I love how stories weave together. I love the little intricacies, so tales with multiple storylines absolutely pull me in. Some fall flat, but some are absolute magic. And so far, none have compared to one: Holes.
That’s right, the children’s book. The Disney movie. Stick with me here.
If you want to tell a story with multiple timelines, this is where you start.
- There’s the main storyline, of Stanley Yelnats, accused of theft and sent to a juvenile detention camp where he’ll dig holes alongside other boys serving their time.
- There’s the silly story passed down through Stanley’s family for generations that blames all their troubles on a curse from their “no good dirty rotten pig stealing great great grandfather.”
- And then there’s the storyline with outlaw Kissin’ Kate Barlow and a sweet but forbidden romance in the flourishing town before the lake dried up.
Three different timelines, very different stories, and yet… Most the book/movie, you don’t see a connection. Just interesting stories being told side by side. With a stretch maybe you could find a thematic tie-in. And then…all of a sudden, all of the stories tie together. Before you even realize what the author has done, it all makes sense. Each aspect of each story clicks into place from the beginning up til now.
It’s soooo satisfying. That’s what I love. When it all clicks into place.
It’s difficult to do in stories. So many either tie together from the beginning or just loosely relate. But those stories that weave together slowly through the journey, it’s beautiful to me.
So this is where I learned to love multiple storylines as a kid, and I try to bring that sense of awe and connection into my own stories. I won’t claim to have mastered this by any means, but I hope readers will feel even a taste of my experience with Holes as things click into place with Unfixed in Max and Julia’s stories and how they eventually weave together.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I recently found out my husband has never seen Holes, and that needs to be remedied stat. (It’s on Hulu & Disney Plus, or you can purchase the book or movie with my Amazon affiliate link so I’ll receive a portion of sales. You’re probably due for a re-watch too 😉)
Great blog post! I love multiple story lines as well. I think the best one I’ve read is the third book from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, “The Dragon Reborn”. He has four plot lines going and they all tie together at the end–and interact.
Oh that sounds absolutely wonderful! Brilliant!
Yes, I decided it was the best plotted book of the series. I liked the next one, even more, though, The Shadow Rising, because of the great battle scenes. Those two were my favorites of the series, although each book has its moments.