timelines tagged posts

Critique Technique, Part 23—Confused Storyline

Green die with past, present, and future on faces
Photo credit: Stuart Miles via freedigitalphotos.net

I was originally going to title this article “Confused Timeline” but as I put my notes together I realized time isn’t the problem (other than me not having enough of it). Of course it’s important that a story flow in a logical sequence of events from its beginning to its end (with some exceptions I’ll get to in a moment), but that sequence doesn’t have to follow a time-linear order.

In fact, more than likely, it won’t. Consider:

  • If there’s even one flashback, flash-forward, or instance of a character remembering something, the perfect time sequence is broken. This is true even if the story is written in the present tense.
  • Same thing if there are multiple plot lines or point of view characters...
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