I ran into a challenge with my work the past week or two. I had a long story (~9.5k words) originally penned (okay, typed) in 2013 (and I’ll bet I can find earlier copies in my notes somewhere) which I had revised once in 2016, three times in 2017, once in 2018, three times in 2019 (obviously odd years are my workier years), … and now have it at version 17 in 2025.
It got closer and closer. One big early challenge was getting the voice correct. Once I had that, the story flowed.
Kind of.
The story is told through multiple viewpoints with no single viewpoint lasting longer than two pages before another viewpoint takes over and again and again and again, with each viewpoint jumping back and forth through time (hence being non-linear).
The challenge was how to give the reader a linear sense of the story without sacrificing the non-linear requirement of the story.
This is a challenge I’ve encountered before, and the solution from before worked again.
Enjoy!
Think I’m onto something? Take a class with me or schedule a critique of your work.
Think I’m an idiot? Let me know in a comment.
Either way, we’ll both learn something.
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