 

[RX-79G]

I understand that you have a labeling system, designed to allow you to switch the readers between the perspective of different timelines. But that's all I'm getting from your post.

How will you actually write these alternations to make the reader clear on what is happening? How will you alternate between these POVs and not have the prose come out an unpleasant mess?

 

[Cli-Fi]

I tried to follow along, but I got pretty confused. Will you actually preface the dates with "timeline" indicators? If so, I wouldn't use "1" and "A" as the two labels, maybe something more descriptive, or a character's name or something.

Are these actually different time streams... or you are just jumping forward and backwards in the same time stream? If the latter, the dates alone will suffice.

Anyway, I can tell there are some thoughtful concepts at play here, and I'd be very interested to see how it works out on the page. Sounds cool, as long as I can follow it.

As of now there are actually 13 different timelines in the story, but only three main ones that are part of the overall arc. The others just exist as possible scenarios/outcomes for the characters to jump into. These are different timelines in the sense that certain events make the timeline different histories, but as explained in the world, no matter what you do sometimes events and points overlap and the timelines become one, this is part of the religion and mythology in the world that causes much debate among the characters.

So how the beginning of the chapter reads is:
Chapter One:
Timeline 1: September 2016
Timeline A: November 1955.

PLOT DETAILS
PLOT DETAILS
PLOT DETAILS
PLOT DETAILS
ACTION
ACTION
ACTION

AND MORE STORE HERE ETC....

Basically something happens in 2016 that makes the characters either witness events that happen in 1955 or go directly there. At times characters are viewing what their friends are doing in Timeline A from Timeline 1. But there are still perspectives from Timeline 1 that need to be included.

Which is why it's not as simple as saying. September 2016
PLOT DETAILS
PLOT DETAILS
PLOT DETAILS
PLOT DETAILS
ACTION
ACTION
ACTION

AND MORE STORE HERE ETC....

November 1955

 

[Cli-Fi]

How will you actually write these alternations to make the reader clear on what is happening? How will you alternate between these POVs and not have the prose come out an unpleasant mess?

Basically I have chapters where the investigators are researching how time travel/the main problems of the plot began. So in effect they are witnessing events that are taking place in two timelines. So the perceptions would be people from the future witnessing events happening in the present where people travel into the past. I have a chapter where the researchers from EX: 2200 are witnessing when the main character goes into the past EX: 1955 but they end up viewing her going back into her present day as well EX:2016 and stuff happens in 2016 which causes the character to have to stop going to 1955, even though she loved it. They are researching the initial trial runs of time travel to see if that has anything to do with the issues that have come to light since then.

 

[Cli-Fi]

If so, I wouldn't use "1" and "A" as the two labels, maybe something more descriptive, or a character's name or something.

Are these actually different time streams... or you are just jumping forward and backwards in the same time stream? If the latter, the dates alone will suffice.

Throughout the story the main point is finding out which one of these thirteen timelines is the actual Original Timeline. So I am not sure descriptive labeling like you suggested here is something I want to do, that would take away from the mystery. Especially if I were to label them based on who the main characters are in the timeline. If I were to do that, one main character is so powerful, you would think he owns the whole thing! EX: in BTTF we could refer to 1985-A as Biff's Timeline, but they didn't even do that in the movie. They actually called it 1985-A which is where I got the idea. Once the characters learn about the third timeline in play, that is going after them. Saying Biff's Timeline defeats the purpose.

As to your second point. Wouldn't saying:
Chapter One:
September 2016
November 1955

Lead to even more confusion? At least with 1 2 3 4 and a b c d if one wanted to create a time travel map of events to follow through the plots, they could do this easier.

 

[RX-79G]

I was hoping for an example of how it would actually read. It still just sounds like a distracting mess because the chapter/timeline designators aren't memorable. It sounds like trying to follow a story with several characters named Steve.

If this story was about travel in a place, it wouldn't be fun to read if the reader felt the need to make a map to follow the story, and you seem to be suggesting something even more complicated.

From what little I can tell about your idea, I would suggest labeling the timelines by divergent events - "1961, 3 years after Nixon assassintation". Or, using differet fonts to separate different timelines, and using a different narrative voice to go with them. But I honestly can't tell how you're writing this to actually say what would or wouldn't work.