What is “a story within a story?” It is when you have one story embedded in another. As a writer, this may not be the easiest thing to manage, but in my book The Villa, the idea was quite relevant and a perfect fit.
The Pacific Book Reviewers state, “It is the ‘story within the story’ that gives the novel proper context and keeps the reader’s attention.”
Well, the novel takes place in the early 1990s. But there’s another story within it that’s happening in the 1860s. The main character is desperately searching for answers and has to dig into the past to determine the cause of her present troubles. She stumbles upon a set of very old journals and reads through them to unravel what occurred in her home a century ago. As she does, things fall into place and she realizes that the present is inextricably woven into the past.
How does one deal with a past that haunts the present? One of the ways is by setting things right or correcting whatever wrong was done. If it is too big of a challenge calling on God’s power is the means that will accomplish the desired end (as you will see in the story).
Stories that occur simultaneously yet at different times can teach us a lot. When crafted properly, the reader can discern a connection between the time in the past or future and the present scenario. Some writers employ the good old time machine for this purpose or maybe a wormhole. I stuck with the old fashioned journal.
Photo Credit: “Journal Entry” by JoelMontes is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0