I am writing a historical novel and I have a few problems because I am constrained by documented facts, as well as a couple of mysteries that I believe I have solved. Basically, here are the issues: I have a main character, but he dies 2/3 of the way through the novel - having been killed by two other characters. Then my main character's brother is accidentally killed by the same two characters that killed my main character -- they accidentally give him a drug overdose because they are trying to get an inheritance for the brother, which they plan to steal. So they dump the brother's body, fake that he is still alive, and then bury an empty coffin several months later when he can "officially" be dead. The empty coffin is discovered decades later when the cemetary is moved. To further complicate things, my main character is one of four partners, who each have rich backgrounds that need to be explained before they meet each other to do great things together -- prior to the main character being killed, of course. What perspective should I be using? This is very highly researched, with footnotes, etc, but will be told in story form.
3
-
Probably from the omniscient writer's viewpoint.– SteveCommented Aug 23, 2022 at 23:09
-
Free Indirect Discourse is the best narrative voice, period. In this case you would be inventing the character's motivations and opinions, maybe something you want to do (a character study) maybe something you would not want (an ambiguous true crime).– wetcircuitCommented Aug 24, 2022 at 1:54
-
Thanks for the suggestion! I learned something new. I had to google "Free Indirect Discourse" :)– Doc FinCommented Aug 25, 2022 at 18:39
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
Good one :)
The way I would think is any story that is going on has to have a character.
But then who says that character can only be a person or persons? Why can't a situation be a character?
Now the characters or good guys have died, but the bad guys are there doing something. They are doing something that's why the story is not dead. So, let;s continue with the story of their actions and the situations as they unfold, making the situations against the bad guys as the main (or good) characters.
