How can I radically time-jump for my epilogue well?
I'm working on a branching narrative kind of story, and the entire story focuses on the reader uncovering a mystery in the house that they're in.
There's only one ending where they survive. In the other ones, the loose ends remain unknown, since they're dead, but to tie them up in this ending, I would need to jump several years in the future (it's written in present tense and second person, which will probably affect the time jump too).
What are some conventions or devices I can work with to make the jump less abrupt and out of place?
(My epilogue isn't a lot of info - think "You've been doing x for y years, Villains #1 and #2 are currently doing z, Innocents #2 and #3 are much better, Innocent #1 is dead". The main point of this epilogue is to let the reader know that the "good" ending comes with collateral damage)
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1 answer
There are multiple ways to approach this and any of them can work. The important thing is that it's very clear to the reader.
My novel is structured as follows:
- Prologue set in 1939.
- Body of novel set in 1995 (with time travel to 1350 BCE).
- Epilogue set in 2020 (or so).
For my transition from prologue to the main novel, I have a couple paragraphs at the end of the prologue showing the child from 1939 growing up and marrying, and mentioning her children and grandchildren. One of her grandchildren is my main character. We figure this out because the grandma is in Chapter 1.
The prologue opening has a tag giving the date and location. As does the chapter 1 opening.
The epilogue will also have a date stamp but the transition is abrupt. Any information about the intervening years is implied, not shown.
For your story, choose the method that works best for you, just label it as a time jump in some way. Either with a date header, or a line like "30 years had passed" or showing a character in her 20's now greeting her first great grandchild.
Abrupt is fine if it's obvious to the reader what is going on. You can either show the characters as their future selves or you can use a text version like some movies do, where each major character gets a short paragraph like:
Selena was accepted to Harvard Law and went on to become a successful insurance lawyer. After 10 years, she sold all her possessions, bought a boat, and sailed around the world with her wife and 5 children.
Suzie spent 8 years in prison, when she was released early for good behavior. She now counsels teen addicts.
You can also do a "reunion show." Some reason for all the characters to get together and catch each other up on their lives (with them reminiscing about those who died or couldn't make it).
There is no wrong method. Just be clear and don't draw it out too long.
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