At first I wasn’t sure how many writers would be interested in tips for writing a frame narrative. It seemed like a rather specific technique, limited to anonymous 18th & 19th-century gothic novels.

But the more I considered the subject, the more it seemed to me that frame narratives are everywhere, and that they can solve pretty much any story problem you may be facing…

What is a frame a narrative?

A frame narrative is a meta story that “frames” the main story, both in the physical sense in that its pages flank (or bookend) the pages containing the central story, and in a metaphorical sense, in that it tells the reader how to approach the story they’re about to read.

How to solve your fictional shortcomings

Here are some ways that a frame narrative can fix your story:

1 | Collate seemingly unrelated narratives

If you have a series of stories that are more or less unrelated, but you’d like to pull them together into a cohesive work, take inspiration from The Canterbury Tales and Arabian Nights. By finding a compelling reason for a character (or group of characters) to relate the stories you’ve written, you not only create the illusion of unity, but you also impress upon the reader their telling value.

1. Who has the most compelling reason to tell these stories?
2. What’s the character’s relation to their story (or stories)?
3. What “framing situation” could bring the storytellers (and their audience) together?
4. What’s the most dramatic or atmospheric location for these retellings?

2 | Show different viewpoints

Frame narratives are a convenient and effective way to give non-omniscient narrators the ability to switch between different viewpoints. For example, the narrator of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, in addition to detailing his own story, writes down the tales that both Victor Frankenstein and the creature relate to him.

A frame narrative is also an excellent tool for distinguishing the narrator from the main character(s), and developing them as a character in their own right. This allows you to present reactions to the main character that can also influence the reader’s perception.  Especially fun if you want to question either the narrator or the MC’s integrity, morality or veracity.

1. How do you want your main character to be perceived?
2. What viewpoints could support this perception?
3. What viewpoints could complicate this perception?

3 | “Finish” an unfinished or fragmented story

Written yourself into a corner?
Can’t decide how to end your story?
Or simply bored with writing it?

Frame narratives to the rescue!

Just explain, in the beginning, that you’re reproducing the story exactly as you found it, lacunae and all. You don’t even need to wrap up the telling at the end; you can argue that it’s a deconstructionist text. See Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw for inspiration.

1. What circumstance could account for the missing end or elided portions of the text?
2. What effect do you want the abrupt ending to have on the reader?
3. How can framing the story help you achieve this effect?

4 | Make excuses (& justifications)

As mentioned in last week’s article, the preface to The Castle of Otranto does an excellent job of pre-empting criticism by pointing out the text’s shortcomings. The frame narrator in Sir Walter Scott’s The Bride of Lammermoor has a long discussion with the friend who is the source of the story, regarding (ironically) authors who write too much dialogue and not enough action.

While making excuses for any stylistic shortcomings due to the fictional translator, Walpole (or his frame narrator) also praises the author of the original Italian story. This admission of (relative) humility can help a reader overlook your story’s potential weaknesses.

You can use a clever framing story to draw attention to absolutely any error, from typos to plot holes, and thus acknowledge them as intentional narratorial devices.

1. What are the deficiencies you notice in your main story?
2. How can you take responsibility for these deficiencies, while still maintaining the story’s merits?
3. How can you humble yourself, as the frame narrator?

5 | Appear self-aware & intellectual

There’s a lot of scope for experimenting with the “format” of your frame narrative. For example, Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, and House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski are two very different works that both use footnotes to create editors who are frame narrators.

Consider:
– layering your text with addenda, versions, and revisions;
– discussing material details such as the hand, the paper, and the binding;
– and referring to external resources (real or fictional).

1. What other versions of this story exist (or existed)?
2. How far does the frame extend beyond your story?

6 | Ground the story in the “real” world

Using real locations in your frame narrative can be a way to give the reader a sense of the authenticity of the central story. This can be a quick shortcut to build your fictional world through correlation, and to make it more memorable for readers by associating it with a familiar locus.

The story as a physical object — often a bound book or loose pages — can be described in the frame narrative, as part of making it feel more “real” and engaging to the reader. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende plays wonderfully with this trope, not just at the beginning, but also in frequent interjections that interrupt the main story and increase suspense.

Horace Walpole very cleverly suggests that Otranto may be based on a real castle that diligent readers can find out. In doing so, he not only ranges himself alongside the reader in his enjoyment, appreciation, and curiosity for the text, but also encourages careful reading, and an active participation in studying the manuscript. Genius!

1. What “real” world location could you use in your frame narrative?
2. How does your story relate to this location?
3. How can you encourage readers to pay closer attention to this location?

7 | Disguise a boring opening

Flashbacks and flashforwards are so overused in prefaces.

If your central story takes a bit of time to get interesting, instead of rewriting the opening, try introducing a frame narrative.

You can enhance mystery and suspense by suggesting that the story is real (or probably fictional), and that it’s been guarded with the utmost secrecy. Read the frame narrative of The Italian by Ann Radcliffe for more ideas.

Note: the reverse is also a possible tactic; that is, to delay the start of the story by some pleasant literary dallying.

1. How can the frame narrative suggest a sense of mystery and secrecy surrounding the transmission of the main text?
2. How can the frame narrative speed up (or slow down) the opening?

8 | Skip the boring bits

William Goldman’s conceit in The Princess Bride is that the story is an abridgement of a longer work by the fictional S. Morgenstern, which he calls ‘The “Good Parts” Version’.

I haven’t read the novel myself, but in the film the “skipping” is prompted by the narrator’s grandson who complains about the story at intervals.

I’m sure we’ve all skipped writing scenes for various reasons, and the idea of coming up with a legitimate narrative excuse not to fill them in is enormously tempting…

1. What scenes, dialogue, exposition, etc. would you rather skip?
2. List 10 excuses why you should skip those bits.
3. Come up with a frame narrator and situation that explains your excuses.

9 | Set Reader Expectations

Frame narrators are particularly fond of prophesying misfortune and miserable endings. Probably none more consistently than Lemony Snicket in the Series of Unfortunate Events.

Perhaps it’s wise to set the tone of doom and failure early on, but you can also use the frame narrative to reassure the reader of the main character’s perpetuation, or at least the possibility of it.

As well as setting the mood, the frame narrative can introduce essential background about the story world that can help avoid info dumps later on, and also frame the purpose of the story’s composition or publication. Once again, see the preface to Otranto.

1. What is the tone of the main story?
2. How can the frame narrative set the tone for the main story?
3. What sort of frame narrative could be a “proof of life” of the main character?
4. What narratee knows just enough about the story world to make them a plausible intermediary between the narrator and the reader?

Further Resources

1. Use the Narrator Casting Table in the How to Be the Heroine of Your Own Story textbook to help choose your frame narrator.
2. Point of View worksheet
3. Plot Hole Gapping