Sequence of events in coarse novel (8)
I believe the answer is:
scenario
'sequence of events' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'in coarse novel' is the wordplay.
'novel' indicates an anagram.
'in'+'coarse'='incoarse'
'incoarse' with letters rearranged gives 'SCENARIO'.
(Other definitions for scenario that I've seen before include "Outlines of drama" , "In plot of movie, for instance" , "Outline of dramatic work" , "Film treatment" , "Written outline of a film or play" .)