Elements of a Dual Timeline Novel: Connecting Past to Present

I love Mae Clair’s dual timeline mysteries. She’s posted a great series about how to write them. Thought you might enjoy it.

Story Empire

Hi, SEers! It’s another Mae Day on Story Empire, and the closing post for my series on dual timelines. If you’ve missed any of the previous posts and would like to visit, I’ve linked them below:

Part One: An Introduction
Part Two: Character Development
Part Three: Timeframes and Settings

Today is all about connections. In a dual timeline novel, you’re usually working with one timeline in the present and one in the past. Remember that each should be able to stand separately, but also tie together at the end. That means there needs to be a connection between the two. Common connections include linked ancestry, inherited or purchased property, found documents or a catastrophe.

All photos from Bigstock Photos

Linked Ancestry
Your unassuming office clerk, Walter, learns disquieting rumors about a deceased ancestor and begins investigating to discover more. Perhaps great-great-great grandfather Thaddeus died under mysterious circumstances, vanished without a…

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