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Linear vs. Non-linear

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
I've been told recently, by one of my live critique partners, that my stories are too linear. He's right about them being linear, but I'm wary of using many flashbacks.

It's not that I'm against flashbacks. In fact, the book I'm currently reading employs a lot of flashbacks, and it works well. So well that it feels like two distinct stories with a common thread (The Lies of Locke Lamora).

I just haven't felt the need in any of my stories...yet. Though I am open to flashbacks, or flash-forwards, if that's what the story needs (One I'm currently planning begins with a flash-forward).

My question is this:
As a reader, do you have a preference? Would you rather read a story that shifts through different periods of time, or one that tells the story in a more chronological fashion? Or, does it not matter at all?
 

X Equestris

Maester
I don't mind flashbacks too much, especially as they can reveal info that just wouldn't fit otherwise. I do, however, prefer to know that it's a flashback relatively soon. Having to puzzle out if it's a flashback or not can pull you out of the story.
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
This is something I've never really considered. I don't require a story to have a certain amount of flashbacks, or even any at all. What matters is that I understand what's going on and that it entertains me.

My initial impression was that your friend might have been referring to something else, like, whether the story is predictable or not, or does it go in a straight line from A to Z without any unpredictable detours in any direction.

I don't quite see how the existence of flashbacks would be required in order to improve a story. It can be a nice way to explain some information the reader may need to know, but it's hardly a requirement if the information is already there in some other way.
 

Trick

Auror
Non-linear stories do not need to always utilize flashbacks as they are commonly defined... but that wasn't your question.

I love non-linear stories if they actually remain clear. In your own words, clarity is king. I think I have especially enjoyed great non-linear stories (The Lies of Locke Lamora is near the top of that list) but I have never pulled my eyes (or ears) from a book and thought 'This book is too linear.' Not. Once. So, perhaps your critique partner has a preference I don't or maybe, as Svrtnsse said, they actually mean they wish there were more twists and turns.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
My initial impression was that your friend might have been referring to something else, like, whether the story is predictable or not, or does it go in a straight line from A to Z without any unpredictable detours in any direction.
The comment came after a short story I submitted for review (which made me think, "Uh yeah, it's a short story. There's not much time for non-linear transitions) & 1 chapter of a multi-POV novel. He hasn't seen the rest of the novel yet,l so maybe that'll change when he realizes there's much more than one POV. In this story, each POV has their own chapter.

You make a good point about predictability. That may be the issue, and I'll need to clarify that with him.

Non-linear stories do not need to always utilize flashbacks as they are commonly defined... but that wasn't your question.
Yes... like a multi-POV story. Maybe his opinion will change when he gets chapter 2 & 3 tomorrow.

In your own words, clarity is king.
I can't take credit for that quote. Stole it from someone...can't remember who.
 
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T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
...perhaps your critique partner has a preference I don't or maybe, as Svrtnsse said, they actually mean they wish there were more twists and turns.
Could be the case. I'll get more info in the next face-to-face meeting.

I do, however, prefer to know that it's a flashback relatively soon. Having to puzzle out if it's a flashback or not can pull you out of the story.
I couldn't agree more.
 

Zephyr

Scribe
There's no right or wrong way to write a story, and one person's preference, heck, even a hundred people or a thousand people's preference for a certain type of story telling shouldn't dictate to you a certain method.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
There's no right or wrong way to write a story, and one person's preference, heck, even a hundred people or a thousand people's preference for a certain type of story telling shouldn't dictate to you a certain method.

I agree, but I also feel that all opinions and experiences are valid when it comes to reader critiques. In light of this, I wanted to see if the membership here (heavily steeped in the fantasy genre) has any preference. It's always good to think about our audience.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
I'm finding it hard to justify somebody complaining about a lack of flashbacks in a short story or a single chapter. My impression would be that he means something else.

Putting aside flashbacks, though, it would be normal in a first chapter for a character to reflect a bit on the past in a way that helps to establish the character. Maybe that's what he means?
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
I think "too linear" is a strange criticism. There is absolutely nothing wrong with linear stories, whether in short story or novel form. A great many novels are linear, and I think most of the short stories I've read have been. I don't think this is a criticism that would lead me to change a story.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
Putting aside flashbacks, though, it would be normal in a first chapter for a character to reflect a bit on the past in a way that helps to establish the character. Maybe that's what he means?
Could be. I'l ask him in a couple weeks.

