tick-tock
n.—Gloss: A chronological recounting of events. «In the convention of the recovery narrative, readers will want to scan past the tick-tock, looking for the yucky part so that they can feel better about themselves.» —“Me and My Girls” by David Carr New York Times July 20, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In film production, the term diegetic refers to a sound that occurs within the story itself that the characters supposedly hear, whereas non-diegetic sound refers to background music or narration. For example, the tune played by the pianist in...
A caller from New York City wonders about his grandmother’s use of the word says rather than said when she’s telling a story about something that happened in the past. It’s a form of the historical present tense that helps describe...
For more on the history of the term, with cites back to 1973, see this post:
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0506A&L=ADS-L&P=R458