Time travel is an interesting concept that appears most often in science fiction and fantasy genres. However, while anyone can write a time travel story, not everyone can write a good one that makes sense. One of the biggest struggles most authors face when it comes to writing time travel is that they end up writing the story for themselves instead of for their readers. This often leads to the author assuming that their readers know certain things about time travel and thus not including those facts in their book. In order to write an understandable time travel story, there are multiple elements that the author needs to understand and communicate to his or her readers.

Rules of Time Travel

One of the most universally overlooked elements of time travel that authors forget to include are the rules of time travel within their book. It is important to either establish clear time travel rules up front or to have the main character be unware of the existence or rules of time travel. If the main character is ignorant at the beginning of the book, then the reader can learn about the rules alongside the main character. The rules of time travel do not have to be something as specific as the rules used in the Harry Potter series which state that a time traveler(s) cannot affect events that they know to have happened, and that they cannot come into contact with their past selves. Likewise the rules can be made more specific than those of Doctor Who which state that the fixed points in time cannot be changed or altered. The rules can be a specific as the author wants, but the important thing is to have the rules clearly stated so that the reader can understand what is and is not possible with the time travel in the book.

Plot Holes

The second biggest problem that most authors run into with time travel stories is plot holes. Many time travel stories have the main character traveling back in time to a point in the character’s life that was explored earlier in the book or series. Having the character travel back in time to a previously written moment is fine; however, many authors leave plot holes or change the events that transpired in the past with no explanation. It is important that these plot holes be filled in order to give readers a plot line that they can follow and enjoy. An easy way to sidestep these plot holes is to avoid having a character travel back in time to a time that was already explored previously in the book or series.

Dealing with the Problems

One of the best and easiest ways to avoid these mistakes is to simply have someone else read the book before submitting the book for publication. The reader can then provide a list of questions that he or she had when reading the book to the author so that the author can clear up the problems and thus make the book understandable and enjoyable to future readers!