How To Write a Time Journey Story That Retains Making Sense, Part 1

I’ve been discussing among the guidelines for telling an efficient time-travel story. Last Saturday, I provided a few examples from sci-fi the place the trope finished proper. So now my goal is to place all the things collectively and construct a hypothetical plot from scratch.

The first query

The first query when coping with a narrative about time journey is: How ought to time function? As famous final time, we wish to maintain time itself as a gentle magic system as a result of theories about time usually are not effectively understood. We wish to keep away from the 2 extremes — implacable destiny and the butterfly effect, the place large future modifications might end result from small previous ones. Both ends of that spectrum are too more likely to create plot holes later within the narrative.

In my opinion, a author ought to keep away from multiverse eventualities — typically known as alternate timelines — just like the plague. Bluntly, multiverses kill emotional stakes. No one goes to care a couple of character if infinite iterations of that character could possibly be working up and down infinite timelines. Stories should conclude, they usually can’t conclude if one other model of the character can reset issues at a author’s whim. I’ve addressed this earlier than whereas reviewing movies so I received’t rehash it additional.  

An alternate timeline can work in tales the place the characters are touring into the longer term as a result of — as I famous final Saturday — the longer term can all the time be reset by returning to the current. However, from a storytelling standpoint, I’m limiting the plot I intend to assemble to touring into the previous as a result of touring into the previous is harder than touring into the longer term. It is a greater take a look at of my method.

What if time journey is gentle magic however the machine itself is tough magic?

How ought to we handle our idea of time whereas protecting time journey a gentle magic system? I’m selecting to do this by setting limits to the time machine itself. The objective is to maintain time a gentle system (a bit fuzzy) whereas making the machine itself a tough system (there are particular guidelines).

Let’s say our traveler has a machine that may transport him by way of time. But his machine operates inside a drive discipline of types. Thus he can solely have an effect on issues inside a sure radius. And to maintain issues from getting complicated, he can solely keep prior to now for an hour. If he stays longer than an hour, his machine runs out of energy.

This creates a plausible situation. Even if one thing just like the butterfly impact have been in play, the longer term chaos could possibly be mitigated by the drive discipline. The character doesn’t have to fret about avoiding modifications to a complete atmosphere, simply the modifications inside a sure radius. And say he did change one thing he shouldn’t have, then all he has to do is rewind the clock a couple of minutes and undo no matter he did. He can anticipate issues by limiting the area and thus limiting the opposite variables. Any loops or paradoxes or alternate variations of the character would all be contained throughout the drive discipline.

The benefits of creating the machine itself a tough system (even when time is gentle)

I can play time’s interplay with this machine nevertheless I need. If I wish to make time a gentle system, then I merely need to keep away from letting my character stepping on a butterfly or in any other case making any drastic modifications throughout the radius. This is plausible as a result of the character is working inside a small area.

If I wish to lean into one thing just like the butterfly impact, then I can add different guidelines. Let’s say I wish to introduce a humorous ingredient: The character, regardless of having tried to keep away from it, does step on a butterfly. So he rewinds time — and steps on an ant as a substitute. But a second later, the model of him that stepped on the butterfly seems, and the 2 begin preventing as a result of they don’t know which model is the true one who ought to return to the current.

In this situation, I nonetheless get the chaos generated by the butterfly impact and its paradoxes. But I don’t have to fret that the ripples by way of time will create one thing that’s hardly credible —  like our character returning to the current to seek out everybody remodeled into lizards.

The benefit of the drive discipline idea

I can go gentle or onerous with this method. The introduction of the drive discipline focuses the story on the mechanics of the machine quite than on time itself. If I needed to be very cautious, I might clarify how the atmosphere interacts with the machine. For instance, I might describe a chook flying by way of the bubble, which is technically one other phase of time. Perhaps a hunter on the bottom sees the chook disappear — then reappear a second later. The chook doesn’t know what occurred; nevertheless, the hunter on the bottom could be very confused.

But I don’t, strictly talking, have to do that as a result of the drive discipline itself is establishing the setting of the story. Everything outdoors of the bubble is as related or irrelevant as I need it to be. The drive discipline may be as massive or as small as I need it to be.

What about leaving the drive discipline?

I might make leaving the drive discipline a cardinal sin as a result of no person is aware of what’s going to occur if an individual steps into one other time and begins affecting the atmosphere. In that situation, time is a full gentle magic system with a thriller ingredient. So, on this case, that’s how I’m going to deal with the topic. The drive discipline is small, and all the things inside it’s secure. Everything outdoors of the drive discipline is the unknown, and to step outdoors of it’s like opening Pandora’s box.

Overall, the path I am going in, as a storyteller, must be decided by the sort of story I wish to inform. I’ve gone into a lot element right here as a result of there’s a selected means I’m selecting to implement the foundations. I’ll clarify extra as soon as I’ve completed placing collectively the plot.

The subsequent massive query

So, now that we’ve established how our traveler is touring, we have to ask why he’s touring. Let’s say he’s simply seeing the sights. He doesn’t want to decorate for the interval as a result of no person can see him in his time machine. The drive discipline acts like a one-way mirror; so long as he stays inside it, he doesn’t danger the unknown, even when he observes important historic occasions. But there may be nonetheless an issue. I’ll handle that in my closing article on this collection subsequent Saturday.