It’s going to be Groundhog’s Day 🦫 again on Monday, Reader. Yes, that weird US holiday observed every Feb 2nd based on a German tradition using a…badger? 🤷🏻♀️
However, in the 3 decades since the release of the beloved American cult classic of the same title, the plot of Groundhog’s Day has become a storytelling device used in numerous books, movies and TV shows.
So what is this famous plot device? Basically:
Your Legendary Character is stuck in a time loop repeating a particular frame of time or situation over and over until something specific is achieved. However how and when the reset happens, and what the achievable goal is, varies from story to story.
Maybe they’re trying to prevent a death or become a better person. Or maybe they’re trying to save the whole damn world. Wouldn’t that be nice right about now? 😒
So, Reader, if you’re considering writing your own Groundhog’s Day variation…
Here are 5 unique takes on the time loop story device I highly recommend to get you started:
1) Summer Time Rendering (Samā Taimu Renda)
By Yasuki Tanaka - Available in both English dubbed and original language with English subtitles
Shinpei Ajiro returns to his hometown of Hitogashima Island for the funeral of his friend and adoptive sister Ushio. Details surrounding her death lead Shinpei on a quest that ends in his murder. But instead of the afterlife, he wakes to find himself on the ferry pier once again on the day of Ushio’s funeral.
What’s Unique?
The time loop’s reset point moves forward as time passes + the end of the loop is death not a fixed time like midnight
More Stories Like This:
- Re:Zero (Ri:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu) by by Tappei Nagatsuki and illustrated by Shinichirou Otsuka - Available in both English dubbed and original language with English subtitles
- Russian Doll by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, and Amy Poehler
- Higurashi When They Cry (Higurashi no Naku Koro “When the Cicadas Cry”) by 07th Expansion & Chiaki Kon
2) Tokyo Revengers (Tōkyō Ribenjāzu)
By Ken Wakui - Available in both English dubbed and original language with English subtitles
On the day that 26-year-old Takemichi Hanagaki learns that the Tokyo Manji Gang killed his middle school girlfriend and her little brother, Takemichi is pushed onto the train tracks. However, instead of the afterlife, he wakes to find himself in the body of his 14-year-old self. His following actions alter the past creating a paradox that allows him to jump back and forth through time within his own body as he tries desperately to prevent their deaths. And then the deaths of others he meets along the way.
What’s Unique?
The time loop’s reset point moves forward as time passes + Time looping is an ability of the Legendary Character + murder mystery + time travel
More Stories Like This:
- Erased (Boku dake ga Inai Machi “The Town Where Only I Am Missing”) by Kei Sanbe - Available in both English dubbed and original language with English subtitles in both anime and live action formats
3) The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
By Lev Grossman
Mark has been stuck repeating the same day in his idyllic small town. He’s doing his part to—more or less—make people’s lives a little bit better when he runs into Margaret, another teen also stuck in a perpetual time loop. The two devise a plan to break out of the loop by mapping out all the perfect moments that happen in their loop.
What’s Unique?
Multiple characters stuck in a time loop + The story starts with the Legendary Character already in the time loop
More Stories Like This:
- Dark by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese - Available in both English dubbed and original language with English subtitles
- Higurashi When They Cry (Higurashi no Naku Koro “When the Cicadas Cry”) by 07th Expansion & Chiaki Kon
- Russian Doll by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, and Amy Poehler
4) The 7 Lives of Léa (Les 7 Vies de Léa)
By Charlotte Sanson - Available in both English dubbed and original language with English subtitles
While at an outdoor party by a river in June 2021, Léa stumbles upon a dead body. She wakes up the next day, thirty years in the past inside the body of Ismaël—the person she found dead. For the next 6 days, she inhabits the bodies of the 6 people that contributed to the death of Ismaël all while trying desperately to save him from his grisly fate.
What’s Unique?
Freaky Friday meets Groundhog’s Day + a murder mystery + time travel
More Stories Like This:
- Les 7 Vies de Léo Belami by Nataël Trapp
- The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
- Your Name is… (Kimi no Na wa) by Makoto Shinkai - Available in both English dubbed and original language with English subtitles
- A Time Called You by Choi Hyo-bi - Available in both English dubbed and original language with English subtitles
5) Premonition (2007)
by Mennan Yapo
Linda experiences the days surrounding her husband's death in non-chronological order and attempts to save him from his impending doom. Unable to believe or understand what she’s experiencing, everyone in her life gaslights her and attempts to convince her she’s crazy but in the end all her “premonitions” are proven true.
What’s Unique?
Time is looping non-chronologically + The Legendary Character is trying to use their new found ability to save a life
More Stories Like This:
- Your Name is… (Kimi no Na wa) by Makoto Shinkai - Available in both English dubbed and original language with English subtitles
Well, Reader, I hope these Time Loop recommendations help you write your own Groundhog’s Day-style story. Until next time, this is your friendly neighborhood storytelling Kat wishing you a wonderfully creative week.
Your cohort in storytelling,
Kat Vancil
🐱
PS 👉 Here are even more Time Loop examples to check out:
- The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Yasutaka Tsutsui - adapted into an anime movie in 2006
- 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass
- All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka - adapted into the movie Edge of Tomorrow
- Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
- Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
- First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Catherine Webb
- Sea Sick by Iain Rob Wright - Groundhog’s Day with zombies on a cruise ship
- Kaleidoscope Century by John Barnes
- Recursion by Blake Crouch
- By His Bootstraps by Robert Heinlein
- One Fine Day by Leon Arden
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The Writers Life, LLC
Laura Matney, book coach
I help fiction writers finish the darn book. If you have a spark of an idea but no clue how to proceed, if you are lost mid-draft or mid-revision and about to give up this content is for you. We'll talk about everything craft and process related with more than a sprinkle of magic mixed in. |
