Narrative

 

Hello, friends! Today, I'm going to talk a little bit about the NARRATIVE. Your narrative choice answers the question: how do I want to tell my story? And of course, there are some options you can choose from.

Before we start I want to highlight that it's a categorization I created and named the way that felt accurate. I'm not saying that's how it's universally done, it's just a perfect way for me 🩵

Now let's get into it!

1. CHRONOLOGICAL

- telling the story from the beginning to the end 

- probably the most famous one 

- easiest to write 

- least confusing

- good for starters

- structure: A → B → C

example: We follow the character going through a strange land, where they encounter a group of bandits. After winning the fight they set the bandit's hostages free. After that, they go to meet with a local sheriff.

2. RETROSPECTIVE

- telling the story from the end to the beginning 

- harder to write, needs more mental gymnastics

- structure: C → B → A → conclusion

example: the MC got arrested, because they broke into the general's house ← because they learned there's an expensive gem in the house ← because they have financial problems and need to gain money quickly, but nobody wants to help them ← because someone framed them for stealth.

3. BACK AND FORTH 

- the narrative switches between past, present and future

- structure: A → B → A → C → B,...

example: MC buys a house. Three years before their previous house burnt. They had to live on the street. Now they finally can get their life together. But there's a danger lurking in the near future…

4. FLASHBACK 

- someone's flashback creates a story; the past is described from the present moment thro memories

example: an old lady is sitting by the fireplace, remembering her young days. Thro the whole book we follow the lady's memories. In the end, she falls asleep with a smile of satisfaction.

5. MULTIPLE TIMELINES 

- the difference between back and forth and multiple timelines is that in multiple timelines we don't switch the timeline of a character. We tell one timeline for a character, and another timeline for another character

example: Aron travels to Kreta. Maria takes care of her mother. Leon finds a new job. They all have their own adventures. They may meet at some point.

- you can find this narrative in Game of Thrones

6. QUEST NARRATIVE

- the narrative isn't constant thro the story. We can freely jump from one point in time to another to focus on a new quest. We may not even know when the action is happening because it's irrelevant. 

example: "The last wish" book by Andrzej Sapkowski - since it's a collection of short stories put together it only makes sense.