I am writing a short story that has a large time gap. I want to show the passage of time, as well as the relevant information from those years, through a series of newspaper headlines. Does anyone have any idea how to present this? Fonts, formatting instructions, anything you know would be helpful.
Posted by wetwilly (Member # 1818) on :
Wow, cool idea. I don't have any advice or ideas to help you, but cool idea.
Posted by Lord Darkstorm (Member # 1610) on :
What if you block it off and make it italic. But you would have to put them throughout the story if you want to make it acceptable. Otherwise you would have to spell out the fact that the special section that spans time is actually newpaper headings, not wild ramblings of a madman....or something...
Anyways, it is a cool idea. Maybe put a newpaper name at the top, and the date. It should work.
LDS
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
Too bad it's not a movie and you could do the spinning newspaper scene. You could have your char going through Microphish(sp) or cleaning up a pile of newspapers and reading them. BUt I can't tell you since I've never tried anything like that.
Posted by Mind Surfer (Member # 1686) on :
Maybe you could write a small piece of the article to include with the headlines. Another thing you might be able to do is to quote one line or two lines from the article/headline. For example,
quote:"The day the world almost ended started when..." -Christine Small, Hatrack Times
So you could use the format of "Lines in article" -author, newspaper. Or something like this.
That is a great idea. I'm curious to know how you do it.
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
That's not a bad idea, but I want to include the dat as well, because these articles will span 20 years. (I've got thea rticles I want to use listed out with titles and dates,it wouldn't be anything to make up authors and quotes.) I'll give that some thought.
Posted by Eric Sherman (Member # 2007) on :
I would write them out simply, similar to the way Frank Herbert uses excerpts from 'books' in Dune.
Example:
Recent reasearch has proved that small, furry creatures from Alpha Centauri have no use for conditioner in their hair. - The Daily Blah, 2034 (or something like, Associated Press Syndicate, or whatever fits)
Posted by Lord Darkstorm (Member # 1610) on :
Eric's gets my vote. I've seen that before in a book or two somewhere.
LDS
Posted by JOHN (Member # 1343) on :
Here's how I would do it...
May 11, 2099 ALIENS SHIP CRASHES TO EARTH (reprinted with permission of the Galaxy Gazette)
NEW YORK- Onlookers in Times Squares were shocked early Saturday...
[This message has been edited by JOHN (edited May 11, 2004).]
Posted by Jules (Member # 1658) on :
Love that 'reprinted with permission' line.
Reminds me of Foundation, which (IIRC, loaned my copy to a friend who's had it for, like, two years or something) has a footnote on page 1 that reads something like "All excerpts from the Encyclopaedia Galactica are from the seventeenth edition and are reprinted with the kind permission of Terminus Publishing" or something like that.
Posted by JOHN (Member # 1343) on :
I actually got that from my best friend, Matt. The main character in one of his stories had a newpaper column, and even though story was told in 3rd person, every few chapters would be preluded by an column.
Just thought I should give credit where credit is due...
Posted by Tracy (Member # 2015) on :
You could use John's idea and have the newspaper headlines listed one after another, like separate paragraphs, offset in their own section. By putting them in their own section, you will let the reader know that it is not part of the regular POV, and is significant. The dates will indicate the passage of time, so you shouldn't need any further explanation. Word of warning though, make sure the headlines are interesting. When you create a new section, you are going to be breaking the reader's momentum and involvement, and you want to make sure what you say can recapture it.
I guess I'm thinking it could look something like this ...
... and the last thing Bernard saw was the lid closing on the chamber. Icy vapors poured through the holes in the ceiling and floor, surrounding his body and immersing him in utter blackness.
US Government Denies Knowledge of Virus ~ Washington Post, May 19, 2012 Midwest Town Devastated by Sudden Disease ~ New York Times, August 15, 2017 Mass Grave of 20 Thousand Uncovered in Mojave Desert ~ Washington Post, March 6, 2018 Victory! Last US Official Executed on White House Lawn ~ People's Voice, December 25, 2020
Nausea surged though Bernards naked body, as his senses returned. The last thing he remembered was the cryo gas entering the chamber ...
Tracy
[This message has been edited by Tracy (edited May 18, 2004).]
[This message has been edited by Tracy (edited May 18, 2004).]
