Question on handling interwoven stories

[Twilight Rose]

If this is unclear, I can explain it better, but for now I'm going to be as brief as possible.


I have many stories that interweave with each other, spanning a couple hundred years, and containing long-lived characters. Eventually they'll be posted online. As for my problem, does anyone know how I could handle the plotlines so nothing gets spoiled on accident? For example, when a specific event occurs in one story, but is also significant in another, to the point of being equally important.

[drakewithout]

name changes are good for covering characters, with out much detail as to what needs covering, the advice
I can give you is limited

[kalan]

I usually remain vague on the characters until it comes full circle with another or storyline
Example: the gaurd found the king slain the balde there on the ground was without a doubt the wanders.    Then weave more than one wanderer in to the story line and then

Word had descended from the north of the kings death the blade found was of western trader design and he new to well it was drais that had weilded it. This would be war and so he found himself traveling north to rescue his friend. 

I know its not exactly literature gold but it was a quick example

[Twilight Rose]

I'll give a vague example of what I mean...


The main character does something.
The main character in a story that takes place much later chronologically, with the other guy still alive, finds out.
The idea is for it to be emotionally jarring in both instances.


This isn't what my particular problem is, just clarifying it, hopefully.

[anoni]

You may want to consider reading Cloud Atlas, it too has a lot of stories that intertwine through different time periods, you could see how they did it.

[Twilight Rose]

Cloud Atlas is sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be read a second time


I suppose I have a secondary question: from the perspective of a reader, which do you think would be more emotionally powerful, or would you prefer to read? The scene in its original storyline, then the one where it gets brought up again, or the other way around?


I suppose my main problem is that I'm unsure of how much reading about the event in one story would detract from its impact in the other.

[kalan]

I always enjoy reading an event in a book again if its done correctly. When i bring back a paticular event such as one character telling another of the death of a previous character im always careful not to relive the same event word for word i put new twist on it as though the same event is happening but thru the eyes of someone else

[Nicolas Cage]

Cloud Atlas is sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be read a second time

I suppose I have a secondary question: from the perspective of a reader, which do you think would be more emotionally powerful, or would you prefer to read? The scene in its original storyline, then the one where it gets brought up again, or the other way around?

I suppose my main problem is that I'm unsure of how much reading about the event in one story would detract from its impact in the other.

Depends on what's happening with the characters that are involved in those scenes. A first draft would be much more telling than throwing around hypotheticals, but if I had to pick one, it'd be bringing it up, then seeing it again later in its original storyline. Events as they happen are usually more active and interesting than the historical perspective. And if it's something we weren't even aware of to begin with, or weren't as familiar with as we could have been, then you have as much leeway as you want to embellish the story as it unfolds. You can even turn it into a bit of lore to keep in your pocket for a rainy day.

Doing it the other way around puts the focus on the reveal, and the aftermath. That's not inherently a bad thing, but it means you're banking on the weight of what's already happened to pay off in character interactions and consequences. And if you're not careful with how you've developed things thus far, you run the risk of your pay off falling flat because: it was predictable/you already explained it, whatever twists you made to go along with it were predictable/explained because we generally had too much context for the event, or the characters were angsting/moping about it for too long.