Remove this ad

Lead

Apr 12 07 3:24 PM

Tags : :

I am ready to embark on my next novel but before I do, I need to sort out one MAJOR issue.

This novel spans 4 generations from the time of the great depression until present day.

My intent is to tell the story from the present time, when my protagonist is 71 years old. As the story unfolds, she will need to recall past experiences and discuss past experiences with other characters. These past experiences are very complex and will require multiple chapters (perhaps half of the story).

My issue is that I don't know how to pull this off. I know that I DO NOT want the protagonist to tell the tale to the other characters. I want to take the reader back into the past and have those events play out third person from some of the past character's points of view.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want two stories to play out at the same time. One story is from 1920 until 2008. The other story takes place in 2008 and is directly influenced by the events and gradually learned knowledge of the first story. By the end of the book they will need to come together and both stories will be resolved with one climax.

All of my writing to date has been time forward (with multiple stories/plots that all come together, but I've never written one in two separate time frames.

What I am looking for is some examples of some well written novels that do this. I want to study how those authors successfully transitioned between the two stories. And of course - some advice from this pool of great minds. (Yeah, patronizing is not below me...)

One example that I have is the movie The Ring. There is a present day issue of the 7 day curse, which is resolved by visiting past events. The difference would be that rather than only using learned knowledge and brief flashbacks of Samara, I would be going into a lot more depth - Like chapters from her mother and father's point of view, chapters of events from her childhood, etc.

As you can see from my excessive rambling, I'm confused. Help!
Quote    Reply   
Remove this ad
Remove this ad

#1 [url]

Apr 12 07 9:49 PM

I think what you're looking at writing is using the classic frame story structure. A story within a story.

Most famous, if I recall (having read it a long time ago) would be the Arabian Knights. Some of E.A. Poe's short stories would be frame stories, but not on as grand of scale as you're discussing. Another short story (I can't recall the author) would be "The Hey Day of the Blood".

R-Tech

Flank Hawk and Blood Sword: My Fantasy Novels published by Gryphonwood Press
My Writing Website www.ervin-author.com
Editor for MindFlights
My Blog Up Around the Corner

Quote    Reply   
avatar

yaghish

Prolific Writer

Posts: 907

#2 [url]

Apr 15 07 9:33 AM

I've read structures like that a lot in crime.

One, there is the story in the present time, where the Private Eye (or other hero) has to solve the riddle and at the same time has to deal with a love affair, his boss, bad health, his wife, and so on.
Two, there is the story behind the crime, that has led to the murder (in most cases). In order to find out whodunnit, the PI has to "step into the past" (evidence, interviews, deduction, and other research) to find out what happened.
In the better stories, that what has happened in the past (a mystery shrouding the solution of the whodunnit) still works out in the present, as in the murderer tries to cover things up by sending a love intrest to the hero, bribe the boss, treathens wife and children, and so on.

This can be done at a large scale, especially when it is about large conspiracies as in The Da Vinci Code. The riddle of what happened 2000 years ago is working out in the past (okay, I never read the Da Vinci Code, but that's what I gather from it).

The problem of the HOW can be solved in many ways. Flashbacks, being told by the MC, frame story.

Quote    Reply   

#3 [url]

Apr 16 07 4:15 PM

Thank you R-Tech and Yaghish.

At first, I didn't think the Frame Story format was even remotely close to what I was going after, but on further thought I think it is. From what I can see, the Frame Story is nothing more than using flashbacks, but where the flashbacks are the main component of the story. Am I on the right track here?

Yaghish hit it on the head when describing that both stories get solved in the present with the past story becoming intertwined with the present story.

I guess what I need to research further is how to jump back and forth. My fiance told me that using dates at the beginning of my chapters might be the way to keep the reader informed of what time I am taking them to. I could also start the chapter in the present and flash back, but I would have to start half my chapters this way and it might get painfully repetitive.

I went to the bookstore this weekend to find some novels like this, but came up short. How do you search for books on a style or format, rather than genre?


QUOTE
In the better stories, that what has happened in the past (a mystery shrouding the solution of the whodunnit) still works out in the present, as in the murderer tries to cover things up by sending a love intrest to the hero, bribe the boss, treathens wife and children, and so on.


Yaghish - Do have any titles of any of these novels?

Quote    Reply   
Remove this ad
avatar

yaghish

Prolific Writer

Posts: 907

#4 [url]

Apr 19 07 6:59 PM

QUOTE (Doogie @ April 16, 2007 04:15 pm)
Yaghish - Do have any titles of any of these novels?

I'm afraid I only read crime in Dutch...
... and a have very bad memory.

HINT: there are many (Dutch) novels concerning a mystery in the Second World War that is solved in modern times.

Quote    Reply   

#5 [url]

Apr 19 07 10:34 PM

QUOTE
At first, I didn't think the Frame Story format was even remotely close to what I was going after, but on further thought I think it is. From what I can see, the Frame Story is nothing more than using flashbacks, but where the flashbacks are the main component of the story. Am I on the right track here?


To put it in movie or cinematic terms, Saving Private Ryan would be a frame story, with the bulk a story told from memory or a flashback. I buess Total Recall would be too, in a way--I never read the short story it was based on, but that might be something to try--I don't know the title, but it could easly be found on the internet and is listed in the credits of the movie.

R-Tech

Flank Hawk and Blood Sword: My Fantasy Novels published by Gryphonwood Press
My Writing Website www.ervin-author.com
Editor for MindFlights
My Blog Up Around the Corner

Quote    Reply   

#6 [url]

Apr 20 07 6:32 PM

Thanks again.

I started reading 'Interview With The Vampire' by Anne Rice. It is a frame story. She has the vampire tell the story directly to the interviewer. It works really well. Although it's told only from the vampire's point of view, she still gets into the minds of the other characters by relaying what those characters told the vampire.

I can really see this working for my plot.

Before making my decision, I'd still like to find an example where the past is presented in third person.

I'm starting to feel the electricity that takes hold when everything comes together. Just a little more plotting and I'll be typing the words "Chapter One".

Quote    Reply   
Remove this ad
Add Reply

Quick Reply

bbcode help