Writers on Writing is our regular conversation with a writer or industry professional about the writing craft, industry insights, and their own practice. This week, we spoke to Anthony Macris about developing technical writing knowledge to navigate the maze of questions about timelines, novel length, point of view and plot.
When shaping and sequencing events to produce compelling storylines, how important is it to use linear time? Must narratives go from point A to point B?
With story and timelines, there’s a huge range of possibilities in how you can order events. The things you need to keep in mind are whether or not your choices will serve the story, and meet the expectations of your readership. Linear time has strong advantages, especially in terms of providing a main frame for a story that gives the reader a clear structure. With the right dramatic material, it provides driving forward momentum that keeps the reader turning the page.
The problem is that linear time can get a bit plodding. The use of foreshadowing and flashbacks can add structural interest and complexity and complicate narrative in interesting ways. The problem here can be your skill level as a writer. In terms of the novel, it can take a while to achieve the level of experience needed to juggle a story with complex timelines. It helps enormously if you understand your options before you embark on a big project. Going in blind can work, but it can also lead to false starts and, at worst, failed attempts.
So one of the things my course aims to do is to give a clear overview of some of the main possibilities when it comes to structuring a temporal schema for any given story. If you get a feel for the main patterns, it can make things a lot easier.
What are some of the different considerations when structuring either short stories or longer fiction? For example, is it better to limit the point of view and timeframes in short fiction?
What is the relationship between point of view, time, and story/plot? Are they each as fundamental to crafting a great narrative as one another?
Anthony Macris is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Technology Sydney. His best-selling memoir, When Horse Became Saw: a family’s journey through autism, was shortlisted for the 2012 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. His most recent book is Aftershocks: Selected writings and interviews (UWAP 2019).
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