The Writing Experiment by Hazel Smith

c) variation

d) simultaneity

e) multilayering

f) number.

2. Create a literary text using a culturally specific but non-literary
   form.

STRUCTURE IN PRINCIPLE

In this section we will look at six different types of structuring principles:
linearity, repetition, variation, simultaneity, multilayering and number.
You may want to ‘work out with’ all structural principles in turn, or choose
one or two that particularly interest you.
In the following examples the structure of the texts are summarised:
they represent the skeleton outline or structural components of the texts,
not the whole text.

Linearity

A linear structure (Exercise 1a) comprises a series of events or ideas: it is
based on the concept of a sequence. Linearity is the simplest form of struc-
ture, because it does not demand rearrangement of the material. A linear
structure might be a narrative or a logical argument. An example of a
linear structure is as follows (this is not an actual poem but an outline of
the structure):

Example 3.1

a) woman approaches the door

b) puts her hand on the handle and hesitates

c) enters the room

d) finds something unexpected

In this example the four lines might be the beginning lines of four differ-
ent stanzas. This, however, is less important than the fact that the structure
hangs on a short linear narrative.
Linearity is one of the least adventurous types of structure because
there is no real reorganisation of the material. The other structures here
all, to varying degrees, disrupt linearity. In Chapter 5 we will see how
longer narratives are usually non-linear in organisation.

50 The Writing Experiment