The Witcher was my first introduction to nonlinear storytelling.
Nonlinear storytelling is simply telling a story out of order. It quickly became one of my favorite writing techniques, but not because of The Witcher.
I was very confused by The Witcher's first season because I didn't realize it was out of order until a few episodes in. When I rewatched the first season in preparation for the second season, I was surprised that I liked the nonlinear storytelling better.
However, I had just watched a series that made me see nonlinear storytelling in a whole new light.
Nonlinear Storytelling
I liked a lot of things about The Witcher. I loved the characters. I liked the unique looks such as Geralt's white hair and Yennefer's purple eyes. I enjoyed Jaskier's comedic relief and his entertaining ballads. I liked the monsters even if I didn't realize they were from Slavic mythology.
I didn't like being confused. Once I realized that the story was out of order, I oriented myself a bit better. But I still didn't know the exact timeline.
The nonlinear storytelling wasn't a deal-breaker for me.
I was actually really excited for the next season.
But I didn't realize what a powerful tool nonlinear storytelling could be until I watched a different series, specifically, The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. I'll be digging into that series soon, so I won't discuss it much here. However, the difference in how The Haunting series and The Witcher series used nonlinear storytelling is night and day.
According to The Art of Narrative, "Use nonlinear narrative to highlight characterization and theme. The nonlinear narrative has been used to highlight character growth by drawing a contrast between multiple characters. This is usually in the service of a broad theme."
The best example of this would be The Haunting of Hill House. The theme of the show was grief, and the characters represented the stages of grief. The first few episodes replayed the same event over and over again but from the different characters' perspectives. When the show came together, the theme was so poignant that I literally wept.
When The Witcher began, Geralt was alone hunting monsters and terrifying villagers. When The Witcher ended, Geralt had found his child of surprise. It was a sweet ending: Geralt had finally found his destiny; Ciri was finally safe.
But the ending didn't make sense with the nonlinear structure. It didn't highlight the character's growth beyond Geralt accepting his destiny. It didn't highlight the theme because what exactly is the theme?
I’m not saying that The Witcher didn’t have a theme.
Obviously, it did.
However, it doesn’t immediately come to mind. I’d have to think about it, and even then, I’d come up with at least three themes.
The Witcher‘s nonlinear storytelling did not highlight its characters or theme. If anything, it made The Witcher feel like three separate stories with three separate themes.
The Witcher's second season was very different from its first season. One of the major changes was that it was in chronological order.
Yes, it was much less confusing!
However, I would have liked to see The Witcher try nonlinear storytelling one more time.
The Witcher tried something, and it didn't work. But that doesn't mean that it should have given up!
There's a reason, I've named this blog The Quirky Quill because I often experiment with my own writing, and my experiments don't always work. However, I learn from my attempts, and I try again. I would have really liked to see The Witcher try again.
The Witcher wasn't a good introduction to nonlinear storytelling. It made mistakes, but its mistake wasn't the nonlinear storytelling. Its mistake was not using nonlinear storytelling to highlight its characters and theme.
Coming up
I am excited to announce that my next article is an interview with author Paulette Golden.
She is a historical romance writer whose stories are filled with relatable characters and realistic conflict.
If you’re interested in writing historical romance, you’ve come to the right place!
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