Posted by Jim at September 25th, 2006

I describe my novel’s genre as “Contemporary Fantasy.” I’m not sure if that’s an official publishing genre or not, but it puts it into an understandable category. It’s fantasy in that it includes supernatural events that have no rational explanation. It happens in modern times, meaning no traditional trappings of fantasy (i.e. no knights, barbarians or elves need apply).

Where magic comes in is simply that the trolley system that used to run from Holland to Grand Rapids appears occasionally in the modern day. I never call it magic in the book, but that’s the only real option for explaining it.

In earlier drafts of the novel (particularly in the original short story version), I made no rules for where and when the trolley would go, allowing it to depend primarily on the plot. Unfortunately, I wasn’t completely clear on what the plot would be either. I knew in a general way, but now I’m beginning to feel like there’s no choice but really nail down the trolley system’s routes in time and space.

Space is the easy part. It runs along the tracks that it actually ran in history. Time is harder. As soon as a person includes time travel in a novel, you end up introducing a bunch of mental gymnastics.

There is, of course, the common dilemma of “What happens if I change my past?” If you solve that as I have by saying “You open up a new alternate timeline, but yours stays just the same,” it opens up even more questions.

It also opens up immediately practical questions such as, “If you get on a time traveling trolley and go somewhere else, what time do you get back?”

There have to be rules and I have to create them, but once I do, it will shape the plot. It will also make for a better book–I think.

At any rate, I hope so,but, that’s one of the things that I worry about. What I loved about the initial draft was the slow revelation and mystery concerning the trolley system. As I nail things down, it becomes less mysterious to me. What I worry about is whether or not I can still make things mysterious to the reader.

Of course, there’s nothing to be done but try. And really, being definite is what this book needs now.