Write Back To The Future

Basic Information

A write back to the future is when a time traveler in the past gets a message to companions in the present by hiding it away so that it will be recovered at the appropriate time (The message takes the slow path.). The chance of success is significantly improved if preparations are made before going to the past, as this allows one to select a drop-off point that is known to survive into the present undisturbed and since companions will know where to look. An encryption method can also be selected in advance to improve safety, and protocol can ensure that the message is only read at the appropriate time. (If the message is read before the traveler goes to the past, a paradox may result.)
Without such preparation, a character will have to make an educated guess to maximize the chance that the intended recipient will be the first person to inspect the hiding place, and that this happens at the appropriate time. (A crafty character might be able to hide a sufficiently cryptic message in plain sight.)

See Also

• Narrative Devices
• Time Travel Tropes

Sources

Bibliography

1. TV Tropes Wiki entry

Game and Story Use

• The time travel organization the party works for has recovered a message from a time traveler in the past asking for help, but no agent of theirs is known to be in that time period. The party is sent to investigate…
  • There may have been an intended recipient other than the party's organization.
    • If the agent belongs to some hostile, criminal, or top-secret group, he may try to kill the party and steal the time machine.
    • The writer could be from the characters' future, creating a variety of problems.
  • The party may be unable to find either the writer or the message. Then, just as they are about to return empty-handed, their time machine breaks down…
    • Alternatively, the party discovers someone they believe to be the writer and talk to him at length, and he then steals their time machine and leaves them stranded. For an added twist, they may discover that there is no message, concluding that they have just given a random person the secret of time travel and a time machine!
    • The organization may have intentionally left the characters in the dark so as to avoid a paradox.