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Fictional Narrative Basics - Plot
Unit Completion Date: End of Week 5
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The horizontal line of the narrative arc graphic represents the forward progression of the story, the events in the order the author has chosen to present them. This ordering of events isn't always the same as the chronological order, and in fact, the choice of which order to present events is one of the most powerful plotting tools available to a writer.
These two orderings of events, the story progression order and the chronological order, each provides its own insights into story structure is are useful to talk about. The story progression order is usually referred to in shorthand as the story "plot" in a specialized use of the word, and the chronological order is usually referred to as the story's "chronology."
I have found it helpful to add an additional diagram of the chronology to the traditional graphic of the narrative arc, which shows its relationship to the other elements. Below the horizontal line representing the story progression, I include a line that indicates the relative chronology of the story from past to present (or future). For "A Christmas Carol," the graphic would look like this:
Note that story progression is quite different from the chronological order of events. The chronologically earliest part of the story is in the "Christmas Past" section, and the last chronological event is the moment at Scrooge's grave (although we understand this event may not happen in the way that it does in the story if Scrooge changes his ways).
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