FICTION WRITING
How to use timeshift to create a non-linear structure
A non-linear structure is any structure that doesn’t go in a straight line through time. In other words, it’s a structure that moves back and forth across a timeline, rather than just going through it chronologically, in the order that events happen in real life. It’s important that you are able to structure your stories in this way.
This guide is part of the Fiction writing series:
How to control time
Timeshift and non-linear structure guide
Why it’s important that you can do this
In exams, you have to write very short, self-contained stories in very short periods of time (less than an hour – even at GCSE). This means you have to keep your exam-story plots simple and reach some kind of resolution in relatively few words. A non-linear structure is very useful for this. It allows you to start your stories late in the timeline and fill your reader in on what they have missed - the less interesting stuff to write/read but which is important for understanding the plot.
It’s also a straightforward way to get higher marks for creative writing: using a non-linear structure will get you higher marks for structure; it will also mean you get more marks for grammar (through correct use of tense) and paragraphing, providing you can get these parts right. In other words, it’s a relatively easy way to improve your creative writing marks.
A straightforward example of a non-linear structure
Let’s look at a couple of examples from a story with a non-linear structure. It’s a simple story about a boy sitting in a coffee shop waiting for a girl. The underlined parts use timeshift to create a non-linear structure:
Adam drummed his fingers idly on the table for what felt like the hundredth time. He glanced again at the door, which resolutely refused to open, and then at his phone. Still no message. Hannah was ten minutes late. He was beginning to think she wasn’t coming.
He had been sitting in the coffee shop for twenty minutes now. When he arrived, he had found a table in a quiet corner and checked the clock on the wall. He was ten minutes early. Adam was always early. It’s how he was wired. He knew it wasn’t an attractive trait – it wasn’t carefree or cool to be early, the kinds of things he knew girls looked for in guys – but he couldn’t help it. He was just an early kind of person.
This structure works because it saves having to write the first 20 minutes of the waiting time. It keeps the story focussed and the overall story-time short, which means it’s easier to make it vivid. The timeshift also allows for some characterisation – we learn something about Adam. It also makes the structure more sophisticated, which is good for assessments. The story might continue in the following way:
Perhaps, he thought, checking his phone again to see if he’d received a message, Hannah was just a late kind of person. Perhaps that’s how she was wired. He could live with that.
The bell above the coffee-shop door dinged and Adam’s head spun around automatically – and embarrassingly quickly.
It wasn’t her.
He shook his head in shame. He knew he shouldn’t be so excited.
He had only met Hannah once before. It was at a party at Harry’s house and she’d been invited by Harry’s sister. When he first saw her, though, sitting in Harry’s study in his dad’s ridiculous green Chesterfield, her stockinged feet tucked beneath her black jeans, his heart had done a little summersault in his chest. He didn’t think he’d have the courage to speak to her, though. She was out of his league.
The bell above the coffee shop door dinged again. It still wasn’t Hannah. What if she wasn’t a late kind of a person? What if she wasn’t coming at all?
A waitress approached Adam’s table. “Are you ready to order yet, sir?” she asked.
Here the timeshift goes further back, to the night they met. But not for very long. This is important. Your time-shifts should always be brief, keeping the focus on the present timeline while adding bits of information about the past to help bring the characters and the situation to life. This timeshift also works because it leaves the reader on a cliffhanger: how did he get this out-of-his-league girl to go on the date with him? We have to read on to find out. This makes the structure effective.
The difference between timeshifts and flashbacks
Before we go any further, we should clarify the difference between what we might call a timeshift (the focus of this guide) and a flashback. These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but we like to use them to refer to distinct types of non-linear structure.
One way to create a non-linear structure is through what we refer to as a flashback; this is where the narrative literally jumps backwards in time and starts telling the story from a different point in the timeline. Flashbacks are usually signalled by an empty line or some stars between paragraphs. Flashbacks are different to the timeshifts shown in the examples above: they last much longer – several paragraphs at least, if not several pages - and they include direct speech and other regular storytelling devices.
Flashbacks are an effective narrative device, but they aren’t as useful as timeshifts for exams. You have very little time to write in exams, and so you have to create very short stories; this means you are unlikely to have time to write full flashbacks.
In very short stories, timeshifts (a few sentences at most) are more useful, and they still have all the benefits of flashbacks in terms of getting marks for structure.
