Everybody has seen or read Nicholas Spark’s the Notebook right?
Well if you haven’t, you should. I’m sorry I’m telling you what to do but as a writer it is a great book and of course movie to learn from on how to write the narrative framing story .
Why do I say this? Because Nicholas Sparks created his story using the narrative framing technique. The thing about this story that Nicholas Sparks tells is it’s not just a regular flashback story or framing story. It’s a story within a story each with their own conflict and structure . At the beginning you see an older man read a book to an older woman about a young couple , Noah and Allie falling in love, falling apart and then finding their way back together. And it turns out that the story that the older man is telling is of their own relationship.
This story is thus a mastermind and great example for the narrative framing technique as the main story is in the past. And then we later learn why the older Noah is reading the story. It is because the older Allie suffers with Alzheimer’s disease .
Even though my upcoming short story , IN THE HOUR OF HUMANITY is a completely different genre all together I couldn’t help but recognize the similarities to the Notebook .
SIMILARITIES
- They both use the framing technique in the same way. Where each story , the one in the past and the one in the present have their own conflict and structure .
- They both have older main characters that tell their story about when they were younger.
- Both stories . The Notebook and my short story have storylines that have characters dealing with Alzheimer’s disease.
DIFFERENCES
- The Notebook is a romance fiction novel where my story, In the Hour of Humanity is a fantasy short story .
- The Notebook takes place in the present real world where as my short story takes place in the ancient past of another world .
- The Notebooks framing is through Noah reading a notebook while my short story’s framing is through my main character Zios’s eyes as he recollects scattered memories
If you liked this blog post and you want to see more content involving my work in progress During the Blue Hour Follow , Like , share . THEN LET’S START A DIALOGUE
WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE USE OF THE NOTEBOOK’S FRAMING DEVICE IN THE MOVIE OR FROM READING THE BOOK?
I want to know so let me know in the comments below.
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Check out the teaser of the upcoming short story , IN THE HOUR OF HUMANITY COMING SOON
