Hey everyone, I have a problem. I need your input please.

I'm currently writing a story that is going to span 500 years. The main part of the story will be held in the future. My problem is that only small (very small) things have to happen in the past as we progress. The thing is I don't feel that these little events constitue an entire chapter and well, they all happen at different times.

I thought about doing a chapter or two of Journal entries. That way all my little 'key' events are touched on, but I don't have to waste time with details. I describe the events very well through the 'writer's' POV, but I don't have to add things like the weather or sounds. Besides, it's not just about the event that is important, but the TIME the event happens in. It's not supposed to make sense that I wrote it...yet. It will be one of those 'OH' moments later on in the story though. Each Journal chapter will be at least 1,000 words long, so it's not like I'm doing a 100 word drabble in the middle of my chapter story.

My question is, how do you all feel about someone treating chapters like diary entries? Is it too much, or should I deleat my chapters and try to figure out another way to tell it?

I want to give readers a good story, but part of me is rebelling that it is MY story and I should do what I want with it.

I'd be very grateful for your input. Thanks all.

I've seen something like this done before, and I think it can be successful as long as you handle it well. If you're worried about your readers getting confused or turned off by it, you can always warn them.

I'm assuming by "writer's POV" you mean a character, right? It would be kind of awkward if it was you stepping into the story.

An alternative to the journal method, if you decide not to use it, would be the interlude method I've seen around. It's a way of stepping back from the main plot of the story and writing a scene that may touch on some historical information, but not deal too heavily with it. It could be something as simple as Sesshoumaru receiving a report about how Nobunaga is conquering the human lands, or Kagome recalling from history classes that "oh, this is about the time that such and such happened". Of course, I have no idea if this would work for you.

O.O Well I'm assuming that when you mean the 'Writer's POV' that it's been written in First Person narrative, i.e a character describes their own experiences like I found the tome on a dusty library shelf rather than Kagome found the dusty old book in the library tucked behind a shelf of tattered encyclopedias. Journal or diary entries are fine in the First person narrative, provided it doesn't conflict with second or third person narrative if you end up switching out between chapters.

Nab a friend and ask 'em to read it through or listen to snippets of the journals, and other chapters if you're switching out narrative writing styles.

They can help point out confusing things to ya, and give a bit of perspective if certain things are working or not.

~ Pyre