I started to create a tag for "nonlinear" storytelling, and then, decided, based on the common usage, that it should be "non-linear" instead. Even though I deleted all my initial examples, the system won't let me create the new one. Which one should be canonical?
The use would be for storylines that move backwards and forwards in time. There are quite a lot of questions that fit the bill, here are a few:
- How does the 3 act structure fit in a Non Linear story?
- What techniques are used to create non-linear stories?
- Non-Linear Storyline: Dynamic vs. Static chapter sequence
There are 59 questions that come up when you search "non-linear". None is marked with "timelines," and only 8 are marked with "branching-narrative" and only 5 with "time-depiction" indicating definite overlap, but that these are NOT synonyms.
- All branching narratives are non-linear, but relatively few non-linear narratives branch.
- Timelines seems to me to be about managing different settings that are separated by time instead of place, whereas non-linear is more about the storytelling.
- I'm not sure what time-depiction means but it doesn't sound like a synonym for non-linear to me.