ILONA ANDREWS

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Folding Time

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Why would anyone want to fold time? In the narrative, there are times when interesting things don’t happen, and the story skips forward. There are a few ways to accomplish this while still keeping the reader interested, but the most common way is the scene break.

If someone like Hreban got a hold of me, nobody would stand up for me.  Nobody would hold him accountable.

I needed to watch my step.

#

I woke up in the morning wrapped in a threadbare blanket and lots of regret.

What happened here? Well, the character went to bed and woke up the next morning.  We skipped the whole brushing teeth, using the bathroom, getting into bed details. We don’t need them, because they don’t move the story forward.

Coincidentally, this also addresses the questions of why don’t the characters use the bathroom more often on page and why don’t women have their periods in an obvious way, and so on. 99% of the time, unless it’s something that advances plot, worldbuilding, or characterization, it doesn’t make it in. If the character has to use the bathroom and ducks into a shady gas station, where she is then attacked, the need to use the bathroom is important. If the character is on her period and it’s impeding her physically or makes her irritated, that is important. Otherwise, it’s extra information that gets old very fast.

Back to the scene break. It’s a very common device, readers know what it means, and there is really not that much to say about it. However, while the scene break alone is sufficient for short and obvious time hops, when we are skipping longer chunks of time, we may need to add a transition. Otherwise, the readers may feel confused or disconnected from the narrative.

The easiest way to fold time is to concentrate on the change within the character. We’re going to tie time to how the character feels.

The Great Vampire Lord knew with absolute certainty that humans were foolish creatures of small minds and weak hearts. Five centuries later, he wasn’t so sure.

The above is a very basic and quick example. In practice, we would want something more. We’re going to take the emotional state of the character before the time shift and concentrate on the change rather than specifics.

When Galderon boarded the ship in the City of Diamond Birds, he expected a quick and easy voyage. What he got was a week of pure hell. The ship always moved and the constant swaying of the deck under his feet made him queasy.  The air smelled of salt and fish, and in the rare moments he ventured out of his cabin, the sun broiled him mercilessly. He could barely keep down his food, and considering the quality of the swill they served aboard this cursed boat, he couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to. By the time he finally stepped on solid ground eight days later, Galderon was sure of one thing: he hated the sea and the sea hated him.

We folded a week. Let’s go bigger. As long as you hold on to the emotional change within the character, there is no limit.

Almaz watched the elder disciples seal the entrance to the cavern. With each massive stone, the daylight shrunk. Finally, only one small gap remained, at the very top, a tiny window of light and sky, reassuring him that the outside world existed.  He waited for a few more breaths, half-expecting that his father would say something. A few words of encouragement, some profound wisdom, something to make up for years of neglect and abuse. He heard only silence.

Almaz turned his back on the light and went deeper into the cave, past the skeletons of the previous disciples who had attempted the seclusion and failed, to the chamber where sacred fighting technics were engraved on the walls.  He could only read the first two lines, but the techniques described within were beyond anything he had learned so far, so he began his practice.

He found a cave stream of clean water that quenched his thirst and mushrooms growing in the outer chambers.  They were not tasty, but they kept him fed. He moved the bodies of his predecessors into a far branch of the cave and built a small shrine of stones to appease their spirits. He kept time by carving small strokes into the wall of the nook where he slept.

In two weeks’ time, he mastered the first two techniques and the meaning of the next two lines became clear. In six months, he finished the first column and moved on to the second.

The cave became his prison, then his home, then his temple. His body grew.  His pants became too short, his shirt too tight through the shoulders.  He honed his body as if it were a weapon and his mind found peace. The world outside, his mother’s death, and all of the injustices were but a dream. He forgot nothing.  He simply put it aside, stored it like a debt that would one day mature and would need to be collected.

When the final technique became as easy as breathing, Almaz stared at the wall, unsure what to do next. The cave had no more to teach him. He returned to his nook and looked at the wall filled with scratches, the record of his journey.

Three years. He was fifteen years old when they walled him in. Scrawny, weak, angry.  He was none of those things now.

He touched the cold stone in gratitude.  It was time to leave his home.

The cave had been so familiar.  He knew every inch of it, but as Almaz strode toward the entrance, each step felt new.  A strange apprehension filled him, not exactly fear, but doubt.  Was he strong enough?

The wall of stones loomed before him.  Vines had grown over the gap at the top.  Their shoots had bound the stone wall into an impenetrable barrier.

Almaz took a deep breath. The inner power within him was a clear placid pool. He called and it answered, surging, and in an instant, it became a roaring waterfall.  He shifted into a stance and kicked the stones.

The wall exploded. The huge stones hurtled through the air, bouncing over the clearing. The morning light shone on his face.  He looked at the blue sky and the verdant mountains beyond and smiled.

