Non-Linear to Linear Chapter Sorting

[Jax.A.River]

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or middle of the night,

I have a question for y'all. I am writing a story non-linearly, one-character POV at a time, that spans several decades in setting. I plan on eventually getting around to reorganizing the chapters into chronological order and have timestamped them by in-setting year and character POV chapter #. I read that rearranging already published chapters trips some kind of anti-spam filter and am concerned because I don't want to accidentally break some site rule on publishing that I don't fully understand. Will reorganizing the chapters into chronological order cause any problems?

Thank you for taking the time to read my question,

Jax.

 

[Eldoria]

If you dont add any story elements, you don't need to republish. Simply drag and drop chapters in chronological order and save them. This feature is already in the chapter list.

 

[L1aei]

...

Will reorganizing the chapters into chronological order cause any problems?

Thank you for taking the time to read my question,

Jax.

So... I'm not going to pretend I read your story, but rather suggest something for you to seriously think about before taking that leap of faith. Whether reorganizing the chapters is "better" really depends on the effect you're going for. Look, non-linear storytelling can work extremely well if the timelines are clear and the subtle reveals are intentional. Dunno if you watched it, but Westworld's first season is a great example of parallel timelines being utilized and they did it deliberately to enhance the story rather than confuse the audience.

Your readers? Hm... let's cover that portion of keeping things coherent. If your chapters are already clearly timestamped, labeled by POV, or whatever to keep it transparent, then your readers who enjoy that kind of structure will likely follow along just fine. Reordering everything into strict chronology later could make it more straightforward, but it might also remove some of the mystery, and the big hit of euphoria from readers that fit the puzzle pieces together that comes from seeing events out of order.

I ain't telling you this is right or wrong, just keep that in the back or front of your mind; shake it around a bit and see if that suggested cocktail tastes good.

 

[unlaumy]

Will reorganizing the chapters into chronological order cause any problems?

There's also the problem of destroying the story's integrity. It doesn't look well for old readers when they see chapters are suddenly rearranged and that they can't do anything about it. For new readers, they may as well assume the author is fickle and has no consistency.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Have you considered giving the chapters titles with a timestamp - say "4.23.96. Peter Wakes Up" "5.18.97. Peter Robs Paul" "6.1.98 Peter Pays Mary" and then sorting them in whatever order feels right when finished?

 

[Jax.A.River]

If you add any story elements, you don't need to republish. Simply drag and drop chapters in chronological order and save them. This feature is already in the chapter list.

That's good to know, I saw the drag and drop feature and assumed that was what it was for but also read that it triggered some kind of filter and was worried.

Have you considered giving the chapters titles with a timestamp - say "4.23.96. Peter Wakes Up" "5.18.97. Peter Robs Paul" "6.1.98 Peter Pays Mary" and then sorting them in whatever order feels right when finished?

That is what I'm currently doing for organization and planning to do when all timelines are caught up which will happen within the next 20-30 chapters of writing.

There's also the problem of destroying the story's integrity. It doesn't look well for old readers when they see chapters are suddenly rearranged and that they can't do anything about it. For new readers, they may as well assume the author is fickle and has no consistency.

I feel confused by your statement. Could you please expand on what you mean by destroying the story's integrity?

 

[FRWriter]

Might as well create a new story then.... with a few edits and tweaks, and then upload them in chronological order.

That way, people can read the story like you initially intended it to be or choose the chronological order.

Not that I believe people are into this, in fact, I can almost guarantee that this style of writing is hated by 99% of all readers.

Even if you rearrange the chapters, the writing will feel extremely dissatisfying if you read older chapters, then a newer one, only to go back to an older one. Readers will immediately notice the change in style and writing.

 

[Jax.A.River]

Might as well create a new story then.... with a few edits and tweaks, and then upload them in chronological order.

That way, people can read the story like you initially intended it to be or choose the chronological order.

Not that I believe people are into this, in fact, I can almost guarantee that this style of writing is hated by 99% of all readers.

Even if you rearrange the chapters, the writing will feel extremely dissatisfying if you read older chapters, then a newer one, only to go back to an older one. Readers will immediately notice the change in style and writing.

The change in style as I've worked on the story is fairly noticeable, to the point it bothers me when reading the early parts. I feel like that is the strongest argument for just leaving it as is so there is no tonal whiplash from bouncing back and forth in style. I'm getting the feeling like one giant multi month round of editing after completion to smooth out the style would be best. Then and only then try putting everything in order and see how it feels to read.

 

[FRWriter]

The change in style as I've worked on the story is fairly noticeable, to the point it bothers me when reading the early parts. I feel like that is the strongest argument for just leaving it as is so there is no tonal whiplash from bouncing back and forth in style. I'm getting the feeling like one giant multi month round of editing after completion to smooth out the style would be best. Then and only then try putting everything in order and see how it feels to read.

Not trying to be mean, but why did you go by that format in the first place? Usually, trying to be special fails... There is a reason why most people release chronological stories. Or at least segment different stories into prequels/sequels.

Especially as a first story, I think that's like the riskiest thing you can do and almost assures that most people won't bother with your story.

 

[Jax.A.River]

Not trying to be mean, but why did you go by that format in the first place? Usually, trying to be special fails... There is a reason why most people release chronological stories. Or at least segment different stories into prequels/sequels.

Especially as a first story, I think that's like the riskiest thing you can do and almost assures that most people won't bother with your story.

Went with it because I write in blocks of character arcs from one POV at a time. Helps me stay organized and sometimes the POVs pass each other by in the timeline as I go. Non linear is not a story decision, its listed as a warning tag that the story is currently non linear so people who are bothered by that can avoid it until it is linear. To be clear, the story is not intended to be non linear when complete. The only reason I posted this question was because I read on this site that rearranging my chapters can trigger a spam detection alert and was concerned it would be a problem.

I've been getting a lot of responses that seem to be assuming that I intentionally wrote a story non-linearly. That is not the case.

 

[FRWriter]

Went with it because I write in blocks of character arcs from one POV at a time. Helps me stay organized and sometimes the POVs pass each other by in the timeline as I go. Non linear is not a story decision, its listed as a warning tag that the story is currently non linear so people who are bothered by that can avoid it until it is linear. To be clear, the story is not intended to be non linear when complete. The only reason I posted this question was because I read on this site that rearranging my chapters can trigger a spam detection alert and was concerned it would be a problem.

I've been getting a lot of responses that seem to be assuming that I intentionally wrote a story non-linearly. That is not the case.

Well... It's been done before. Some people just open more stories at once, others name their chapters: A1, A2, B1, A3, C1, C2, D1, A4 (for example).

Usually, it just overcomplicates things.