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Cliff overhanging Gun Beach, Tumon Bay, Guam |
I'm excited about this one because I wrote Strawberry Moon as a frame story.
***
When taking photos, it's sometimes fun to create a "frame" in the foreground in order to highlight something in the background. This creates interest in the whole, as in the above photo I took on Gun Beach. The overhanging cliff hovers over the dimpled sand while framing the blue-green seawater and dark rocks beyond.
Stories are structured in many different ways, and we writers like to experiment with various plot devices and structures. One of my favorites is the "frame narrative."
You are probably most familiar with frame narratives in classic literature. The Canterbury Tales collects 24 different stories under one umbrella, or frame, story: Travelling companions amusing each other by telling stories along the way. The Thousand and One Nights is another collection set in one frame.
Sometimes the frame contains just one story, or perhaps even a story that frames a third story. (I'm giddy just thinking about it!)
I've experimented with frame stories a few times. Once, I wrote a lengthy short story for a class I was auditing at the University of Maine. The class was Native American & Immigrant Literature and was taught by Rhea Cote Robbins. I wrote about a modern-day character who is told a story by an elder. Within that story was another story. It was complex and probably a little clunky, but I received positive comments from the instructor and like to think there's some good material in there. I'll revisit it someday as I think it would make a good "novel in stories" like Alice Hoffman's The Red Garden.
A second frame-writing adventure wasn't planned. I inadvertently used a frame when I drafted a novel with a very dramatic opening scene which set up the conflict for the main character. I then decided the events leading up to that moment were important enough to include in the narrative. I had a choice: weave in backstory in dribs and drabs or, in the next chapter, go back in time to tell the story chronologically until the events led up to the original scene--which really was the inciting incident for my character's developmental arc and thus the best place to start--and then continue on to the end.
I did it, but I was never totally happy with it.
On a second draft, I tried writing the book beginning to end chronologically, but it transformed the story into a different genre, from women's fiction to romance. That's not what I wanted. I wanted the story to be about my heroine's journey, her challenges and growth, not focused on the romantic relationship even though that relationship incited the change she was forced to make in order to thrive.
No one ever said writing was easy. Stories are puzzles. All the pieces have to fit, and fitting works best when you build in the right order. Figuring out the right order, now, that's the real challenge.
***
This brings me to the drafting of Strawberry Moon Mystery, the short story I wrote on yellow paper in Maine. Here, Liv goes to a party to celebrate the publication of her client's latest novel and the successful defense of her authorship following a plagiarism claim. Trouble is, Liv felt something was off even though she investigated for the defense. The end brings the missing pieces to light. In the middle, though, I tell the story of her investigation in chronological order from initial client meeting to final report and settling of the claim.
Now, I could revise and start at that beginning when Liv is approached to do background investigation for the client, make my way to the night of the party, and get to that ending payout scene. But I kind of like the frame. The opening scene of the party being held at a Victorian "cottage" on the coast of Maine, a full Strawberry Moon rising over the sea, and Liv's queasy feeling that something isn't quite right makes me happy.
I'm hoping it piques the reader's interest, as well.
However--plot twist--somewhere in between San Diego and Maine and Guam I've misplaced my handwritten draft! Remember, I never did get the whole thing transcribed. I can sort of remember the basics, but I've lost the details.
Will this author be able to finish her piece? Stay tuned for updates.