It was time to collect everything he was owed.

And there you have it. Folded time. Thank you for yours this morning. We wish you a happy uneventful week.

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Comments

  1. Fascinating and very illuminating. Thank you.

    Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished as now I really want to know what happens with Almaz and his collecting. 🙁

  4. I love your explanations of the writing process and how much you consider and enfold the reader’s perspective.
    Yours is still the only author blog I read regularly – thank you so much for the years of entertainment and education!

  6. I love being wished an uneventful week – people generally really undervalue that kind of thing 😂
    Thank you for the explanation and I hope your week will be smooth sailing!

  7. Wait! Not done reading about Almaz yet…dang it. Sigh 😔 Those writers sure run away fast.

  8. He-he, English is a funny language. I read the headline and thought immediately, “Okay everyone! Clothes are out of the dryer. It’s Folding Time!” 😆

  9. That was interesting. All the things those of us that aren’t writers don’t think about but make for good reading when we see it.

  13. Was that last story meant to be torture for us? What is going to happen next? More, please.

  15. you guys are too good. I can’t stand it! Now I need to know more about Almaz!🤣🤣🤣

    You knew exactly what you were doing didn’t you?

  19. Thank you! Those were amazing examples. Now i want to read the stories (what? I am BDHer…demo text are always misinterpreted as snippets 🤣)

  21. Your tutorials are always awesome. Your examples are just a little bit mean. Now we crave the new adventure.

  22. Thank you for the continued insights on writing, it’s always so interesting.

    Almaz is a wonderful tease of a world!

    May your weekend be quiet.

  24. This is wonderful! And I’m totally invested in Almaz now! Let’s see him collect his debts!

  25. Very educational. Thank you.

    Of course now we want a story about Almaz.

    Feeding the Horde is dangerous business.

  26. The only folding time thing that annoys me is when characters are eating. They sit down, order food, the food comes and they start eating, all while having a conversation. Then three or four paragraphs later they’re done with the conversation and leave. But, wait, they just got their food! They couldn’t have wolfed it down because they were talking, unless they were talking with their mouths full. Did they leave all that food behind?

    I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a scene like that and the conversation doesn’t last nearly long enough for the amount of time that must have passed, and that always interrupts the narrative for me while I try to figure out the timing.

    • Yes! You are not alone in your annoyance, plus when writers do this several times in a row it leaves me with the impression our hero(es) are going to be fainting from lack of food. If they just carry on regardless I am fretting about when they are going to lose their temper or be too tired to do a necessary task.

      • I have an issue when authors are not realistic with their timeline. I used to read an author that would give a time such as 2am, and then have stuff happen, then more stuff happens, then the characters go off to help someone, and then their next time reference is 2 hours later when I figure all the stuff that happened should have taken 4-8 hours to do. If it was occasionally, I can deal. But when it is several times in every book it just gets annoying for taking me out of the story.

    • It’s even worse in tv and movies because you see them sitting down with food, chatting and then leaving without eating anything and no scene cuts!! Aahhh!

  28. The only time that bathroom issues bother me is when they interrupt the flow of the story by making me wonder.

    “Locked in a featureless room/cell/hole for days or weeks.” What about bathroom issues? Same for, “Rode a horse from dawn to sunset without rest.”

    OTOH, Almaz never mentions bathroom issues (since I assume he wouldn’t want to foul his clear stream) and I never would have noticed the omission except it was mentioned at the beginning of the post. So . . . hmmmmnnnn?

  30. Almaz! Almaz! Almaz!

    I’d love to hear about Calderon too.

    And I bet the Vampire Lord would make an excellent novella.

    Thanks for making Monday for fun.

    • Maybe Calderon is a Vampire Lord on Daesyn, and we haven’t heard about his House yet. 😉

  32. Oh dear. Now I want Almaz to have a HEA. Though you gave enough to make me sure he will create his own 🙂

  33. I am on board with everyone: please give us more Almaz!
    On topic of bodily functions I was amazed when I started to watch Korean and Chinese Dramas, that they display those very differently than European or American films. It is often used to let the male character shine in a caring and devoted way (like making soup or a warming bottle, if the clothes get stained wrap a jacket around her, or buy the pads, etc). When I saw that for the first time, it was like a revelation for my western eyes and mind. Made me realise how taboo this still is in our well educated open world 🤪.

    • That’s a great example at how bodily functions or other routine and worldly moments can be used to enrich characterization and (especially romantic) plots!

