Writing How to time skip?

[Sylver]

In the whole story or in one chapter?

The whole story.

I thought that I could skip some of that?

Yea you can skip some of it, depending on how long a period of time the story skips over. If its a few weeks, that's fine. A few months and you may want to avoid repeating that!

 

[Corty]

What forms do I need to apply for a timeskip? And How high is the tax?

It is always time-sensitive. So only time will tell.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

It is always time-sensitive. So only time will tell.

Put that aside for the Time Being.

 

[J_Chemist]

Carefully ​

 

[Datal0g]

I was hoping that going in between would be summary of what happened in last two days in 1-3 paragraphs, so I can continue the chapter with important stuff.

That's how I'm doing it at the moment & what I meant by the "cheap way". I jump forward in time for a few days, summarise the few important things and continue with the main story. The good thing is that it also gives you the flexibility to let your character grow, as you can level up your character secretly, as long as you can explain it properly.

E.g. "Since I was not allowed to leave the house, I used the time to train my skills with my sister and now I can create wine by simply touching water" or "While I was sleeping and recovering, Hannah found out that I can control a doll with each of my hands".

 

[miyoga]

If it's a cultivation/xianxia story and you have someone/thing sitting in a remote place for cultivation purposes. You're not going to check in on them every few days/weeks/months because they just sit. Skip it and move on with the plot. Action, like the DBZ reference: got a training montage, summarize and skip it. Move on with the plot. Horror story with people exploring a haunted location, but nothing major happens? Tell us how they start exploring, then skip to when they do have something major happen. Slice of life? Same thing, if it's just going to school then summarize and skip until something worth mentioning or that needs to be noticed by readers for future plot purposes.

As the author, you do what you need to do. The readers don't appreciate useless information unless it later serves a purpose ("later" could be 20 lines or 20 chapters) in moving the story forward. The other time readers might appreciate it is if it's funny, but everyone's humor is different and it may not hit the same way for everyone.
I mention Odin All-Father in my first short, then he doesn't show up again until very briefly in my 2nd. In my 3rd, if/when I get to it, there might be another quick mention of some god/-dess (including @TheEldritchGod ) from whatever pantheon just because they're fun shout-outs but otherwise useless to the plot.

 

[Suczka]

if there was a small event, you could toss it in as a separate clause on the end of the sentence. "He spent the next two days chopping wood, though he was interrupted by [insert event here]."

I think that will be the best option for my needs.

In my example, The MC does something fucks up. We time skip. The MC confronts a family. At the end we flashback to the end of the fuck up because learning that part after the time skip changes everything.

Time skipping both ways? That might be be complicated for me right now.
I might not have enough skill to make it right.
Still nice idea for future.

Everything is permitted in writing. It's just in the way you want to structure out the story and based on how detailed you want it to be.

Yes, one can write anything. But one must be prepared for consequences of what one writes.
If I write gibberish no one would read it and my story fails.
If I write as my MC actively hates and acts on their hate towards trans people or other specially protected group. My story will not get past the review. Or it it gets through it will be reported and my account banned.
If I write about killing a specific person from real world, police will come and arrest me.

Don get me wrong. I'm 100% for the free speech. But we are surrounded by other people and multiple layers of rules.
(SH publishing rules, SH forum rules, Savoir-vivre, country rules, international rules, ...)
And yes sometimes rules are wrong. And people break them or edge them in a sign of protest.
Yet I do not think that me writing something political on this site would get much traction before my account would be banned.

The whole story.

Damn your rules are harsh.

If its a few weeks, that's fine.

Thank for granting me this exception.

Also I agree with you. If in one story would be too much multi year time skips that would be hard on reader.
Chapret 1 — Early childhood.
Chapter 2 — starting career after making a doctorate.
Chaprer 3 — Uneventful retirement in nursing home.
Chapter 4 — Decomposing in the local cemetery.
(each chapter less than 1000 words)

"Since I was not allowed to leave the house, I used the time to train my skills with my sister

Onii-chan yamete~!

That's how I'm doing it at the moment & what I meant by the "cheap way". I jump forward in time for a few days, summarise the few important things and continue with the main story. The good thing is that it also gives you the flexibility to let your character grow, as you can level up your character secretly, as long as you can explain it properly.

Yep. So cheep time skips are the way to go.
Will have to order them in bulk.

If it's a cultivation/xianxia story

It is not!

I'm really tempted to write a story about farming and tag it cultivation.

The readers don't appreciate useless information unless it later serves a purpose

I was under the impression that the glossary was a place to dump those.

 

[laccoff_mawning]

If you are making a (large) timeskip, my only real suggestion is make it clear how long the timeskip is, and consider if a line break is appropriate if its in the middle of a chapter.

 

[John_Owl]

Also I agree with you. If in one story would be too much multi year time skips that would be hard on reader.
Chapret 1 — Early childhood.
Chapter 2 — starting career after making a doctorate.
Chaprer 3 — Uneventful retirement in nursing home.
Chapter 4 — Decomposing in the local cemetery.
(each chapter less than 1000 words)

It kinda depends on how it's done. I've seen it done well and terribly. yes, the outline there is a prime example of bad multiple multi-year time skips.

but in the lives of elves (due to long lifespans) or in the case of training, it can be done well. in R.A.Salvator's Homeland, Drizzt (the MC) starts off being born. then skip a few years to when he's 5 and learning his racial abilities, then skip a few years to when he's 10 and he's beginning to learn martial combat. then skip a few years... etc etc.

In my story, Lay the Dragon, Arland starts off as a 5 year old and he meets the primary love interest, Nury the Dragon. skip a few years to when he's learning swordplay, then skip a few years to show that he's now a teen and is a prodigy at swordplay, etc etc. basically, it can be done artfully to let the audience see the biggest struggles through those years, as long as you remember to show that the MC has grown and was shaped by those struggles. It can make them more relatable.

 

[bulmabriefs144]

Isn't it too simple.
It indicates that there was passage of time but not what was done or achieved i that time.

The point being, you can literally set up a book like a movie. It's your book, you can do it according to taste.

In The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. they had all sorts of inserts to make it look like letters or telegraphs were being written back and forth.

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

For inspiration, look at Konosuba webnovel/lightnovel.

Especially the earlier volumes. The story skips a lot of filler and parts of story that usually being told in other isekai.

Many part of the story is pretty much "after this and that happens, i do this and now we're here". Then focus on current event and skips again into another.

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Its pretty much went jn the opposite direction of Re:zero, which is extremely detailed and full of events from Arc 1 to Arc 2, without any form of skipping until the MC is knocked down.

Re:Zero only skips part of the story starting from Arc 3, in which 3 month already passed inside the mansion, and even then theres couple dozen of Side-stories surrounding the skipped time.

Then, Arc 3 connected to Arc 4 without any skipping in timeline. But sadly the anime only covers arc 1-3, and it took 5 year before the Arc 4 finally comes to Anime.

Then there's 2 year skip after arc 4 to arc 5. And of course, there's dozen more of side stories during those times.

Then arc 5 is directly connected to arc 6, then arc 6 directly connected to arc 7, and arc 7 directly connected to arc 8, the current arc, with barely any skipping in time.

And when the arc is going, its interconnected with hundreds other web of character and stories within the world of Re:zero at all times, with all the side stories, OVA and Movies are pretty much canon no matter how silly, unless its an IF.

The Author fo Re:zero really tries his best to not skip his stories when an arc is happening. He gives both quality and quantity in the amount of plot complexity.

But its hard to sustain for normal author. Not reccomended for people who values their sanity, but still wort to pick some lessons.