Time in Stories

Time is a fickle thing when it comes to my reading preferences. If I find a book captivating, it doesn’t matter how the story treats time. I've never DNFed (Did Not Finish) a book because of time issues.

There's a lot of concepts I don't mind at all. I don’t care if a story takes place over a few hours or several years. Time jumps, where the story skips over five years or something, are fine too. I'm also open to reading any era.

But there are some things my very linear brain has difficulty with. Time shifts are fine but frequent time shifts, like those that occur scene to scene, are a bit jarring to me. I like to immerse myself in a plot line before shifting to an alternate time and setting. It’s hard to do that if the plot line I am reading is cut short to be revisited later.

Similarly, flashbacks can convey appropriate backstory and generally I’m neutral to them. But constant flashbacks or flashbacks that are more interesting than the main plot line, where perhaps little movement occurs, can be a struggle.

As for time loops and time travel…being big into Science Fiction and Fantasy, I have read and watched a lot of lore around these concepts. They're fine—but I've had my fill. I am reluctant selecting a book now that I know deals with time in these ways.

When I started writing this blog post, I thought it would be a rant about my reading preferences, but there's quite a bit I'm okay with when it comes to time in stories. I just like good execution.