1. An ancient tradition of captivation
Storytelling
An ancient tradition of captivation

2. KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
CHRONOLOGICAL
PLOT
LINEAR
NON-LINEAR
SCRIPT

3. LINEAR NARRATIVE What is Linear Narrative?
Linear narrative follows the development of a story from beginning, through the middle, to the end, in chronological order, in other words as time passes so the story moves inexorably forward.
Sometimes a movie script will run several linear stories in parallel. The stories develop in the same time frame, and the action intercuts between them, sometimes the paths cross.

4. AM I LINEAR?
Alternatively, a linear story may be intercut with flashbacks of another story, which may or may not follow a linear progression. In other words the flashbacks might play out a story which progresses in a chronological order, or which may jump back and forward in time, portraying events from different times in the past on the basis that they inform and influence the main story.

5. NON-LINEAR NARRATIVE What is Non-linear Narrative?
Non-linear narrative in storytelling is a process of revealing the story, not by showing the events happening chronologically but by revealing events in a way that carefully controls the information that the audience receives.
The dramatic revelations are completely in the hands of the screenwriter, who carefully manipulates the audience by choosing not only what facts to reveal, but when to reveal the most important elements of the story. In this way the writer gives the audience specially chosen pieces of the picture like a jigsaw puzzle, until the final story is revealed when the last piece is in place.

6. Am I Linear?
Linear Narrative Should Precede Every Non-linear Narrative
Like a jigsaw puzzle, the scriptwriter must have a clear idea of the complete picture, before he or she begins to chop it up. It’s important to develop the linear narrative, in logical chronological order, of the story first. In other words write a rough outline of the story from beginning to end. In this way, it is easier to choose the scenes and the order of them for greatest dramatic impact when you come to write your actual script.

7. BEGINNING, MIDDLE, END
The traditional approach to constructing a story is not affected by non-linear development. What is different, is that the beginning, middle and end are not defined by chronology.
There should still be a beginning, where the characters are introduced and the dramatic conflict set up; there should be a middle, where the main dramatic development gets underway and reaches a crisis point; and there should still be a climax with resolution and revelations at the end. The only difference is that in non-linear development, the scenes are not played out in chronological order.

8. Resource: http://www. suite101
Resource: non-linear-narrative-a327242

9. It’s up to you…