How (and Why!) to Write a Multiple-Timeline Story

image: Nate Stein /Idalia Candelas

Here’s the nightmare scenario: you write a novel with more than one timeline, because… whatever (we’ll talk more about that in a moment). The reader picks it up, chooses their preferred timeline, and skips the other(s) altogether.

Ack. How can you tell a story that’s clearly best told with multiple timelines — and that keeps the reader’s attention equally throughout both?