    • Yes! So true… I’ve noticed that sudden diarrhea or gastric distress is used too .., gets the character into the bathroom which advances the plot somehow in various ways…

  34. Thank you for the time you spent writing this interesting article. So, um… what’s up with Almaz? What is he owed?

  35. Awesome post. Very enlightening to proto novelists everywhere.
    Thank you so much for the lessons.

  36. Wow. Only House Andrews can write a few paragraphs as an example of a writing technique and make it more interesting than other authors entire novels. I join in with the rest of “the Snippet Tortured Horde” and wonder what the rest of Almaz’s story…

  37. Never mind bathrooms and periods. I’m waiting for a spiffily designer dressed female character or leather jacketed female character to get a hot flash.

    Just the thought of jackets gives me the willies.

    (And I am glad we didn’t get yet another hack for folding clothes. None of them ever seem to work for me anyways. And when I try and then I get a hot flash, stuff gets thrown across the room.)

    • I can’t tell if I’m peri menopausal or if it’s weather. But past few weeks at night have been hellacious… I hate having neighbors and kids home for summertime at this point!!

      • Thank God for my ceiling fan. But when I have to be outside these days, dressing is critical. No buttons on anything long-sleeved because they can’t be undone fast enough during a flash. Until this started, I never understood why so many older women wore zip front cardigans and sweatshirts. And scarves! In cool weather, you can whip them off when a flash comes along, and back on five minutes later when it goes away. No snug crew necks – like a teenager I cut the neckband out with scissors as soon as I get the shirt. Turtlenecks are right out, even in the dead of winter.

        And yeah, I’m trying to recall even one mention of a hot flash in a fiction book ever, and absolutely nothing comes to mind. Pretty sure they’re the source of most menopausal insomnia; they wake me up All. The. Time. Which leads to the cognitive implications of sleep deprivation, *sigh*. They’ve now been hanging around for double the average duration of six years. How lucky can a girl get?

    • I was about to say the only method that is worth the effort is the KonMari folding method of “Does it spark joy” fame. And then I checked links to paste here, and it turns out I’m NOT folding following her method after all? I really thought I was, all this time. I’m doing *something* anyway, and it works for me 😀 , who knows where I’ve seen it.

      The only thing that still has me utterly defeated and crying in the corner is fitted sheets. And yes, I have watched the Martha Stewart trick, no it doesn’t help and isn’t feasible.

      • You’re not the only one who can’t get fitted sheets all nice and folded. I can’t either. After I dry a fitted sheet, I’ll fold it in half, and the pretty much do a fold/roll until I get the sheet done.

        • I saw a box that folds around the sheets and you can then put the box on the shelf as if you are filing it away. They nicely folded everything in there, but you know that those things really contain fitted sheets that are just crammed in there.

      • I never mastered fitted sheets. Now we have a king size bed with a split top. six corners.That is completely impossible. The clean sheets go in a laundry basket in the bottom of the closet for the next changing. Its not worth the aggravation.

      • I use the same method as Martha Stewart. I find the rick is to have a folding surface that you can spread the fitted sheet out on once you have all of the corners “nested.”

        • My grandmother used the folding surface technique. She improved it by finding a folding table that produced the exact right size of final folded sheet to fit into her linen closet. That’s dedication!

          No, it did not breed true in me. ;-p

  38. Ok Almaz is cool (I would read his story!) and the folding of three years was, too. Thanks for an interesting post!

  40. Laundry? Started reading looking for sage laundry advice –
    Glad to know “dirty clothes in this pile and clean clothes in that pile” is a universal standard.
    Also Almaz… 🙂 Thank you!

  41. My week is going to deal with conditional formatting and updates.

    I wish I could fold time to have all that done. Instead, I’m pressed for time since I’m on a deadline.

    This is what happens when the Horde gets an example and literally runs with it. Nice start to a possible new book or novella. 😂😂😁

  43. Such a great and clear example. You both would make such great writing teachers! That is an observation, not a hint. I’d hate for you to have to limit your writing time, because I’m selfish like that!

  45. Cheeky wicked authors give us a glimpse of stories and now time for awaiting for more begins. If only we could fold time and get book now

  46. Grin. May House Andrews’ week also be blissfully uneventful.

    The late George Carlin had a funny routine about things like wishing someone have a nice day, for example. Out of this alternate options, my favorite has always been, “May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.”

  47. Ditto. The BDH has spoken, and like a child in the grocery store begging for candy, we shall annoy House Andrews relentlessly.

  48. I read this post and then immediately found this example in the book I’m reading. I feel so educated!

  49. These mini lessons legitimately make me a better writer. Since I’m a high school English teacher, that’s actually important for me.
    Thank you.

  50. Can I request 😂 any time you guys want to educate about writing… Almaz turns up.
    His story could continue in snippets 😂. Just random pieces of story. Doesn’t have to be linear. But I would be delighted if he turns up again.
    Thanks for the happy post! And may you live in ordinary and uneventful times this week😂

  52. My wish is ever I was a witch to be one who is the master of household and garden magics. Magically dusting debris outside, dishing and laundry washing themselves. Rearranging walls, doors, and windows. Trimming hedges, pulling weeds, composting, having magnificent flowers, herbs, and veggies. Being able to sew, knit, crochet, make my own yarn. Installing a shaded backyard pool. How mighty and happy I would be.

