Linear vs Non-Linear Story

[nautics]

I'm currently working on a story, I have all the arcs planned out from beginning to end but don't know in what order I want to present them. I was wondering what you guys preferred, a linear story or non-linear.

To be a little more specific, the story is about a supernatural being in modern day Tokyo. Would you prefer a non-chronological multi-perspective story narrated by different people as they come in contact with this being, as the mysteries surrounding its existence slowly begins to unravel. Or a story that follows the life of the supernatural being as it comes in contact with various different people, narrated in its perfective.

 

[AliceShiki]

Both are fine and can work out pretty well. Write the one you enjoy the most, I guess.

As a reader, I personally prefer linearity I guess, it's easier to understand... Though that's just personal preference, really.

 

[Snusmumriken]

Both are fine and can work out pretty well. Write the one you enjoy the most, I guess.

As a reader, I personally prefer linearity I guess, it's easier to understand... Though that's just personal preference, really.

That is exactly what it boils down to - can the author make it understandable. a certain amount of Defamiliarization can be useful too, but it also requires skill (or extra effort) to pull off

 

[nautics]

That's one of the things I'm worried about, I know a lot of people dislike non-liner stories because they can get convoluted and are (often intentionally) difficult to understand. I don't want readers to drop the story because of something like that.

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

I hope this helps, turned out longer than I intended lol

What I've seen so far in most non-linear stories, is that the non-linear aspect is explained pretty early.

"I'm a Spider, So What?" has issues because of this, the first flashforward was pretty late into the story, and the audience got confused. The author had to explain themselves and all. It was a pretty messy thing if I'm recalling correctly.

Others have the second chapter introducing the non-linearity. Usually with newspapers, Television, the radio, etc. letting the audience know the date, hour, year, etc. through dialogues coming from them.

Like a lot of Cyberpunk, Steampunk, and Sci-fi fiction, having the world explain itself is a very good tool.

In cyberpunk 2077, we can see the advertisements all around the city relaying information about the world instead of having an NPC breathing down our necks saying that Militech has the best bio-software or whatever the name was. Similarly, the character in your story can stop and read the newspaper, or check twitter, or a novel release and mention the date.

For example, over ten years ago, I wrote a series of short stories about a group of immortals living their lives in a massive city housing the entirity of humanity in the far future(never published it, i cringe when i read it). I used the radio, smartphones, and holograms to relay passage of time and what year that specific part of the story took place in, since people don't usually say "Hello, nautics, what a beautiful day is this 18 of June of the Year 2021. Don't you agree?" "Oh yes, AliceShiki, I love that it's 0:22 right now and the weather is freezing cold in South America."

It could be for example two people conversing and the radio in the background states an election, event, or a STORM THAT IS APPROAAACHING, which you stated in previous chapters had already passed through character dialogue or the state of the world around the characters(banners, uprooted trees, covered windows, no cars on the streets). The readers will then understand that that point of the story is before the previous chapter.

While convoluted, it's not hard to do, and not harder to understand. You could use the state of the characters belongings, and even their own bodies if they have suffered injury to relay time. A scar, a missing finger, piercings, bracers, beard, length of hair, sun tan, a broken glass, a shatered mug that was glued back together, ripped clothes, etc.

So what I mean is, go ahead and have fun. Be sure to give attention to the details that will let the audience know which part of the story they are reading, and don't be discourage if you don't know how to do it.

 

[Agentt]

Hm, here's the thing.

Yes, non linear is very cool.
But I wouldn't recommend it.

Why?

Because you are new,
Even if you do manage to write an amazing non linear story, you don't have any followers.
People don't know you, hence they would just see if the first few chapters are good or not.

 

[tarreb]

Both are valid and effective methods for telling a story. I feel that non-linear storytelling can be difficult to pull off well, but the payoffs for a well-written non-linear story can be well worth the effort.

Linear storytelling
Pros:

• Often easier for readers to follow
• Having a sequential time-line can help the author prevent continuity errors
• The author can change plots and storylines with potentially less adjustments needed for earlier chapters

Cons:

• Longer gaps between chronologically distant events can lead to readers missing details or causing reveals to have less impact. I.e. if there's a payoff moment in chapter 300 that resolves an event from chapter 5, the reader may have forgotten the chapter 5 event by the time it's reached

Non-linear storytelling
Pros:

• Can be used to keep chronologically distant but are more directly intertwined closer together in the book
• Can be used for artistic effect such as generating suspense; drafting an air of mystery; or establishing a controlled sense of unreliability or confusion
• Can help cut down on exposition or setting up the plot by interweaving such details throughout the story as they become relevant
• Can create big payoff moments for the reader when they see big picture come together

Cons:

• Can be confusing to readers, particularly if the story follows a large number of timelines or doesn't readily establish when an event is taking place
• It can be quite easy to introduce continuity errors
• Changes to the plan of a story may require significant reworking of previously established chapters
• Frequent or erratic jumping through time

Tips for non-linear storytelling from an avid reader and watcher of films:

• If jumping back and forth through multiple timelines, keep the number of 'active' timelines limited. Additionally, try space out timeline jumps so that smaller plot arcs have the ability to be resolved--lack of resolution can be frustrating to read may make the story feel like it's being drawn out
• Alternatively, completely resolve a larger plot arc before moving backwards or forwards down the timeline
• Try to establish a pattern or motif for different timelines. This can help readers keep track of when a particular event is occurring and can lead to a payoff moment for the reader as they discover it. This pattern doesn't need to be deliberately told to the reader. A film example of this is Memento, where
  Spoiler

  The black and white scenes represent the past and color scenes represent the present
  .

