A frame story, when used correctly, can be an incredibly powerful narrative device. By nesting your narrative within a wider, often omniscient perspective, you can tell a story that’s impossible to do any other way. But getting it right is also notoriously difficult!
In my quest to get the frame story for my main story, ‘Downdraft’, correct, I’ve come across a lot of tips and alot of pitfalls to avoid. If you’re here, it probably means you’re writing one too. Hopefully some of the tips below will help!
1.) Does your story need a Frame Story?
This is the most important thing to consider beforeanything else! There are many different types of frame stories – narrative, cyclical, mystery point of view, but all of them require this basic question to be asked. So, with that in mind, ask yourself these questions about your frame story –
1.) Does it add to the main narrative?
2.) Does it work as its own story?
If the answer to either of these questions is no, then you might want to consider changing, or even removing your frame story. But how can we make one that works?
2.) Making a Frame Story that adds to the main narrative
This is the big one. A frame story must add context, characterisation, further narrative, etc, that can’t be explored in your main story.
Let’s look at the classic example – the narrative frame story. No doubt you’ve read one – this is where a character is retelling the main narrative, often with an prologue explaining why they are telling it, and an epilogue coming to some conclusion after. These sometimes include brief interludes in the main story to provide context.
This is a great concept, and can add alot. Is your main character retelling something from their past? If so, great, you can show their how their opinions differ with a new perspective. Did something significant happen outside of your main point of view without their knowledge, but it’s crucial for a future plot development? Perfect, you can foreshadow that in your frame. Is it important for the reader to know the fate of another character, even if it was left ambiguous in the main story? That’s what a frame story is made for.
These examples might not match what you’re writing, but will put you on the right track. It’s also important to note that you don’t need a frame story to give context! If you can give this context through the main story, that is always preferable! Frame stories should exist only when you can’t tell the story any other way.
3.) Making the Frame Story its own story
Your main story should have a solid, overarching structure, so why shouldn’t the same apply to your frame story? If it exists solely to add context, then it will read as sheer exposition, which we should avoid wherever possible. Having its own narrative structure will help it stand out and keep the reader engaged.
As easy way to do this (and one I subscribe to) is writing your main story and frame story separately. It’s difficult to maintain overall structure when you’re swapping back and forth between a completely different structure!
In the example of a narrative frame story above – it might be best to write your main story in its entirety first, and then work on the frame story. This will allow you to get your main story right, then focus on your secondary story in the frame in one fell swoop.
If your frame story doesn’t have an overarching structure, what can you do to add one? Does it have an inciting incident – perhaps the main character being forced to recount their past? Does it have its own plot beats and reveal information throughout? Most importantly, does it have a satisfying conclusion that mirrors, or even concludes the main story? If you’ve wrote a main story, you can certinly write a smaller, secondary one!
4.) Trees, not the forest
If you think you’ve got the broad strokes above sorted, then its time to focus on the smaller, but just as integral pieces. Alot of this will depend on your main story, which your frame story should support first and foremost.
What are the themes in your main story? Does your frame story repeat and expand on them? Grief in the main story can be mirrored by acceptance in the frame. A change in worldview of a main character can be examined and commented upon by themselves, or someone else, in the frame. A theme of love can be repeated throughout both stories. Your story will have a beating heart, find that and extend it throughout!
Are the voices in your frame story distinct? In fact, is it clear when, where, and why you have slipped into this secondary story? The worst thing you can do is confuse your reader (although intentional ambiguity has its place). This can be solved with something as simple as different chapter headings, different characters from the main story, different dialect choices, or even showing how the world is different in the frame story due to the events of the main story.
Conclusions
All of this only scratches the surface of what can be achieved with a frame story. There are hundreds out there, and no two are ever the same. Read as many as you can and judge them for yourself!
And remember, at the end of the day you know your story better than anyone else. Stick with it, polish it, and no doubt it’ll turn out great.
Got any tips, tricks, suggestions or questions regarding frame stories? Feel free to pop them down in the comments below! God knows I could use the help…
Looking for more writing tips? Check out my other posts here!