What's that? Wasn't that guy going to send us one of these every day? It's getting pretty late. Hmmm.
What can I say? I had a great day writing, but forgot all about the encouragement I wanted to send out. It's 10:20pm now, so this one is going to get written quick!
# When
The question of when is more complex than you might think. That's mostly because stories don't necessarily find themselves constrained by time the same wy we do. This is a good thing! It gives us some very creative options (think Momento) and sometimes even plot devices (think TimeCop).
## When does the story take place?
So lets start with the basics. When does your story take place? Is it a single timeline or do you a more complex story happening in different timelines, like in the Godfather II? Perhaps your story has an epic sweeping scale that covers all of creation until the death of the universe (or more!), or maybe it covers the events of one day in great detail.
## When are we within the plot?
So that's when your story happened, but what about the plot itself? Are we starting at the beginning or are we coming in part way through? Is the action fully underway and we'll catch up on the backstory as we go? This is very common and a great way to skip past a bunch of boring setup.
## When is the story told?
If we know when the story happened and our window into it, when are we hearing about it? Are we with the action now as it happens or relaying it after the fact in summary and recitation. A good example here is Moby Dick. Ishmael will tell the story as it happened but only after the fact.
On Cosmic Voyage our system is set up to relay log messages. This would naturally incline our stories into this aftermath storytelling, but as you may have noticed in reading some of the authors have found creative ways around this. My own Melchizedek story uses a mixture of techniques such as personal log messages, live-recorded voice transcriptions, and email messages to vary our distance from the story as it unfolds.
## Is the story being told linearly?
What about the order of the story itself? Sometimes start to finish is great, but other times you want to reveal things at the right moment. Perhaps you have flashbacks or perhaps we're jumping around from moment to moment following a theme. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind gives a unique and powerful view of this in action as we're jostled around a failed relationship as those memories are erased from the main character.
## Is the story chronological?
This is a similar question, but distinct. Perhaps a story is told linearly from start to finish, but not chronologically. It may be that beginnings don't always happen before endings on a clock. Believe me, if I had started writing this post earlier in the day I had some really interesting stuff to say on this subject. Instead I'll just leave you wondering and maybe that'll do the trick.
## Will the narration and story happen in tandem?
Finally, another take on the 'when is the story told' question asks about the sync-up between story and narration. Is this happening even remotely in time as we hear it or are we getting the tale from an old man at the inn of events that happened fifty years earlier? Then again, perhaps there's a lot of backstory that needs covered before we get into the here and now. Forrest Gump is a fantastic example of that. How much do we learn from that bench before we stand up with him and walk away from it?
Keep thinking about these different angles on your stories and share your thoughts. Writing is fun. Be silly. Experiment. I can't wait to read what you share.