One of the things I struggle with most when outlining is differentiating between the chronological timeline of my story and the narrative outline, and more specifically, deciding the order in which to tell the story. Stories are not always linear in the telling.

For example, in my story, I have two main characters (Kaleb and Molly) who meet one another at some point mid-story. Their back stories are critical to the story and must be told as part of the narrative. The chronological timeline is set in stone: What happened to Kaleb and Molly independently last year, last month, and last week happened when they happened regardless of when I decide to tell the reader about what happened.

So I have to make a choice about the narrative outline.

Here are some options:

1. I could start in medias res. My opening scene could be the meeting point, and I could relay the "what happened last year" parts through dialog or flashbacks as the story of Kaleb and Molly after they meet progresses.

2. I could tell the whole story of Kaleb, and then the whole story of Molly, and then they meet. That involves going back in time chronologically after Kaleb's story to start at the beginning of the Molly's story.

3. I could alternate scenes. starting with a Kaleb scene, switching to Molly, then back to Kaleb, back and forth until I reach the meeting point.

4. I could follow one of the characters chronologically until the meeting point, and then recount the other character's backstory through dialog or flashbacks. This is the most linear approach, the one that will most closely follow the chronological timeline.

There may be reasons for choosing one alternative over the other. Maybe I don't want to reveal something about Kaleb's or Molly's past until sometime later in the story. Maybe the meeting point is the most action-packed sequence, so opening in medias res provides a narrative hook that engages the reader and propels the story forward. Maybe the outline is getting too confusing with all the back-and-forth, and following one character's linear story is easiest for me as a writer.

That last reason seems like an excuse, like the lazy writer's way out, but consider a story with four or ten main characters. The non-linear telling of the story can get confusing quickly.

Whatever order you choose for your narrative, it should be a deliberate choice with well-thought-out reasons and a plan of execution. This is why we are writing narrative outlines as our required assignments, but adding chronological timelines as our bonus assignments. Those of us with stories that follow more than one character need both tools to keep our stories organized.