Parallel Lives: Writing Alternate Selves & Forking Paths

Parallel Lives is a craft reference for literary novelists writing alternate selves, divergent timelines, and the roads a character almost traveled. It treats the parallel world as a mirror for character, not a machine for plot.

• What's inside
• Divergence design: choosing the single choice that splits a life
• Rules for keeping timelines distinct, legible, and emotionally weighted
• Wrong-way and right-way examples drawn from one continuing scenario
• Craft notes on exceptions, ambiguity, and unreliable memory
• Worksheets for mapping variants, grief, envy, and reunion scenes