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[KittyTac]

I am writing a sci-fi story that is set in a tiny galaxy deep in the Giant Void. Less of a galaxy, more like a slightly larger than average globular cluster floating in the void by itself. The story takes place over a period of about 600 million years, written in an encyclopedic tone. I may even make it a wiki-like thing, even! Also, what should I name it? The current title of the text file is "Galxy", because I made a typo.

[Loud Whispers]

600 million is an awfully long timescale to set a story, what's it going to be about?

[George_Chickens]

Yeah, how exactly are you going to pace a story at 600 million years without resorting to "man did a thing than another thing" filler?

[Rockeater]

Yeah, how exactly are you going to pace a story at 600 million years without resorting to "man did a thing than another thing" filler?

A very long time skips?

[KittyTac]

It is about large-scale development, with occasional interludes about the lives of individuals.

[Loud Whispers]

It is about large-scale development, with occasional interludes about the lives of individuals.

Sounds pretty damn ambitious. What do you mean by large-scape development? Is this to be some kinda epic encapsulating reality, sorta like watching the evolution of life, but instead of life, encapsulating an entire galaxy?

[KittyTac]

It is about large-scale development, with occasional interludes about the lives of individuals.

Sounds pretty damn ambitious. What do you mean by large-scape development? Is this to be some kinda epic encapsulating reality, sorta like watching the evolution of life, but instead of life, encapsulating an entire galaxy?

Yeah! I have already wrote down the galaxy's first major war.

[Loud Whispers]

Yeah! I have already wrote down the galaxy's first major war.

A lot of material for RPG settings might be useful for reference, as they tend to go into details about expansive fictional universes in a manner which may be helpful to you

[KittyTac]

Quote from one of the interludes detailing a nation:

...and the Ti'Yuhan Tribe became even more tyrannical, with anyone expressing "evil ideas" like xenophobia being executed with gardening implements (to save bullets)...

[scourge728]

PTW

[ChairmanPoo]

600 million is an awfully long timescale to set a story, what's it going to be about?

Spoiler: HOW IT HAPPENED (click to show/hide)

My brother began to dictate in his best oratorical style, the one which has the tribes hanging on his words.

"In the beginning," he said, "exactly fifteen point two billion years ago, there was a big bang and the Universe--"

But I had stopped writing. "Fifteen billion years ago?" I said incredulously.

"Absolutely," he said. "I'm inspired."

"I don't question your inspiration," I said. (I had better not. He's three years younger than I am, but I don't try questioning his inspiration. Neither does anyone else or there's hell to pay.) "But are you going to tell the story of the Creation over a period of fifteen billion years?"

"I have to," said my brother. "That's how long it took. I have it all in here," he tapped his forehead, "and it's on the very highest authority."

By now I had put down my stylus. "Do you know the price of papyrus?" I said.

"What?" (He may be inspired but I frequently noticed that the inspiration didn't include such sordid matters as the price of papyrus.)

I said, "Suppose you describe one million years of events to each roll of papyrus. That means you'll have to fill fifteen thousand rolls. You'll have to talk long enough to fill them and you know that you begin to stammer after a while. I'll have to write enough to fill them and my fingers will fall off. And even if we can afford all that papyrus and you have the voice and I have the strength, who's going to copy it? We've got to have a guarantee of a hundred copies before we can publish and without that where will we get royalties from?"

My brother thought awhile. He said, "You think I ought to cut it down?"

"Way down," I said, "if you expect to reach the public."

"How about a hundred years?" he said.

"How about six days?" I said.

He said horrified, "You can't squeeze Creation into six days."

I said, "This is all the papyrus I have. What do you think?"

"Oh, well," he said, and began to dictate again, "In the beginning-- Does it have to be six days, Aaron?"

I said, firmly, "Six days, Moses."



How it Happened Isaac Asimov

[KittyTac]

There will be 3 "timescales" at which I will write.

Empire:
Details the large-scale development of a sector of the galaxy, wars and all.

Events:
Details the development of part of an empire or details the events inside of said part e.g how does, for example, the secret police work, that sort of thing.

Individual:
Details the life of an individual person.

[Loud Whispers]

There will be 3 "timescales" at which I will write.

Empire:
Details the large-scale development of a sector of the galaxy, wars and all.

Events:
Details the development of part of an empire or details the events inside of said part e.g how does, for example, the secret police work, that sort of thing.

Individual:
Details the life of an individual person.

So things like the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand or the death of Temujin are the apex of all 3 of your timelines

[KittyTac]

There will be 3 "timescales" at which I will write.

Empire:
Details the large-scale development of a sector of the galaxy, wars and all.

Events:
Details the development of part of an empire or details the events inside of said part e.g how does, for example, the secret police work, that sort of thing.

Individual:
Details the life of an individual person.

So things like the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand or the death of Temujin are the apex of all 3 of your timelines

Timescales can overlap sometimes, yeah.

[KittyTac]

I justified the The Milky Way Is The Only Way trope by first, placing the (tiny) galaxy in one of the largest voids known to modern astronomy, and second, limiting the FTL speed so it takes a while to cross a large globular cluster-sized region. One of the civilizations tried sending a colony ship to the nearest galaxy, with cryogenically frozen occupants, but they took so long to cross the void that it is stated that the ship's resources ran out and the occupants starved to death while less than halfway there.