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Time skips



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Tue May 06, 2014 11:30 pm
Rook says...



I'm sure there's a topic out there that answers this question, because I remember reading it, but I'm still iffy on this.

How do you effectively skip through time without it feeling forced/like you're missing stuff/ just awkward? I feel like I have to narrate every single thing, and just saying "they walked for a while" seems so... bleagh.

The last chapter to my novel was really non-stellar because I couldn't skip time effectively.
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Tue May 06, 2014 11:44 pm
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eldEr says...



I actually had a lot of trouble with this a while ago. The only thing that really helped was forcing myself to write summaries: Like, I'd give myself a word count and paragraph number limit, and I had to complete my summary of a character's morning within that. And only if filling in a few brief details was necessary for lead-up or character development or something.

Give the reader a very basic gist of mundane things: If it's a morning routine you're skipping over a simple, "Bob slipped through his morning routine groggily and headed out the door, trying to wake himself up with a travel mug full of coffee and Rihanna's latest album blaring on the stereo. It didn't work. He pulled into the parking lot of his work just as exhausted as he'd been crawling out of bed."

Don't detail him eating breakfast, getting dressed, showering, making his bed, etc.

Honestly, I don't really like timeskips. If they have to be implemented, it'd probably work best to end the scene and start a new one. Then you're not even tempted to toss in all of the in-between stuff.

But seriously, summaries are your best friend. If it helps, you could always write out everything first, and then go back and make your cuts and tidy it into a couple neat, compressed paragraphs that'll reveal something about the character at the very least. Then they still have a purpose and you don't start at an awkward moment/have to hack it off really suddenly 8D
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Wed May 07, 2014 12:29 am
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Lumi says...



This is something that's much easier to do in television/screenwriting than actual novelization. Time skips must never be used to allow yourself out of a corner. Consult the Un-Installment and related tropes for all the don'ts of skipping time.

Obviously if nothing is happening, then there's no reason for that narration to be in the novel. If it doesn't have a purpose, it doesn't have a place. To alternate time, the simplest method is to rely on sun-positioning, moon-on-the-horizon, a convenient clock or wristwatch; if years pass, then just narrate that years passed...though I would hate to see that in a well-paced novel, save for an epilogue. Note that there's a major difference between skipping time and summation of a large quantity of nothing of consequence is happening here move along ugh.

For your example of "they walked, blah blah," I would probably address the nothingness. If you have a comic relief character, have them make a meta comment on the sudden lull in their story.

Because man, it feels like days since we had a boss fight.

That advice can circle back to the base line that anything of no consequence can be used for character development/voice evolution. If you want to test the quality of your story, attempt the skip versus The Filler Episode. See if anything crops up that just makes your characters that much better. If not, skip. But if there's anything good that can come of the details therein, give us a little taste. Or at least give it to yourself/beta readers. If it tastes like vinegar, cut the vinegar.
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Thu May 15, 2014 8:44 pm
Tenyo says...



this might be of use? It's for first person, but the principles still apply for third.
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Mon May 19, 2014 3:55 am
Prokaryote says...



To add to what these fine upstanding members have already said, for the love of God, if there isn't enough dramatic conflict, don't make it into a scene. It's easy to feel like your time-skip sentence is awkward, but nothing is more disruptive to narrative flow than the author, for no discernible reason, taking a time-out to describe Everyday Hero rolling out of bed and brushing his teeth and picking out a matching outfit.

Further -- if you find yourself having to jump vast spans of time again and again, you might consider starting the story at a later date. Maybe the beginning is not where you think it is.
  








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