Description
Return a scene's timeline offset and ending anchor.
Story planning separates the order of telling from fictional chronology, continuity records and practical writing budgets. Explicit labels, counts and invented calendar rules can make a local convention consistent without deciding narrative quality or inferring facts from manuscript prose.
Return a scene's timeline offset and ending anchor.
When to use this tool
Use Story Timeline Flashback Offset when checking a supplied story-continuity, chronology, calendar or drafting-budget convention.
How to use the tool and how it works
- Enter presentAnchor, sceneAnchor, duration. Use the units and conventions below.
- Run the tool. Correct any format, range, or cross-field input error before interpreting the output.
- Read offset, endAnchor, returnsBeforePresent. Inspect returnsBeforePresent before interpreting the associated values.
Return a scene's timeline offset and ending anchor. Require duration >= 0; offset = sceneAnchor-presentAnchor, endAnchor = sceneAnchor+duration, returnsBeforePresent includes an end exactly at the present anchor.1
| Input field | Meaning and units | Accepted input |
|---|---|---|
| presentAnchor | Present Anchor | Required. Finite number. |
| sceneAnchor | Scene Anchor | Required. Finite number. |
| duration | Duration | Required. Finite number; minimum 0. |
| Output field | Interpretation | Returned shape |
|---|---|---|
| offset | Offset | Required. Finite number. |
| endAnchor | End Anchor | Required. Finite number. |
| returnsBeforePresent | Returns Before Present | Required. Boolean. |
{
"input": {
"presentAnchor": 100,
"sceneAnchor": 70,
"duration": 20
},
"output": {
"offset": -30,
"endAnchor": 90,
"returnsBeforePresent": true
}
}Limitations and assumptions
- All coordinates share units; narrative order and actual calendar or story consistency are not inferred.
- Inputs must satisfy both the field types and the cross-field conditions above. Invalid input causes an error; a successful false flag or documented placeholder is a different result.
- Numeric calculations use binary floating point unless exact decimal-integer arithmetic is explicitly stated. No hidden measurement tolerance or decimal rounding is added; nonfinite or out-of-contract results are rejected. Numeric signed-zero results are exported as zero.
Alternative or Complementary methods
Use the manuscript, scene outline and the chosen style/calendar policy for a complete editorial review; interpret numerical budgets in their narrative context.
References
Similar or alternative tools
- Story Time Jump Age Residual
Compare a character's age change with a story time jump.
- Scene Timeline Duration Gap
Compare narrated duration with a scene timeline span.