A client of mind recently sent me a novella. It started out with “four years ago.” Okay. I can deal with a little backstory to begin with. The next chapter was “one year ago.” Cool, we’re coming up on present day. A little slowly, but we’re good. Next chapter “present day.” Okay! Here we go with the real story. It took two chapters of a novella, but that’s okay. But then the chapter after that was “eight years ago.” What? The next few chapters after that were all set in the “present day,” and then the last was “five years later.” Huh.
All this jumping around in time made me wonder—why? Why not just tell the story in chronological order. Okay if you want to skip a few years between chapters, but why jump back eight years and then forward again?
I’m sure the author had some reason. She hasn’t shared it with me yet. But this has got me thinking about non-linear storytelling.
Should you? What is the point of jumping around in time within a story?
I, naturally, did a little research on the topic because it’s not something I’ve ever thought of doing (but I’m a very top-down, linear sort of person).
I have read and enjoyed dual-timeline stories where there are two stories being told within the book one set in the past, the other in the present. There are always intersections with the two stories so you can see why the author wrote it this way. It can be a lot of fun to read.
But that’s not what this is.
There are also stories that start at the end and work their way back in time. That’s interesting! You know where the protagonists end up and then learn how they go there.
But, again, not what I’m talking about here.
So, why would someone want to jump back and forth in time within a story like my client did?
Well, it can create suspense if you come up to an exciting point in the story—a sort of cliffhanger—and then jump away to the past to tell the reader about something else. Your reader will want to read through the backstory in order to find out what happens in the present day of the tale. And hopefully, there is something related, some reason, some information the reader needed to know in order to understand what happens next. The reader will understand the reason for the jump even if it’s not immediately pertinent, there eventually will be a reason for it and the reader will need to get that.
Another reason to jump around in time within a story is if it’s more important to show the emotional growth—the emotional story of the character—than have the story unfold chronologically. We don’t necessarily grow in a straight line. We grow, we regress, we grow in a different direction, etc. So, following the emotional growth rather than the chronological can be a powerful way to tell a story.
And finally, if you are doing a close study of a person and their life as they remember it, it is not going to be in chronological order because we don’t remember that way. Our minds skip around from one memory to another regardless of when it happened. The links are in what happened, not when.
The thing with telling a non-linear story is that your readers must see the point of it. They need to understand why the author did this. And, eventually, they need to understand the true timeline of events or else they’ll just be confused. Another issue to remember when playing with this is that when you jump back in time (or forward) you are stopping the forward momentum of the story and therefore may diminish the tension of the present day rather than increase the suspense.
Non-linear storytelling can be fascinating. It can make for a deeper, more emotionally gratifying story. Or it may simply make confused readers who might be hesitant to pick up your next book. So, consider it thoroughly before you jump into this type of storytelling. Know your reasons for doing it and make sure your reader understands those reasons by the end of the book.