Ealing Studios London
Which Type of Parallel Narrative Structure Suits My Story?
The first question writers always ask about parallel narrative is whether it suits their material and if so, which sort of parallel narrative they should choose - flashback, ensemble cast, non-linearity - what? The answers here depend on the story you want to tell - and perhaps after all you don't need non-linearity. Perhaps conventional structure is the best way to go. The point to remember is that nonlinearity is not random. Each parallel narrative form suits a different kind of plot, theme and way of unfolding your story. Choose the wrong one and it won’t work.
Once you know what you're after in terms of message and story content you can find the structure that will best transmit it. Alternatively, if you already know the kind of structure you want, you should be able to find it, and the structure you've instinctively chosen might tell you more about the kind of story you want to tell. There are currently six sorts of parallel narrative (although hybridisation is happening all the time) and they fall conveniently into two categories: stories that have time jumps and stories that don't.
A brief word about nonlinear storytelling in TV series
For clarity, I have restricted myself in this article to explaining parallel narrative form by reference to films rather than TV series because the different parallel narrative story types are much easier to distinguish in film. Hence, what each is and how it works is easier to understand.
I will be discussing and explaining how TV series are using nonlinearity in my upcoming book, entitled Feeding the Binge. Here, I’ll stay with film because the examples are clearer.
Just briefly, these days, TV series, particularly limited TV series, are using nonlinearity all the time and writers are doing wonderful things. They are using nonlinear plot structures to tell a whole range of stories that could not work in conventional narrative, either because these stories have lengthy set ups or no middle or their stories jump over large periods of time, or because, astonishingly, each episode not only tells the story of a group but involves detailed backstory and story in the present about one of the main characters in the group. In this model, the nonlinearity is what is holding all these plotlines together. If told in conventional narrative form (instead of inside a massive series-long flashback), these character stories would turn the series into an anthology of short films.
What is also astonishing about nonlinearity in TV series is that very often normally a single series will utilize multiple different story structures, different for each of its plotlines. Some plotlines will be linear and chronological. There will often be double journey forms. Frequently there will be different sorts of flashback structure, particularly one flashback to hold the entire series together while other types tell stories from the characters’ past in the present. Sometimes there will be two flashback stories one after the other, as in Baby Reindeer. In this, amazingly, the flashback plotline that opens the series actually started, in real world time, after the second flashback plotline.
The combinations are dazzling. As I say, I will be dealing with them in my upcoming book, Feeding the Binge, breaking them down bit by bit so you can apply them
Here, I’ll stay with film because the examples are clearer.
Nothing here about precisely how to structure!
Below, I have provided a checklist, explaining the sort of story material that suits each structure. Note that this article is not showing you how to construct these forms! Each form has a special structure. What I am giving you here is ‘the what’- what each series looks like, structurally - not ‘the how’, that is, ‘how to construct and write it’. Use this checklist only as a starting point. Choice of structure is not something to be entered into without careful thought.
You may well find that your material suits not just one form but a number of forms, and you need to choose. Another possibility is that no structural precedent exists, in which case, you will need to look at all of the models and see if you can mix and match elements to create your own hybrid. Always check that you really do need parallel narrative. It can be disastrous if used on the wrong material. The conventional one hero model might be what best suits your film.
You will notice that some of the names I've chosen for the forms sound a bit long-winded or clumsy. It's done for a good reason. I deliberately chose names that are precisely descriptive of how each form works. This is to help us choose and, when we've chosen, to remind us as we're working of what each form has to do and what the general shape and preoccupations of the whole film need to be (writing a script can rapidly give you tunnel vision about these bigger issues).
Films without time jumps (ensemble films)
Tandem narrative Form
Examples: Love Actually, Nashville
Subject matter
The Latin word 'tandem' has come to mean 'running side by side' If you are thinking: ‘I want to show how a socio-political problem and/or human foibles affect a broad cross-section of society’, this is probably the form for you. Tandem films contain equally important but separate stories (each with its own protagonist) running simultaneously on the same theme. However, if your material concerns a group of about six characters physically together as they undertake a joint adventure with a shared goal, that's a different form (because they're all together and the film's about the internal dynamics of a group, not about different versions of the same theme). It's multiple protagonist form (see below). Mottoes are useful here. Multiple protagonist form is: ‘same team, same adventure’, tandem is: ‘same theme, different adventures’.
Multiple protagonist Form
Examples: The Full Monty, Burn After Reading, American Beauty, The Magnificent Seven
Subject matter
Multiple protagonist is probably the form you need if you feel you want to write about a group of people or an individual affected by a group OR an individual affecting a group OR a ‘team’ on a group quest, siege or reunion ‘adventure’. The group’s views, responses and internal dynamics are always central to a multiple protagonist film. Not all films in which groups appear are multiple protagonist stories. Films like The Counterfeiters and Four Weddings and a Funeral that follow only one member of the group, with that one-member present when the lives of other groups members change are one-hero stories, not multiple protagonist films. Story material in multiple protagonist form is typically a quest, reunion or siege, or a combination of these, with subject matter as follows (mottoes are useful here too):
Quests
‘One last job’: for example, Ocean’s Eleven.
‘Soldiers on a mission’: for example, Saving Private Ryan, The Magnificent Seven.
