So...Since April, there have been quite significant developments of the story, something I'm very, very happy about!
Over the past few months, I've been slaving over some timelines that put the 'historical' and 'fictional' things together, thus creating one for every month July 1866 to December 1866, which I did so I had everything together in one place, instead of all the added more fictional things on loads of sheets of paper and then the timelines of what actually happened somewhere else. It also put things into some type of order, which is coming in very handy now!
As well as this, I finally got around to writing up two 'summaries' of the December 6th battle and the Fetterman fight, something I had been dreading for quite a while as there are so many interpretations and suggestions, especially of the latter, but that's all sorted now! I then handwrote the more fictional things around the edge, having not added in them when I was typing it up...
I'm also developing up the completely fictional things, like Willow's purpose of being there and his scenes throughout. This had turned out to be one of the hardest things as when doing the Historical and Fictional timelines, as they have been named, I found that I had quite a few gaps throughout that would make the whole thing seem all over the place and it wouldn't flow as well as I'd like. That's coming on though as Willow's background has really been boosted up and he's got a few things now that will fill him, and the scenes at the fort, out.
There are still a bit of this fleshing out to do though, which is what will hopefully come when I'm planning the scenes and then writing them, so I know what to put where and how.
Which is what I'm doing now! After almost a year and a half of deciding to write this story and doing quite a few plans of scenes that didn't come to anything, I finally think that I am writing the final plan of the individual scenes that will develop into the actual story! And it's turning out to be very fun and quite exciting too! I feel like I am now very close to actually starting to write it! I even have a writing pad ready to write in the handwritten parts (and another folder for the plan!)! ;)
And so far, I am very, very happy with the whole thing! Almost there to writing after over a year.
♥
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Advancing
So, it's been a long time since the Fetterman fight anniversary, which was the last time I was around here.......
Well, the story is a lot closer to finally being written. I realised around December that the character dynamics and lengthy profiles and so on and forth was taken much too long and the story was going to take ages to finally be started so I cut off doing a lot of that and decided to bring everything together (after finishing the timelines of course and highlighting all the parts I wanted from them!) and make a compilation of all the fictional events that are/might appear in the story and sort them into different months, July through to January, which is still ongoing.
Meanwhile that is happening, some more events and character developments are taking place and I'm trying to summarise the character dynamics in a more note form this time. However, doing the compilation of the fictional events has helped the story speed up more and at long, long last, the orders on the day of the Fetterman fight have been sorted out (after quite a few discussions over them - and other things and events too!) and they are a lot more simple than they have been before. As well as that, the characters are really taking shape now and Carrington and Fetterman finally have a full relationship now, as well as a lot of the other characters. And I have to say, I'm really happy with it!
After the compilation of fictional events have been finished, they will all come together with the historical more 'factual' events and another set of timelines will (maybe!) come about that will help write a plan of each scene and so on for actually writing it, which I'm really looking forward too.
That has been the main thing happening in relation to the story since December. Amongst it, there has also been a fair few drawings, pieces of writing, annotating photos of the battlefield which got more confusing that I'd imagined (and looking it up on Google Earth too!) and other little things! :)
Well, the story is a lot closer to finally being written. I realised around December that the character dynamics and lengthy profiles and so on and forth was taken much too long and the story was going to take ages to finally be started so I cut off doing a lot of that and decided to bring everything together (after finishing the timelines of course and highlighting all the parts I wanted from them!) and make a compilation of all the fictional events that are/might appear in the story and sort them into different months, July through to January, which is still ongoing.
Meanwhile that is happening, some more events and character developments are taking place and I'm trying to summarise the character dynamics in a more note form this time. However, doing the compilation of the fictional events has helped the story speed up more and at long, long last, the orders on the day of the Fetterman fight have been sorted out (after quite a few discussions over them - and other things and events too!) and they are a lot more simple than they have been before. As well as that, the characters are really taking shape now and Carrington and Fetterman finally have a full relationship now, as well as a lot of the other characters. And I have to say, I'm really happy with it!
After the compilation of fictional events have been finished, they will all come together with the historical more 'factual' events and another set of timelines will (maybe!) come about that will help write a plan of each scene and so on for actually writing it, which I'm really looking forward too.
