One of the most important elements of a story is its setting. The setting involves not only where the story takes place but also when. However, time is more than just a locator for a story. There are plenty of ways for writers to manipulate time to make a story more dynamic and more exciting.

We’ll start by talking about time frames. Every narrative is said to have four simultaneous time frames.

1. Author time frame – when the story was written
2. Narrator time frame – when the narrator is telling the story
3. Plot time frame – when the story actually took place
4. Audience time frame – when an audience reads the story or watches it unfold

These four time frames could happen simultaneously or could be in very different points in time. For example, Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series always takes place in the present, from the perspective of both the narrator and the plot. But the story also took place in 2007, when Rick Riordan himself was writing it, and if you’re reading it right now, it’s also taking place right now. This is because when he was writing it, Riordan himself didn’t create a timeline for the events. However, for time-bound stories, such as the 2004 film adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera, things get a little more complicated. The story, which takes place in 1870, is told by Raoul in 1919. By adapting it into a 21st-century film, the story effectively spans three different centuries.

By manipulating how these time frames are used, a story that takes place over a weekend can span decades. Conversely, a story that actually spans hundreds of years can be told within only a few years. Here are some techniques as to how this is done.

1. Flashback

   The flashback, or analepsis, is a narrative technique wherein a scene temporarily removes the narrative from the present and takes it back to the past. Flashbacks are valuable tools for filling in backstories, recounting previous events, or refreshing certain plot points. There are two kinds of flashbacks: the first is the internal flashback, wherein the scene occurs at an earlier point within the story; the second is the external flashback, wherein the scene occurs some time before the beginning of a narrative. Episodic stories, such as TV series, use flashbacks at the beginning of episode to remind the viewer of the events that happened in the previous episode. They may also use external flashbacks to fill in the backstory of a new character. Classic examples include the epics Ramayana, Mahabharata, and The Odyssey.

2. Flash forward

   Conversely, the flash forward, or prolepsis, takes place at some point within the future. Flash forwards project predicted outcomes, imagine future events, and show important future plot points (which may or may not be true). The flash forward is similar in nature to foreshadowing but is more explicit in revealing the future. The flash forward is a more modern technique, which was actually named after its more classic counterpart, the flashback. An early example of this is found in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, in which Ebenezer Scrooge is taken to his future by the Ghost of Christmas Future.

3. Time skip

   Time skips are a valuable tool for stories that span decades, even generations. Time skips allow the rapid passage of time, taking away the necessity to tell any irrelevant details for the sake of progression. Time skips are usually marked by a massive change on the part of the characters, such as a child growing up into an adult. An example of a time skip is in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, where Harry is introduced as a baby and becomes an 11-year-old boy after a few chapters.

In many modern stories, flashbacks and flash forwards are more than just tools—they build the story itself. Many detective stories, for example, start with an outcome, such as a dead body, and work backwards to how the crime was committed. Some stories tell a series of flashbacks in chronological order, making the flashbacks the “present” timeline of the story.

Usually, stories are told in chronological order. However, some shake up the order of events to build tension, to reveal details selectively, or to create an impression of time passing faster or slower than it actually does. There are a variety of events arranged to create a certain storytelling effect.

1. Chronological

   In the standard storytelling method, all the events are told in order. Most stories follow this order.

2. Nonlinear

   In this method, the story is told in a series of flashbacks, flash forwards, or a combination of both. This is popular with thriller stories wherein selective details of the story are revealed at certain times to create an effect. An example is Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, a romance story told from the perspectives of two characters, one of whom is a time traveler. Because of this, the events that the two characters tell are sometimes out of order.

3. Soliloquy/Monologue

   Not necessarily a storytelling method, but by using soliloquys or monologues to tell the inner workings of a character’s mind, time is either expanded or compressed. An example is Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, a novel which seems to last over a long period of time, but actually takes place in only a few moments in real time. The illusion of passing time is created by telling the story via a series of inner thoughts.

4. Reverse Chronology

   As the name suggests, this method reverses the order of events in the story. Instead of telling a story from cause to effect, the story presents the effect in the beginning, and the characters work together to piece together the story and find out the cause. This technique can be found mostly in detective stories, such as the film Memento.

These are only a few of the many techniques that utilize time to tell a complex and compelling story. From the humble flashback to the now–more complicated temporal distortion, writers have found more and more ways to create stories that can make one feel lost in a different dimension.

Source:

• Time in Literature | Exactly What is Time?

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