Discourse Time is a phrase that is
sometimes used to help describe the difference between the
time flow of the
creation of a story and its
contents.
Discourse Time is the time that flows in what is called the "Expression Plane". This plane is the working environment of an
artist,
writer, or anyone else who attempts to
communicate a flow of events, and contains their
expression of the story. It is not limited to real space/time, but is purely the
creation of the selectivity involved in the
process in narration. Think of it as the "flow of the story"; it is
malleable and can be used as a
tool.
When the differences between
Story Time and
Discourse Time are understood,
observations can be made about
Narrative Time.
Example:
You ride the bus from your house to that of a
friend. When you arrive, you decide to tell him/her about your trip. You describe in great detail
that cute stranger you met, and skip over the
dull twenty minutes of bus ride in which
nothing important happened. The time it took to tell your friend of the trip, say 5 minutes, is the "Discourse Time".