How to introduce a timeshift
1. Decide whether you need to start a new paragraph
You don’t always need to start a new paragraph when you begin a timeshift, especially if the timeshift is only going to last one or two sentences, as with a brief memory. Here’s an example that doesn’t require a new paragraph:
The bus smelled of crisps and despair. Veronica wondered if this was how all buses smelled, and whether the other passengers felt the same sense of unease that she did. She had never been on a bus before. She had bought the ticket online this morning and her hands had shaken as she clicked the 'buy' button. Things did not seem any less terrifying now, either.
However, if the timeshift is going to introduce an episode from a different part in the timeline, lasting several sentences or more (like the second example at the start of this guide), then you should start a new paragraph. This will make it easier for your reader to understand where in the timeline you are; the paragraphs will be a guide.
2. Change the tense at the start of the timeshift
The most important way that you must signal a timeshift is through a tense change. This will be moving to the past perfect tense, if your main narrative is in the past tense, which it should be if you’re following your teacher’s advice (example 1 below), or moving to the past tense, if your main narrative is in the present tense (example 2 below).
[Note: We would strongly suggest you avoid trying to write in the present tense in your stories - it’s very hard to maintain across a whole story and generally students who try to use the present tense end up switching between past and present at random, which leads to poor marks for grammar.]
1. She sat down. She had left home twenty minutes earlier, but her bus had broken down so she’d had to walk.
2. She sits down. She left home twenty minutes earlier, but her bus broke down so she had to walk.
You don’t need to stay in the new tense all the way through your timeshift, particularly if the timeshift is several sentences long, but you need to shift tense at the start so your reader knows you’ve gone back in time. This initial tense change is crucial and straightforward. What you do with tense after that is trickier. Consider this example:
He had been sitting in the coffee shop for twenty minutes now. Alone. When he arrived, he had found a table in a quiet corner and checked his phone. He was ten minutes early.
After the initial tense change (in red) there is a mix of past and past perfect. These tenses feel right in this example. The same is true here:
He had only met Hannah once before. It was at a party at Harry’s house and she’d been invited by Harry’s sister. When he first saw her, though, sitting in Harry’s study in his dad’s ridiculous green Chesterfield, her stockinged feet tucked up beneath her black jeans, his heart had done a little summersault in his chest. He didn’t think he’d have the courage to speak to her, though. She was out of his league.
This is by far the hardest part of using timeshifts to create a non-linear structure. Fortunately, everyone finds this hard, even professional writers. This means you’ll be forgiven if you don’t get it quite right. As long as you change tense at the start of the timeshift (the red parts in the previous two examples), you should be alright.
3. Use adverbial phrases or subordinate clauses to signal the timeshift more clearly to the reader (optional)
Another useful way to make your timeshift really clear to the reader is to include some kind of adverbial phrase or subordinate clause which clearly signals that you’re writing about a different time. These can help to situate the reader in time and place, making your non-linear structure easier to follow.
1. She had bought the ticket online this morning and her hands had shaken as she clicked the 'buy' button.
2. When he arrived, he had found a table in a quiet corner and checked his phone.
Remember to alternate between your timelines, focussing on the main one
Keep your timeshifts short. This is really important. Alternate between your main timeline and different points in the past. Don’t just start with an exciting bit of the story and then shift back to the beginning, telling the story chronologically from that point. That’s still mostly a linear structure. The key thing here is that you focus on your main timeline and spend as little time in the past as possible. That’s crucial for getting this structure right.
Summing up - key things to remember when using timeshift to create a non-linear structure
This kind of structure is great for exam pieces – it allows you to focus on the most interesting / exciting part of your plot, and it will get you bonus marks for structure
It will help you make your stories more vivid by keeping the overall story-time short
You need to keep your focus on the main timeline – keep your timeshifts short and always return to the main timeline afterwards
Timeshifts are different to flashbacks – they are shorter (between a sentence and a paragraph)
Flashbacks are great, but they’re less useful in exam pieces because you won’t have time to write that much story
Introduce timeshifts with a change in tense – usually a switch from the past to the past perfect
You may want to start a new paragraph, if the timeshift is going to be more than a couple of sentences long
Use adverbial phrases or subordinate clauses to signal the timeshift more clearly to the reader
Make sure you alternate between your timeshifts and your main timeline – don’t just start with an exciting bit of your story and then flashback to the beginning and start telling the story from there