Where would Star Trek and J.J. Abrams be without time travel and alternate dimensions? How could Spock have a conversation with Spock— an epic meeting that revealed so muchabout two versions of the same man living in different realities ? How could J.J literally rewrite the Trek universe, tell his own story, and get away with it, without time travel? Within parallel universes, the rules change. Characters you know well and love can completely transform, giving the reader or viewer a fresh new take such as was seen in the classic
Star Trek episode called Mirror, Mirror. In the D.C. comics Bizzaro World, Superman is evil, Lex Luthor is a hero, and Batman has a futility belt. Get it? Futility? Alternate dimensions come in many forms. You can create a world between worlds like the one found in Alice In Wonderland or the land of Oz There are a variety of ways to get there as well. You can travel through a crack at the bottom of the ocean like in Pacific Rim, or you can journey through the Bermuda triangle, or step through a wardrobe and into Narnia. Alternate realities were explored in It’s a Wonderful Life . George Bailey got to see what the town and his family would be without him. Scrooge got a glimpse of a potential future he didn’t much care for and was able to change the outcome by changing himself. Wormholes are used in Phillip Pullman’s, His Dark Materials, Madeleine L’Engle’s, A Wrinkle in Time , Carl Sagan’s, Contact , in Star Trek , and there was even an entire television series dedicated to wormholes called Sliders . The many Stargate shows were also based on wormholes. Ah, and let’s not forget that Thor travels through them as well. In a case like that, I wouldn’t mind a wormhole being connected to my back yard. Actually, now that I think on it, I’d sacrifice even my kitchen for Chris Hemsworth Perhaps I could entice him away from Natalie Portman with one of my seven layered cookie bars. (Making note to buy ingredients) Now time travel opens up all kinds of story options. In Back to the Future, any little thing done in the past can change future relationships, affect character, and change the world. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry and Hermione travel back in time to be able to hear or accomplish certain things they wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise and the bonus is that we get to see them see themselves. These various plot devices give new insights to character, open up worlds beyond the everyday, and enrich a story. This doesn’t mean it’s easy to do by any means. There’s sciency stuff involved, rules to be created and maintained, and an army of geeky science nerds who lie in wait ready to pierce your carefully constructed world through the heart with aforementioned sciency foam arrows. But, if it’s done right, then not only do endless story possibilities await but your readers will turn the last page and shout “My…mind…is…blown!”
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