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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/47938
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/47938
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

# If you do this, lean into it

Skipping a scene in an otherwise continuous story will always be jarring. The last thing readers want to feel is "this doesn't make any sense". You want your story to be believable and for readers to follow the action.

If you want to use this device only occasional within your work, [Bradc's advice](https://writing.stackexchange.com/a/47693/33442) to "hang a lantern on it" is excellent. Show that is isn't a mistake or an oversight but instead a deliberate decision. If you like this style of writing you can take it even further though.

[_"Things we didn't see coming"_](http://www.stevenamsterdam.com/things-we-didnt-see-coming/) is a brilliant thought-provoking novel by Steven Amsterdam<sup>1</sup>. It follows the narrator through a world where the [Y2K bug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2000_problem) was real and the fallout every bit as bad as people imagined it. But instead of directly following the characters life, each chapter is a separate vignette extracted from their life. Some chapters are years apart and other only days.

The connections between each chapter are never described, much like your examples. The narrator is in situation A, next chapter they are in B. **The how doesn't matter because that isn't the story being told.** The story is about the narrator and how they grow and change rather than telling their life style. It is an analysis of the human psyche not a fictional biography.

If the _how_ of your story isn't important and you want to put the emphasis on your character instead you can lean into this technique. Use it to highlight want really matters in the story you are trying to tell.

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<sup>1</sup> I will admit that many people I know who have read this book did struggle to connect with it due to its disjointed narrative. I however loved it and thoroughly enjoyed the innovative approach to story-telling.

Original score: 1