I think "too linear" is a strange criticism. There is absolutely nothing wrong with linear stories, whether in short story or novel form. A great many novels are linear, and I think most of the short stories I've read have been. I don't think this is a criticism that would lead me to change a story.
Yes. That's pretty much what I was thinking too, but I didn't want to dismiss the comment without getting other opinions, as I've never heard it before.
 

Incanus

Auror
Put me down for one more vote for: Linear=not a problem.

Like others, I'm wondering if it's really flashbacks that he's talking about. I've come across writing advice, more than once, that recommends NOT using flashbacks in an opening chapter (seems short stories would be tricky as well). Generally, I agree with the advice--I think they work better when the here-and-now has been firmly established. Of course, there's always exceptions.
 

Legendary Sidekick

The HAM'ster
Moderator
I like to keep the main character in the moment, so for me (as a writer), there is rarely a need to jump out of that moment to explain what happened seven years or eight centuries ago.

As a reader… yeah, I've read stories with flashbacks, but I'm trying to think of how often that happens. If expressed as a percentage, 1%?



I write characters with pasts that matter (as in are relevant to a current situation), but I don't think the story needs to be non-linear for the past to come up. A one-line thought or brief dialogue exchange could suffice rather than dedicating a whole scene to what already happened.

I guess I'm having trouble understanding what else nonlinear could mean, since when attempting to get into the video game business (years ago), nonlinear always meant multiple possibilities.
 
C

Chessie

Guest
Hi, T. Allen. To answer your question, let me start out by saying that I do agree there's nothing wrong with "too linear". I think sometimes our writing doesn't vibe with the crit partners we pair up with and they point out things that would be right for our intended audience. It's good to keep this in mind.

In regards to flashbacks, I was inspired by Joe Abercrombie's flashback scenes in "Best Served Cold". I thought they were cleverly done, so I went ahead and copied this format for my WIP. Granted, I don't think this will be something I do with the rest of my work, but it fits well with the story I'm telling. The first flashback scene comes right after the first plot point, so a 1/4 of the way into the book. There are about 5 scenes in total being around 1000 words, given their own separate chapters, per say, so the narrative isn't disrupted by the flashbacks (which I don't do). Just giving you something to consider. Good luck.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Hmmm...

In 'Labyrinth,' I have decided to add a few flashbacks at erratic intervals because much of who and what that character is now stems from those events. Call it character building plus a bit of backstory.

In my 'Empire' series of novella's, I have a 'mystery POV' character whose entire circumstances in his chapters appear to have nothing in common with those of the other characters - not the country, culture, or even the same time period. Yet that character is at the same time, central to what's going on in the present time with the other characters. (I put forth a chapter of this characters exploits as a short story in one of Phil's challenges.)

As to other nonlinear works...this does pop up occasionally in 'hard SF,' where the authors wrestle with relativistic problems (travel near light speed, or the time paradoxes created by faster than light travel.)

Fantasy...I have seen it, but mostly in a time-travel context.
 

Caged Maiden

Staff
Article Team
I have a few comments. First, if "linear" is regarding the following of a single story from its beginning to its end without flashbacks, I see it as no problem at all, because most every story I've ever read fits that format. If "linear" 'is a complaint about A leading to B, then B to C, without a hitch or without someone investigating D, then maybe that comment makes sense from a "keeping up the mystery" element. I've read stories where characters literally begin a journey and each step along the way is a mini resolution, and it isn't as fun as a touch of mystery or maybe a surprise.

I'd like to talk specifically about The Lies of Locke Lamora, because I just read it too, and while I'm not a great supporter of "flashbacks" because I feel they can often feel like cheats when used poorly, I LOVED their application in that book. First, one of the reasons I think it worked so well was because it wasn't strictly a Third POV book from Locke's perspective. It utilized omniscient and the narration had a strong voice and during the omniscient flashbacks, you were feeling Chains and the Thiefmaker more intimately than in a typical omniscient (we mentioned this a little in the omniscience thread, too).

Here's the opening paragraph:

AT THE HEIGHT of the long wet summer of the Seventy-seventh Year of Sendovani, the Thiefmaker of Camorr paid a sudden and unannounced visit to the Eyeless Priest at the Temple of Perelandro, desperately hoping to sell him the Lamora boy.