That has been the main thing happening in relation to the story since December. Amongst it, there has also been a fair few drawings, pieces of writing, annotating photos of the battlefield which got more confusing that I'd imagined (and looking it up on Google Earth too!) and other little things! :)
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
144 Years Before This Day...
December 21st, 1866 - the day of the Fetterman fight. It is the 144th anniversary today and at the moment, it is 20 past 8 PM in England but over in Denver (the closest bit city to the Fort Phil Kearny site that my Ipod will tell me!) it is apparently 20 past 1 PM. Either way though, 144 years ago, the fight had already happened and going by English time, the surgeons would be working hard in the hospital and going by Denver time, Captain Ten Eyck would probably have been sent out by now with the second detachment.In fact, these whole past couple of months have been in 'Fetterman territory', as they have been called for a while because of the amount of events that start to pick up related to him. First of all, we had the anniversary of his arrival at the fort back on November 3rd then his plan with the cattle trap for the Indians on November 5th then the whole debacle with Lieutenant Bisbee and the drilling situation (where Fetterman was later blamed by some historians for swearing violently at some misbehaving men - in fact, Bisbee did this) on November 11th and then basically the whole month of December is full of events from the fort in 1866 - and also related to the Indians.
Here in 2010, things have been slow for developing the story, if I'm being honest, because of a few reasons, mainly related to school. To start with, I had Science exams to revise for in early November then GCSE mocks to revise for in late November/early December and now a load of coursework to do. However, there has been some development at least as I can't seem to leave this story alone!
To begin with, over time, the list for the scenes I'd like to insert into the story has been added to quite a bit - now the amount is over 100 but I doubt I'll use everything...One of the main things added I can think of now though is an event that happens over the ridge on the day of the fight that rounds off Colonel Carrington's and Captain Fetterman's relationship that I was very, very happy with. Also, Colonel Carrington's character has been changed a little to a form that I feel much better with!
The Character Dynamics sheets have also come along. Colonel Carrington's is finished and Captain Fetterman's is being added to. I rather like doing these sheets because as I'm doing them, more ideas and scenes come up. In fact, his and Bisbee's relationship has been developed more as well as Fetterman's and Brown's - and Fetterman and Carrington's too!
Also, I wrote up a 'History of the Powder River Country Prior to 1866' to help if I ever reference it in the story. As well as this, I've started writing some things on Native American Culture so we have some sort of factual background and help for when I start Smoky's character profile. However, he is no longer called Smoky but Prairie to receive his permanent name at the Fetterman fight - Barefoot in the Snow I think!
Plus, because of the (probably overly) extensive information, background and future I have on Willow, I toyed with the idea of writing a short-ish biography of him with quotes and so on because I thought this would be quite fun!
And also we have had snow! Lots of it, in fact. So much so that our school was closed for two days - and considering the stubborness of our school, this was quite a feat!
Now, related to the trip I'm trying to get money for for America, I finally managed to scan all the barcodes in of the CDs I want to sell into Music Magpie.com with the intention of sending them off. Some of this money would go towards America and I'm paying my mum back for the Christmas presents that we bought together for friends. So, with an original of about £70, I now have about £30 to go towards America which is good! Well, I will have £30 when it arrives!
~
In memory of all the brave men, soldiers and Indians, that died that day in 1866
~
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Opening the Gates
Well, first things first. 144 years ago today, Fort Phil Kearny was completed, or at least, as much as to have a celebration ceremony and to raise the flag. The fort would last little over 2 years but obviously nobody anticipated that back then, certainly not Carrington who spoke at the opening like he was running for president. This was just about the time when the troubles that had been brewing started to boil over though and get even worse.
Aside from this anniversary, I have finally finished the timelines for 1866. It took a while (and December seemed to be even harder than the rest of them because the sheer amount of things that go on in them - and I even cut out the battles to write about them on a separate sheet) but they are done at last and now I only have to do the 1867 timeline with the more political things that happened because of the fight and all the reorganisation. After that, I get the chance to go through them again and cut out things I don't want and choose which bits I do want and eventually put in the fictional events so they all fit together. Saying it this way makes it seem like I am actually close to finishing the planning and research! I might be but I still feel like there is quite a bit to do.
For example, Smoky's character profile needs to be cracked on with which I have been meaning to do for a while. However, he has quite a lot already made up and done for him so it should be fun to do his profile. The only thing is I need to look up the Native American lifestyle and childhood a bit more.
To keep track of everything I still need to do, I stuck a bit 'To Do' List up on my pinboard in my room, as well as the little one in the old Fighting With Their Eyes Closed folder (and other little ones I seem to keep writing). This one has more of a colour code system with green if I've done it and red if it definitely needs to be - the only one of these 'reds' so far is Smoky's character profile. I did have dates written next to the things that needed to be done (or the more important ones anyway) but I crossed this out pretty much as soon as I'd written them, knowing I'd never work against a schedule for this - until it comes to writing it, I suppose!
