2

Events happening in two places in one short story?

Is this ethical to happen in one short story (craftwise) or is it unprofessional to break the linear flow?

Eg: A wakes up thinks, wait get dressed and leave to place X. In place X a bunch of characters discuss an issue and character A walks in to learn the conclusion.

''I have never heard that the events in a short story must all take place in the same location.''

Can events in a short story happen (in the latter half of the story) without, in the absence of the protagonist?

He enters at the end of the story to learn what has happened to 'B' who just disappeared without a trace. He reminisces his acquaintanceship with B in the first half.

user21564
  • 29
  • 1
  • 5
  • 1
    I have never heard that the events in a short story must all take place in the same location. A short story is short, that is all. –  Sep 20 '16 at 09:00
  • Is "ethical" the word you meant? I'm having trouble understanding what the issue would be. – Monica Cellio Sep 20 '16 at 09:38
  • =Totally unprofessional – user21564 Sep 20 '16 at 10:12
  • There are no rules for a short story. You can tell any story you want. –  Sep 20 '16 at 11:27
  • You're fine. Just write your story. – Ken Mohnkern Sep 20 '16 at 12:12
  • This is unclear. You're asking at least two different questions here - switching locations, and moving away from your protagonist. And your phrasing is very confusing. I'm afraid I need to close this. You can edit the question, or clarify here in the comments. – Standback Oct 05 '16 at 20:02

2 Answers2

1

Not only can this happen, it's frequently assumed that it happens. You can't show two sets of events occurring at the same moment textually (unless you're doing some kind of weird formatting, and the reader can't read them simultaneously anyway), so you write about one set of events and then the other. Your time cues will advise the reader if events in Location X are before, during, or after events in Location Y. Having A get dressed and travel to Location Y and come in at the end of the conversation is an excellent way of showing simultaneous events in written sequence. You're totally fine.

Lauren-Clear-Monica-Ipsum
  • 74,970
  • 7
  • 123
  • 261
1

To answer the last part of the question, the protagonist doesn't have to be present at every event. All that is necessary is that every event affects the protagonist.

The "second half" could be about the group of people deciding the fate of the protagonist. It may be a legal tribunal passing judgment and sentence, or it could even be a social "judgment," of "we don't want to have anything to do with this guy again," and why.

And it could be that this group is passing judgment at the same time that the protagonist is shown doing an example of what the group is judging him for (e.g., using drugs, heavy drinking, hanging with the "wrong" people for some value of "wrong").

Tom Au
  • 4,405
  • 3
  • 19
  • 38