I decided that in order for the story to be fully told, I had to essentially write a second story to be put with the first.
"Let me explain... no, let me sum up."
A lot of my novel hinges on events that happened over a century and a half ago. I toyed with the idea of telling that story with the characters of the novel who live in 2012, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to tell the story from the perspective of those who lived in the past.
So, one part of the novel is what is happening in the present day - a suspense/thriller (at least, I hope its thrilling) that has the main character running for his life. The second half is more of a Gothic horror story that explains why the main character is running for his life and the thing that his would be killer is after.
I put the second story in a different font and I'm writing it in the style of a letter. The letter is the person's confession written to his priest, who is to keep the family secret with him.
I am not sure if I am going to splice this letter as an introduction to each part of the rest of the novel, or include it in its entirety at the end. But, here I am writing a second story alongside the first. I have mentioned the craziness of this whole affair, right?
This has gotten my anxiety levels up a few notches, so I am going to post the first part of the letter a little later. I would be very grateful to any feedback you have, as I am really unsure of myself writing as if I lived in the 19th century. Some of my favorite stories are set in that era, so I must have absorbed some of that style into my writing and thinking (I hope). My other hope is that I can keep the action going as the story is told - moving so fast that no one will stop and say "You know, I don't think people back then wrote quite like that."
Alright, back to work. Other responsibilities are beckoning and I really need to get the word count past the 20k mark if I'm going to keep my head above water.
Thanks for reading!
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