# Plot drift

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{{more citations needed|date=January 2025}}
'''Plot drift''', or narrative drift, is a phenomenon in storytelling in which the [plot](/source/Plot_(narrative)) of the story deviates from its apparent initial direction. The phenomenon can affect written works, although it is often more noticeable in performed media such as [television](/source/television) shows or [movie](/source/movie)s. Plot drift is generally (though not always) seen as contrary to good storytelling technique.

A sign of plot drift can be the increased introduction of new characters and settings near the end of a story.{{example needed|date=June 2013}}

Sometimes, a plot drift may be accidental when translating a traditionally [oral story](/source/Oral_storytelling) to written form.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Griffin |first=Benjamin |date=2006 |title=Moving Tales: Narrative Drift in Oral Culture and Scripted Theater |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20057975 |journal=New Literary History |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=725–738 |doi=10.1353/nlh.2007.0004 |jstor=20057975 |issn=0028-6087}}</ref> Oral storytelling is inconsistent and various regional, or even familial, differences can cause a plot to shift.

A contrary literary technique might include the apparent introduction of plot drift, only to later reveal a connection to the rest of the story. This idea is shown  in the epic poem ''[The Odyssey](/source/Odyssey)'' by [Homer](/source/Homer). Homer consistently interrupts the narrative to describe the history and story of newly introduced objects or locations before going back to the narrative.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Review of: A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey |url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2002/2002.06.12/ |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |issn=1055-7660}}</ref>

== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Plot Drift}}
Category:Narratology

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