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Writing Excuses Season Three Episode Four: Nonlinear Storytelling
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2009/06/08/writing-excuses-season-3-episode-4-non-linear-story-telling/
Pivotal iotas: Use nonlinear storytelling sparingly. Don't lose the reader in the flashbacks. Beware the explanatory info dump. In medias res -- starting in the middle of the story -- and flashbacks to fill in the backstory can provide suspense, but don't overdo it. You can fill in backstory with dialogue and other means, you don't always have to do major flashbacks. Pay attention to the reader's learning curve -- speculative fiction plus nonlinear storytelling can make it really hard to read.
( juicy stuff in the middle? )
[Brandon] We're out of time. Let's have Dan give us a writing prompt.
[Dan] I want you to write a story about a flashback that is completely false and made up.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2009/06/08/writing-excuses-season-3-episode-4-non-linear-story-telling/
Pivotal iotas: Use nonlinear storytelling sparingly. Don't lose the reader in the flashbacks. Beware the explanatory info dump. In medias res -- starting in the middle of the story -- and flashbacks to fill in the backstory can provide suspense, but don't overdo it. You can fill in backstory with dialogue and other means, you don't always have to do major flashbacks. Pay attention to the reader's learning curve -- speculative fiction plus nonlinear storytelling can make it really hard to read.
( juicy stuff in the middle? )
[Brandon] We're out of time. Let's have Dan give us a writing prompt.
[Dan] I want you to write a story about a flashback that is completely false and made up.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