Flashbacks (for my personal taste) work best if they are executed like in TLoLL, because you're reading the past that Locke wouldn't have ever seen. Then, once you meet Locke as a character, the flashbacks as a storytelling method have already been introduced. It doesn't just work, it perfectly blended present and past, so the right amount of information was introduced when it was most pertinent. Can you imagine if you'd seen Locke holding the other boy and saying, "I don't have to beat you, I just need to wait for Jean" in the beginning? It would have lost context by the time it was really important.

The way I've seen flashbacks come back (from the past, haha) and bite a writer in the butt, are when say, a character is introduced, and then in chapter seven, after the story has been all linear up to that point, a flashback occurs to give information about her past "for reader benefit". It's almost never necessary, when you think about it. I always wonder to myself (because I don't like the style or the effect I believe it has on readers when not really well executed), whether there wasn't a stronger and potentially less jarring way to get the reader in the loop of what the character's past was.

So, there's my take on flashbacks in novels anyways. When done well and upfront, I think it's good. Style of story-telling is an important consideration, of course, and planning is critical in making it blend seamlessly into a "present day" story. Another distinction of TLoLL was that it took place in the present (not present as in on Earth, and not present tense, but in a given time and place) and it jumped to many flashbacks so regularly that it wasn't ever jarring when it happened, because the narrator told me where we were going, basically. In Prince of Thorns, same thing. We were either in the present, or "four years earlier", which made each transition easy to go with.

I want to write a story in the style of Prince of Thorns, focusing on the present (of that world and person) but showing my mage character (just like in my previous example of "what not to do" ha!) her past (ironically, four years earlier), but not jump around to different points in her past. Basically, there was an event that occurred four years before her story opens, and by continuing to show that event, its lead-up, its fallout, etc. I'll be revealing more about the present-day decisions she makes and why she becomes what she is (almost exactly like Prince of Thorns...hmm, not that I want it to appear I'm copying, but it's what the story needs, that sort of back and forth with only two time periods).

I would not consider revealing a character's past through flashbacks in a linear story by any means a necessity. I think each story determines what's called for, and it may be that your critter is more comfortable with using flashbacks, or maybe they feel a flashback sequence is a stronger way to present the material. If the comment was instead meant to draw attention to a weaker "tie it all together as one story", then perhaps consider less resolutions along the way and a few mysteries (I use that term loosely) to resolve only near the closing sequence. Maybe that'll make it appear less "linear"? I'm not sure.

Hope that helps in some way...I tend to ramble.
 
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ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Meant to put this in my earlier post, but I'll toss it in now:

To me, 'too linear' is a story without twists:

...big, buff, well trained Frank goes up against the not so big and buff and definitely ill trained Sam, beating him to a pulp without breaking a sweat. Result, Sam spends the next six months on crutches. That would be a 'too linear' story, and I tend to shy away from such: the outcome is obvious in advance.


But, add some twists - Sam trying an unusual move or taking advantage of a location quirk, or Frank being off his game because he's hung over, and the outcome is in doubt. The tale, while linear, is not overly so, and becomes more interesting.
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
I agree with Steerpike. It seems like an odd comment. Maybe ask for clarification if you haven't already. Sometimes, when something is pointed out as a problem, it's not the problem at all. It's just a symptom.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
To my understanding, a "flashback" is a quick look into the past, usually through a character's own memories, that happens mid-scene. It only briefly interrupts the flow forward of the narrative (hence, flash). This is quite different from non-linear storytelling, in which the different "parts" of the story (scenes, chapters, sections) are arranged in such a way that they do not always form a continuous narrative. Thus you might have a chapter in the present, then a chapter in the past, then a chapter in the future, etc. This is different than use of flashbacks for a couple of reasons. 1. The jumps do not have to be back, they can also be forward. 2. Flashbacks generally occur through a particular character's eyes, whereas a non-linear scene doesn't have to be. It can be told, and dramatized, however the author wants it to be. The essence of non-linear narrative is that it doesn't follow a causal pattern within the story. (This happened, so this happens, so this happens, etc.)

The Lies of Locke Lamora did this a little. A classic example would be Wuthering Heights. Examples from movies and tv would include The Prestige and Lost.

Non-linear stories are generally non-linear on purpose because that is the vision for how the creator wants it to be presented to the audience. And non-linear storytelling is always way less common than linear. It's something you do when you think "this particular story would be more interesting/more effective/more resonant if it were told in this particular non-linear order".

Thus, I don't think "this is too linear" is a valid criticism. Most stories are linear. I would definitely find out what this person means in more detail, because chances are they don't even really understand what linear and non-linear storytelling involve. They probably mean some thing else.
 
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