Nonlinear Writing
Last night, I finished the WWII book Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. The story was fantastic, but the format was nonlinear, meaning that each chapter was out of (time) sequence regarding the historical events. While entertaining, the actual reading was annoying. It was as if Hampton printed out each chapter, threw them up in the air, and published the book in the order they fell to the ground.
Why do this? The problem is that the story had a dull beginning, and his solution was to uplift readers by introducing the dramatic parts earlier in the book, resulting in a mix of exciting combat and dull background. Can people in real life jump back in time? If they could, the stock market would be a mess.
Is there a benefit to the nonlinear format? Ghost Soldiers received high reviews, so I cannot argue with success. Yet several reviews noted that the nonlinear timeline was not appealing.
I have never spiced up my stories with this kind of writing trick because writing is challenging enough without having an out-of-sequence plot. The furthest I will take a story is parallel timelines. This technique helps focus the reader on a single character’s actions without jumping to another character in the same time frame.
Still, I have enjoyed a few books with multiple timelines, and Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon comes to mind. However, writing this book must have been super complex, and reviewers have pointed out that it is tough to follow—still, a fantastic read which brings up the flip side.
What if readers like a challenge, or the readers leaving bad reviews are haters? I think there is a strong element of truth in this. Complex books are indeed fun to read when done properly, and Cryptonomicon is the perfect example. And there will always be haters. A book could be titled “The Violent Mystery Book,” and I am sure there would be comments like, “This book was too violent and mysterious.”
I think the main difference between the two books is that Neal put more effort into helping his readers understand the timeline. This was done in a way that interwove the timelines (setting things up), which made sense. His plot also spanned 50 years, giving him room to maneuver. Still, his story could have been presented linearly, which, in my opinion, would have made for an easier/better read.
Yet, I certainly enjoyed this complex book, and the reading challenge was part of the appeal. So, I guess that nonlinear technique worked.
With that in mind, I am going to end this article with an opinion. I recommend using multiple timelines only as a last resort and remind authors that a good story will always hook readers. Hopefully, my future articles will not have boring origins.
You’re the best -Bill
March 09, 2022 Updated July 04, 2026
Why do this? The problem is that the story had a dull beginning, and his solution was to uplift readers by introducing the dramatic parts earlier in the book, resulting in a mix of exciting combat and dull background. Can people in real life jump back in time? If they could, the stock market would be a mess.
Is there a benefit to the nonlinear format? Ghost Soldiers received high reviews, so I cannot argue with success. Yet several reviews noted that the nonlinear timeline was not appealing.
I have never spiced up my stories with this kind of writing trick because writing is challenging enough without having an out-of-sequence plot. The furthest I will take a story is parallel timelines. This technique helps focus the reader on a single character’s actions without jumping to another character in the same time frame.
Still, I have enjoyed a few books with multiple timelines, and Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon comes to mind. However, writing this book must have been super complex, and reviewers have pointed out that it is tough to follow—still, a fantastic read which brings up the flip side.
What if readers like a challenge, or the readers leaving bad reviews are haters? I think there is a strong element of truth in this. Complex books are indeed fun to read when done properly, and Cryptonomicon is the perfect example. And there will always be haters. A book could be titled “The Violent Mystery Book,” and I am sure there would be comments like, “This book was too violent and mysterious.”
I think the main difference between the two books is that Neal put more effort into helping his readers understand the timeline. This was done in a way that interwove the timelines (setting things up), which made sense. His plot also spanned 50 years, giving him room to maneuver. Still, his story could have been presented linearly, which, in my opinion, would have made for an easier/better read.
Yet, I certainly enjoyed this complex book, and the reading challenge was part of the appeal. So, I guess that nonlinear technique worked.
With that in mind, I am going to end this article with an opinion. I recommend using multiple timelines only as a last resort and remind authors that a good story will always hook readers. Hopefully, my future articles will not have boring origins.
You’re the best -Bill
March 09, 2022 Updated July 04, 2026