Questions to ask yourself:

• Will non-linear storytelling add anything to the story?
• Will my story still make sense even if presented out of order?
• Will this be interesting and keep readers engaged?

 

[Tropic_Panda]

Well, I never tasted formal literature education. So there is a high probability my opinions are full of flaws.

But at least let me share a few steps I take when I write a non-linear story.

-- Make a clear but not too detailed main plot in 3-5 sentences. Clear plot is to keep me on track. While not too detailed plot is to keep the possibility open as wide as possible. Therefore, it will always entertain my mind.

-- Decide the first sub plot, then write it in a short arc as if I were writing a short story. I mean with a start, ending, and a highlighted goal. Focus on this arc and don't think too far about what the next arc will be. A little hinting or foreshadowing is okay, but no more than that. Just give my best to make this arc as good as possible.

-- Decide the second sub plot. The story timeline can be before or after the first arc, depends on what I want to tell. For me this part is super enjoyable if my main plot is not too detailed. I only need to connect the second arc with the first.

Then write it as if I were writing a short story, like how I write the first arc. Usually I used a pinch of an exposition to bridge two or more arcs.

-- Use step two to write the third arc, and the next arc, and the next arc. If I keep loyal to my main plot, slowly I will form a big picture.

-- Ask for critique, advice, or input. This is the part I hate the most because usually I only get a little useful but poisoned opinion. The rest are just pure poison. Unfortunately, this part is fundamental for my growth.

For me, I love this step because when shit happens in real life, I can stop in the last arc without leaving too much of a cliffhanger. Then I will continue again when I am ready to continue, in one or maybe two years.

Also, I am an amateur who is easily bored when writing huge and long projects. So a smaller and jumpy arc is suitable for me.
Even though not many readers will follow my story.

That's a small bit of my piece. Best Regards.

 

[Echimera]

I like both, if done well.

If done well, a non-linear story can be really cool, as others already pointed out.
You can keep thematically related story threads close to each other when if they are years apart with a lot of other things happening in-between.
You can even play twist reveals from both sides, switching between the two points in time and setting up clues and red herrings both before and after the chronological reveal, if you switch between different perspectives along with the time (not everyone in a story will be aware that there is even a twist reveal, neither before nor after the reveal takes place).

But as someone that tends to notice inconsistencies and contradictions in a story fairly well, I must say that it requires a lot of planning to get right. People already manage to mess up stories that are presented in chronological order with simple things like not thinking through what certain events mean in the larger context, if you want to tell it out of order you probably want to do a lot of planning beforehand to ensure you don't start contradicting yourself after the first couple of jumps in the timeline.
Obvious contradictions are one thing, but something as simple as a tool or ability you give to a character to solve their current problem can have ramifications when that could have been very useful in a chronologically later situation and nobody even knows the tool or ability even exists.

As for the perspective, that depends a lot on what you want to show. You can even mix it up and have the perspectives of both the supernatural being and the people it comes into contact with.
A series that I think does that mixed perspective really well is Overlord with three major categories:
-Ainz, the way OP transmigrator, even by the standards of previous transmigrators in the setting, who has no real idea just how OP he is in terms of power (especially early on, when he is extremely careful with revealing himself for fear of other powerful beings) but who is also way out of his league in terms of managing the whole political side of the story on the level the NPCs think he does (I just love how he freaks out when Demiurge explains the supposedly elaborate plans he thinks Ainz made to everyone else)
-The NPCs who revere him as basically a god that simply can't do anything wrong and interpret everything he does in a way that elevates their opinion on him even more (Demiurge 'guessing' Ainz's elaborate plans and used to explain them to everyone else) and take throwaway comments of his as the most important of orders.
-The people of the new world they ended up in that tend to start out overconfident because they have no idea that there even are OP characters and then proceed to have the best freak-outs about how their supposed op stuff don't do anything against Ainz or the NPCs

 

[SerikoLee]

Trying to copy that but without the narration.
But Linear stories are okay , as long as the story does not feel linear.
Like a three lane story but so much is going.
That the stories does not feel linear but if you add many things going on.
Please make it understandable to the reader.
That is what i failed on delivering when i tried my third attempt.

The Time I Got Reincarnated As A Seraph

A man dying due to a random attacker ascends to heaven and god reincarnates him as a female angel , since he plays games often and watches overlord. The mc sents off to make allies and go into conquest after making enough allies. Discord Server: https://discord.gg/jckYJDDHCg Family-friendly...

www.scribblehub.com

 

[AlexaLee]

I wrote/am writing a non-linear book and I would say go for what would be best to read. If you think that it would be better for it to be nonlinear, do that but at the same time, if you think that it'll be harder for your readers to keep up, avoid it!

 

[nautics]

Thanks for the input, you guys have given me a lot to think about. I'm going to take a step back and go through all my notes and rework stuff to see what kind of structure best fits the kind of story I'm trying to tell.