The Character Dynamics sheets are going well though - Carrington's has been completed and printed out into the (relatively) new folder and Fetterman's has been started too and as I'm doing them, more ideas are coming up.
Sticking with ideas for the moment, I have been thinking about where this story is going to start and end and yesterday, a few things were cut out. For instance, I'm not sure about Tom - Willow's brother who is a journalist - telling the story anymore as that just adds another story on top of everything else and also, I don't think I'll actually write the events of 1867 or 1868, other than a mention - or a developed mention. I would love one of the endings for the story me and my dad talked about but I think it might be too dramatic and I want the Fetterman fight to be the climax of the story. However, I'm having more luck with the beginning of the story. I was thinking about going back to the old John Phillips opening (and when writing him down into the timeline, I can't wait to write his part!) but I'm still very keen on starting it with one of Willow's surreal and recurring nightmares.
Talking about Willow, his profile is coming along nicely though it is becoming more of a thing to do when I haven't got much else to do which is okay as I have most of Willow finished anyway! Also, with the characters, Grummond, like I said in the last entry, is being a darling to develop and I'm thinking about giving him a different personality almost every day and even to follow the 'Seven Deadly Sins' over time - or at least some of them!
Also, my Uncle and brother want a picture version of the story, seeing as both of them are more into films than books so I had fun drawing some of the characters on Photoshop and adding a little write-up to them - despite the slowness of my nan's computer sometimes! They are still ongoing as it is a nice little thing to do!
As well as this, my dad, who loves music and writing it, has a new music software on his computer that he has written a few things on based on the story and I love them so far! I will listen to them when writing for the feel of things!
In other news, I saw Glory recently and I liked it a lot! One of the top Civil War films I've seen!
Aside from this anniversary, I have finally finished the timelines for 1866. It took a while (and December seemed to be even harder than the rest of them because the sheer amount of things that go on in them - and I even cut out the battles to write about them on a separate sheet) but they are done at last and now I only have to do the 1867 timeline with the more political things that happened because of the fight and all the reorganisation. After that, I get the chance to go through them again and cut out things I don't want and choose which bits I do want and eventually put in the fictional events so they all fit together. Saying it this way makes it seem like I am actually close to finishing the planning and research! I might be but I still feel like there is quite a bit to do.
For example, Smoky's character profile needs to be cracked on with which I have been meaning to do for a while. However, he has quite a lot already made up and done for him so it should be fun to do his profile. The only thing is I need to look up the Native American lifestyle and childhood a bit more.
To keep track of everything I still need to do, I stuck a bit 'To Do' List up on my pinboard in my room, as well as the little one in the old Fighting With Their Eyes Closed folder (and other little ones I seem to keep writing). This one has more of a colour code system with green if I've done it and red if it definitely needs to be - the only one of these 'reds' so far is Smoky's character profile. I did have dates written next to the things that needed to be done (or the more important ones anyway) but I crossed this out pretty much as soon as I'd written them, knowing I'd never work against a schedule for this - until it comes to writing it, I suppose!
The Character Dynamics sheets are going well though - Carrington's has been completed and printed out into the (relatively) new folder and Fetterman's has been started too and as I'm doing them, more ideas are coming up.
Sticking with ideas for the moment, I have been thinking about where this story is going to start and end and yesterday, a few things were cut out. For instance, I'm not sure about Tom - Willow's brother who is a journalist - telling the story anymore as that just adds another story on top of everything else and also, I don't think I'll actually write the events of 1867 or 1868, other than a mention - or a developed mention. I would love one of the endings for the story me and my dad talked about but I think it might be too dramatic and I want the Fetterman fight to be the climax of the story. However, I'm having more luck with the beginning of the story. I was thinking about going back to the old John Phillips opening (and when writing him down into the timeline, I can't wait to write his part!) but I'm still very keen on starting it with one of Willow's surreal and recurring nightmares.
Talking about Willow, his profile is coming along nicely though it is becoming more of a thing to do when I haven't got much else to do which is okay as I have most of Willow finished anyway! Also, with the characters, Grummond, like I said in the last entry, is being a darling to develop and I'm thinking about giving him a different personality almost every day and even to follow the 'Seven Deadly Sins' over time - or at least some of them!
