If you were writing the story, how would you skip a few years in time?

Question

I'm writing a story about this guy - and the timeframe begins from birth to death. How can I skip a few years without really going into details and still keep it convincing for the reader. I mean, the characters have to mature and all that. I kind of need a transitional short piece. The story is after all a type of epic. Thanks
In case you wish to read a piece it is:
(note: read the prologue first)

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-3TmkpeQ8eqLgSkELyFGuJ9Cd;_ylt=AryCAmA_WQpXlXOc4vGPeai0AOJ3

Answer 1

Lots of authors use flashbacks which work really well. You could have your character flasback to a specific incident during a certain time of life. You could start with him looking back on his entire life as he is in his last weeks.

Answer 2

As others mentioned above simply writing out the date can be an easy and clear way to let the reader know what time/year it is. Certainly not a bad idea. However, I favor the more artistic transition. If you think about it there are many things you can "just say" when writing, but after all you're a writer-you want to express it. Here’s my example:

The jar teetered on the edge of the table. Jameson sprang to his feet. Finally, the jar was seduced by gravity-it plunged toward the cold, hard floor. Jameson dove, arms outstretched. The jar was destined to merge with its reflection on the black tile. And just then Jameson’s hands, typically comparable to dry wood and grit stone from years of farming, enveloped the clear, crisp jar. He looked on wide eyed in disbelief. There before his very arms the jar that contained his last drops of whiskey hovered over the unforgiving, black surface, ever so gently coddled by his momentarily delicate hands. He proudly rose to his feet like a giant, opened the jar, and devoured its contents. And to prove he was no gentle slave to such delicate things he released his grip from the jar and let it fall upon the black tile.

* * *

“Jameson! The fires about to go out. Feed it some more wood.” Jameson rose to his feet with a well thought out upward motion. He walked outside and grabbed enough wood to weigh down three men. He placed the wood next to the fire place with great deliberation. The fire was nearly out. Jameson strategically placed four peaces of wood in the remaining embers. As he erected his imposing stature he became aware of several splinters in the palm of his hands. With a sigh of annoyance he swept his hand over the table and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. He slowly removed the cap, took one large gulp, and then carefully replaced the cap while he surveyed the burgeoning fire. Once he felt content that it was thriving he thoughtfully place the empty bottle of whiskey on the mantle.

Anyways, I may have gone a bit overboard with the description. I hope you can see where I was going with this. I tried to make it appear as if he had aged no more than ten years. I used words like "sprang" and "dove" in the first paragraph and words like "well thought out" and "deliberate" in the second paragraph. I used physical attributes to define my time line. If you're going to jump ahead only two or three years you might want to use a characters way of thinking as a way of defining the time line.

Answer 3

It's not uncommon for an author to begin a work:

Berlin, 1965

Followed by introductory prose, of the sort you're describing.

Then,

New York City, 1986

And the character[s] matured in a different plot sequence.

If it works, no transition is needed.

Answer 4

Another device you can use is to have something in the story progress. For example, if you leave the plot with it being winter, you could have a statement such as: "Three more years of snow and cold, and so-and-so still did not feel changed." Or, you can have events in real life. For example, "It was three years since the President had been assassinated..."

Answer 5

Just put the month, day, and year at the beginning of each chapter where the time changes. I've read many books that do just that.
God Bless!!

Answer 6

well try telling the reading that wat the character did for those few years was set out on what you had been building up to or trying to figure out where or wat he/she needed to do to get to where they are after the years pass. you can be a little vague in the details here but dont go too in depth or else you will end up writing all the details of all the years that pass. just a few things i picked up from Stephen King and J.K. Rowling.

Answer 7

Writers are always jumping around using retrospectives...as thought they are telling it in third party terms....looking back then forward,then back again... using insight of caraters involved. Movies are good at it. fantasy is always using this approach.