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Now look at this version of the same story but using a non-linear structure.

• Scene 1: First part of an emotional monologue by Karen. She talks about how guilty she feels and how she wishes she could change things but we don’t know what she has done yet. She tries to sleep.
• Scene 2: Flashback: Crash scene. Karen storming out of the party and driving her car. This repeats at the point of impact, like a recurring nightmare, marking the moment.
• Scene 3: Karen wakes up with a start from her nightmare. She explains how it’s real and she wishes she could change things. But she’s got what she deserved.
• Scene 4: Courtroom scene. Action freezes and Karen’s friend talks directly to the audience about how she feels responsible and should have stopped Karen from getting into the car. The sentence is passed.
• Scene 5: Karen’s monologue about the lives she has ruined, including her own. She wishes she could rewind what happened.
• Scene 6: End of car crash scene. A bystander calls an ambulance and we learn of the death of the father and injuries to his son.
• Scene 7: Karen’s monologue. She talks about how she had never planned to drink and drive.
• Scene 8: Karen passes her driving test and celebrates.
• Scene 9: Karen argues with her boyfriend. She’s drunk and says she is driving home. Her friends try to stop her and tells her to go home with them, but she leaves anyway.
• Scene 10: Car-crash in series of still images. SFX (sound effect) of a prison door slamming.

Scene breakdown

The non-linear scene breakdown is more complex than the linear version.

Scene 1 begins with the end of the story with Karen’s monologue. This technique of using direct address means we identify with Karen and her actions from the start. We know more about the character as a result.

Scene 2 uses flashback which informs the audience about what happens to Karen. The monologue in Scene 1 has prepared the audience for this scene effectively. The nightmarish stylisation of crash creates a feeling of foreboding. It’s also the climax of the drama but earlier in the story this time.

Scene 3 breaks up the monologue and keeps us connected with Karen at regular intervals. Her regret also adds to the feeling of foreboding from Scene 2.

Scene 4 contributes to the core idea of justice and the moral of the story, ‘Don’t drink and drive’. Having the friends using direct address to share their viewpoint with the audience addresses their responsibility also.

Scene 5 keeps the connection with Karen. At this point we still don’t know what happened in the crash. The story is revealed piece by piece which keeps the audience interested.

Scene 6 reveals more about the tragic outcome of Karen’s actions, again reinforcing the drama’s key message.

Scene 7‘s monologue sets up the next sequence of flashbacks and reveals more about Karen and how she feels.

Scenes 8 and 9 are flashbacks but are in linear order now to build tension and pace. There is dramatic irony as we know the outcome so we see the mistakes she’s making. These scenes are the beginning and middle of the story.

Scene 10 is another flashback to the crash which we’ve already seen so this demonstrates the use of effective repetition which reiterates further the horror of the story. Presenting the crash in still image stylises it and reinforces the ideas that these are images that will never fade. Like a nightmare, the images are disjointed. This is also in dramatic contrast with the fluid linear build-up to that moment in Scenes 8 and 9.