narrative thread
Plot's connecting line
A narrative thread is a storyline or thematic element that runs through a work, connecting events or ideas into a coherent whole.
Complex novels may weave multiple narrative threads together.
The metaphor suggests something continuous that can be followed: The detective picked up the narrative thread where it had gone cold.
To lose the thread is to lose track of what's being discussed or told.
- storylineSequence of fictional events
- plotStoryline or land parcel
- story arcNarrative's overall shape
- arcCurved line segment
- plot pointKey narrative event
weave · tapestry · throughline · continuity · strand · yarn · tale · unravel · follow · tension · climax · foreshadowing · backstory · protagonist · chapter · episode · sequence · unfolding
- plotplot, storyline, subplot, climax, plot twist
- plot elementsplot, protagonist, antagonist, main plot, subplot
- serialsserial, serials, series, periodicals, magazines
narrative threadincoherence
Failure to make sense
discontinuity · random events · loose ends · plotlessness · plot hole
narrative threadsubplot
Subordinate narrative strand
digression · tangent · sidebar · aside · detour
narrative threadnon-linear narrative
Story not told chronologically
stream of consciousness · montage · slice of life · snapshots
narrative, thread, narrate, narration, narrator, narratives, narrated, narrating, threads