fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #4977 ]

⌈ Secret Post #4977 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Star Trek: Lower Decks]

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03.

[The Untamed]

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04. [SPOILERS for SheRa]

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05. [SPOILERS for Umbrella Academy season 2]

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06. [SPOILERS for Heart of the Woods]

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07. [SPOILERS for Castlevania season 3]
[WARNING for rape]

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08. [WARNING for transphobia]

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09. [WARNING for noncon]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #712.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There's one in canon of about 5 years and I don't know how to address that in fic. Just a new chapter and put the date on it? Are people expecting to know what happened in between? Do I start a new story and turn it into a series?

I thought it was sloppy writing in canon but I don't feel like I can write five years worth of events to fill it.

I'd mention the passage of time in the text - I don't often take notice of dates at the top of chapters. Have your POV character notice where they are now, or have a short conversation in the new setting, give a short paragraph summarising what's happened, and charge on with the next important bit of your story.

Just my 2p's worth, others will have different ideas.

Thanks! That helps.

That's what I was thinking. Most published books would do something like that too...have some kind of text that describes what's going on and vaguely maybe alludes to what the character(s) might have been up to.

I doubt there'd necessarily be some explicit mention of like, "hey you remember five years ago when [thing that happened in previous chapter] happened? That was crazy, right?" :) But it's possible to do without being that on the nose.

I think I'd make note of it at the top of the chapter - the date, how much time has passed, etc. Then to be on the safe side, I'd try to reference it in the text itself like one of the previous anon comments suggested.

I just recently read a book with a time jump, and it mentioned the date at the top of the chapter and spent a couple paragraphs summarizing what had happened during the time jump, then went right into what was happening in the present, and I thought it worked fine.

I tend to overexplain things and I'm training myself out of it by ruthlessly cutting lengthy exposition and unnecessary filler. So if I catch myself thinking something like, "can I write five years worth of events to fill it", I'll immediately go, "DON'T".

I wouldn't put the date. It goes against "show, don't tell" imo. It should be a last resort.

I'd try and show the passage of time by referencing something. Have a neighbor's kid who just did her first steps before the jump and then starts school. Mention a couple getting married, then mention them getting divorced ("That didn't last long, how long were they married? Five years?"). Maybe start some project that's expected to take five years and then jump to when it's finished, or start a hobby and then be proficient.

[ SECRET POST #4977 ]

How would you handle a time jump in a fic?

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Re: How would you handle a time jump in a fic?

Re: How would you handle a time jump in a fic?

Re: How would you handle a time jump in a fic?