  55. Miss ma’am, can I have some more Almaz please? It’s my sons birthday next week. You wouldn’t sent a starving mama of a toddler would you 🥹

  57. The snippet about Almaz finished and I was going to go to Amaxon to download the book and then remembered it was a snippet. Botheration.
    If you would like to add completing Almaz’ story to your to do list I would be ever so grateful. Also whilst I have my hopeful face on – years and years ago you wrote a snippet about a woman who was a Cleaner and it has stayed with me all this time, maybe you could revisit that story when you have a few spare months, please. My firstborn is in her 30’s but polite and housetrained, I’m sure she wouldn’t object too much to going to Texas to be you house elf in exchange for these stories.

  58. ooh, what a great hook! I would love to know more about Almaz and this world setting. Why was he locked in? Punishment? Chosen one? Both? Was he expected to survive or will people be surprised to see him? Will he be received with delight or fear? What will his actions be on his release? So much packed into a small scene.

  60. Wow that last snippet was fantastic! After reading it I was like my dogs panting for more goodies after getting a tiny bit of something:)

    British writers especially have this tendency to describe everything, like that the character had tea and crumpets for breakfast that were not as good as his mum’s , that don’t seem to do anything in terms of the plot.

  62. I know the point of the post was to illustrate how time folds, but now all I want to know is what happens with Almaz.

  63. my comment disappeared mis writing.
    I started by saying I wonder how many of the horde will be calling for new books from your examples….many comment reading later, it appears that about 2/3 want new books based on these, and the remaining all have brains with a laundry focus 🙂

  65. good morning. may I ask which book the final excerpt came from? I wouldn’t mind finding and reading it. thx.

    • It’s a snippet Ilona wrote for the article, not in any existing book (sadly and at least for the moment).

  69. I don’t see in pictures at all. But what I am very picky about is time lines. There’s authors with very long series’ that age characters to the point that I am uncertain they realize how old they are or they arbitrarily change the timeline and the past. Then there’s the injuries that magically disappear.
    Folded time, if the timeline continues intact even if other characters later fill in their actions during that time… is fine. As long as the timeline continues intact. And I will note it on goodreads

  70. What delight! What torment! You had me at Hreban and by Almaz I was jonesing.
    So much talent in tiny examples. Thank you, Ilona Andrews

  71. And then what happened?

    The bane of being good writers is that your horde will always want more.

    I do appreciate the lesson, the questions have come up in the past.

    Thank you

    Please have a good, hurricane free, week as well. We finally have working street signals!

  72. this was a beautiful essay to read this morning — the concept, the examples, the application to writing specifically and to metaphysics writ large — gracias

  80. Where can we find the story of Almaz? I want to read this book now.
    That was a fascinating lesson. I do Beta reads and some editing for a few authors and your lessons in writing are always helpful. You are incredibly generous! Thank you!

  83. I think Almaz’ father had best be afraid.
    Thank you so much for this lovely and instructional post.

  84. What Cathryn said.
    While I read for pleasure, I really enjoy learning a bit about how magic is delivered. Thank you.

  86. Loved the example of how to fold time.
    Is there a way to fold time, then do something, and fold back to the point/time of origin?

    Would love to use that skill IRL …. Just think! Read Almaz snippet, then fold time to the Almaz release date and read whole story, then back to original timeline! Such a Happy Horde!!

  87. Thank you for the explanation. I love your snippets. And as a true card-carrying member of the horde, I am invested.

  88. Yessssss; more Almaz please – nicely done. And of course you predicted the BDH’s reaction, so when is the next snippet coming please?

  89. That was fabulous – thank you for the lesson. Of course, now I would *really* like to read the rest of his story!

  91. Such is the power of your writing, that a small taste makes the hoard hungry for more!

    I feel for you with us always demanding more. 😀 But even the tiniest of snippets of maybe nothing, is such better writing than most others out there.

  92. so I’m sure this will get an eyeroll. But can we get a standalone short story for Almaz please. 😝

  95. Since you frequently add posts about different aspects of writing, I’d like to ask a question about pen names. Why do some authors write in different genres under different pen names? Like Nora Roberts writes (mostly) romance, with some other elements added, under that name, but she writes crime & suspense novels under J.D. Robb. Is it important for an author to separate his or her work in different genres like that?

  96. Wow
    I am so blown away by not only your incredibly intriguing writing style, but also in the lessons you share.
    Thank you

  98. Nicely done – Bothe the demonstrations and the appetite whetting! HA and BDH for the win!!!

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