‘The Cinderella sports team’: for example, The Mighty Ducks.
‘Let’s put on a show’: for example, The Full Monty.
‘Group journeys’: (group prison break, holiday etc.) for example, The Great Escape.
Reunions
Weddings and funerals: for example, Death at a Funeral.
Regular club/class: for example, The Jane Austen Book Club.
Seeking out the family/prodigal returns: for example, You Can Count on Me.
Siege films (emotional and actual l sieges)
Troubled families: for example, Ordinary People, Little Miss Sunshine.
Prisons, actual or metaphorical: for example, The Great Escape, Deliverance.
Coming of age: for example, Stand by Me.
Save our town!: for example, Waking Ned Devine, Local Hero, Mystic River.
Comic heist: for example, Burn After Reading, Ruthless People
Social siege: for example, American Beauty, Ordinary People
But note that not all prison stories are multiple protagonist films. The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, for example, are mentor antagonist films. Mentor antagonists are a kind of character I've identified. They are powerfully interesting antagonists with a wisdom born of pain who teach a less interesting, ordinary protagonist truths about life. In The Elephant Man, for example, the Doctor is the protagonist while Merrick, the Elephant Man, is the antagonist. See The 21st Century Screenplay Note too, that most family films are social sieges, because all of the characters are trapped in an emotional siege situation.
Double journey form
Examples: Brokeback Mountain, The Departed.
Subject matter
Use this for films involving two central characters, who are journeying either towards, apart or in parallel with each other physically, emotionally or both. Because they are seen so often apart, interacting with other characters, both travellers need their own plotline and they often have a shared plotline too. Double Journey form is a kind of multiple protagonist form, but with specific plot content about the metaphorical double journey. Your motto here is 'two people on a journey'.
Films that have time jumps
Double narrative flashback
Examples: Citizen Kane, One Life
Subject matter
Double narrative flashback films always have at least one complete story in the present and one in the past (these days often more than one). The film jumps between the various stories for its whole duration. Subject matter involves one or more of the following:
the life of a charismatic, enigmatic larger-than-life individual OR someone having to find out about the past of such a person who is dead, traumatized or unwilling to speak (for example, Citizen Kane).
someone returning to scenes from their past but also having an adventure in the present (for example, Remains of the Day)
Other flashback forms
Note that there are several other flashback structures, some which are structures in themselves, but others that are not. These simpler forms of flashback do not use a complete story or stories in the past and a complete story in the present. One form just uses the occasional flashback to dramatize a little bit of backstory. Another adds gravitas by splitting an opening scene in the present and using it to bookend the past (as in, for example, The Green Mile, Fight Club, Titanic). Another adds energy, or transmits a warning of what's to come by taking a scene from the middle or end of the film and putting it at the start before running straight from beginning to end (as in, for example, The Hangover, Goodfellas) . Another uses non-chronological fragments from a failed past relationship to portray unfinished emotional business (as in, for example, Annie Hall, And When Did You Last See Your Father) . Yet another shows the end of a scene first and then, either immediately or later, shows the first part of that scene. Memento uses this type of flashback, in additions to other flashback structures ( Memento is actually a hybrid form, and I describe it at length in my book 21st Century Screenplay).
Time jumps also appear in consecutive-stories form and fractured tandem (see below). Your motto for Double narrative flashback is 'a detective story explaining human motives, bit by bit'.
Your biggest problem with double narrative flashback will be making sure you have a powerful story in the present.
Consecutive-stories Form
Examples of different sorts with different structures: Run Lola Run, Groundhog Day, Atonement, Pulp Fiction
Subject matter
Use this for films that need complete or almost-complete stories (often on the notion of ‘truth’ and the slippery nature of truth) appearing one after the other (even if the opening is traditional, or if there is a bookend frame), often with their own titles.
Sub-categories are:
Stories walking into the picture: that is, stories simply happening one after the other, linking at the end (as in The Circle and anthologies of short films like Paris, je t’aime) Your motto is 'a fly-on-the-wall study of life'
Different perspectives: that is, different versions or points of view of the same events (as in Run Lola Run, Groundhog Day and Rashomon) . Your motto is 'different versions of the same events’
Different consequences: that is, different outcomes from the same events (as in Go and Atonement). Your motto is 'different outcomes from one event'
Fractured frame/portmanteau: that is, fractured versions of one of the three above, using one split-up story to act like a bookend or a portmanteau (as in, for example Pulp Fiction, City of God and The Joy Luck Club - but there are many more ). A portmanteau is my term for one story split into two parts, with other complete stories inserted in between. It acts like a bag, containing the other stories. But there are a number of different sorts and it's complicated - you need to check out my book The 21st Century Screenplay.
Fractured tandem form
Examples: 21 Grams, Babel, The Hours.
Subject matter
These films involve fractured versions of equally important stories. This is probably the form for you if your subject matter involves:
unexpected, often tragic, connections between apparently or initially very disparate people, triggered by an accident or random event
several equally important stories, some or all fractured, running simultaneously sometimes in the same time frame, but often in several
consequences, chain reactions
Fractured tandem can also be used to inject suspense and a detective story element into predictable tandem narrative scripts. Your motto here is 'a detective story based on dread of death'.