Also, my Uncle and brother want a picture version of the story, seeing as both of them are more into films than books so I had fun drawing some of the characters on Photoshop and adding a little write-up to them - despite the slowness of my nan's computer sometimes! They are still ongoing as it is a nice little thing to do!
As well as this, my dad, who loves music and writing it, has a new music software on his computer that he has written a few things on based on the story and I love them so far! I will listen to them when writing for the feel of things!
In other news, I saw Glory recently and I liked it a lot! One of the top Civil War films I've seen!
Sunday, 10 October 2010
It's On Now, If It Wasn't Already
It's on now, if it wasn't already.
But to begin with, as this will probably be the first blog entry in the new folder to keep track of everything for Fighting With Their Eyes Closed, welcome! The last folder was getting way too full so now we're moving into another for the next pieces of information, documents, pictures and so on for most of it!
Anyway, in the last entry, I said that Willow's character was being developed quite a lot. That's continued and now I am growing to adore him which is always nice for writing. But as well as Willow, Lieutenant Grummond is taking a form that I also am growing to love. He's got a bit (okay, very) unstable and unpredictable personality and nobody really knows what he's going to do or say next which makes them pretty wary of him! Along with him, he's brought some nice little other scenes, as has Lieutenant Bisbee too, and all of the 'other' characters' personalities and such are being put into 'mini' character profiles that are shorter than Willow's, Carrington's and Fetterman's (and eventually Smoky's) but by no means 'short'.
The timelines are going on too. August is finished, as is September and at the moment I'm on October and there are some nice (probably the wrong word to use...) events that I'm going to try and incorporate into the story. Thank God for Dee Brown, even if he was wrong about Captain Fetterman (or at least in this story's terms he is...!).
A character dynamics sheet has also been started, talking about the relationships and opinions and feelings between different characters. There are about 22 different pairings to cover and so far, I think I've done about five; Carrington and Fetterman (that took ages!!), Carrington and Willow, Carrington and Brown, Carrington and Grummond and at the moment, Carrington and Bisbee.
Too, I've been reading Terry C Johnston's Sioux Dawn that is about the Fetterman fight and some of the events leading up to it which is pretty handy for the dialogue but he still portrays Fetterman as an arrogant, brash commander which I totally disagree with now.
Relating to the letter I mentioned in our county press last entry as well, I did get a reply back from that which was good!
Also, a plan to get to America next year has been set up and I'm entering writing competitions, car boot sales and so on to get enough money for it! This trip will definitely include Fort Phil Kearny (at least what's left of it) and the Fetterman fight location and I will at last get to see beautiful America!
In other news, I watched The Colt (2005) a week back and it is simply incredible. I don't really know what else to say about it apart from that it was absolutely beautiful.
But to begin with, as this will probably be the first blog entry in the new folder to keep track of everything for Fighting With Their Eyes Closed, welcome! The last folder was getting way too full so now we're moving into another for the next pieces of information, documents, pictures and so on for most of it!
Anyway, in the last entry, I said that Willow's character was being developed quite a lot. That's continued and now I am growing to adore him which is always nice for writing. But as well as Willow, Lieutenant Grummond is taking a form that I also am growing to love. He's got a bit (okay, very) unstable and unpredictable personality and nobody really knows what he's going to do or say next which makes them pretty wary of him! Along with him, he's brought some nice little other scenes, as has Lieutenant Bisbee too, and all of the 'other' characters' personalities and such are being put into 'mini' character profiles that are shorter than Willow's, Carrington's and Fetterman's (and eventually Smoky's) but by no means 'short'.
The timelines are going on too. August is finished, as is September and at the moment I'm on October and there are some nice (probably the wrong word to use...) events that I'm going to try and incorporate into the story. Thank God for Dee Brown, even if he was wrong about Captain Fetterman (or at least in this story's terms he is...!).
A character dynamics sheet has also been started, talking about the relationships and opinions and feelings between different characters. There are about 22 different pairings to cover and so far, I think I've done about five; Carrington and Fetterman (that took ages!!), Carrington and Willow, Carrington and Brown, Carrington and Grummond and at the moment, Carrington and Bisbee.
Too, I've been reading Terry C Johnston's Sioux Dawn that is about the Fetterman fight and some of the events leading up to it which is pretty handy for the dialogue but he still portrays Fetterman as an arrogant, brash commander which I totally disagree with now.
Relating to the letter I mentioned in our county press last entry as well, I did get a reply back from that which was good!
Also, a plan to get to America next year has been set up and I'm entering writing competitions, car boot sales and so on to get enough money for it! This trip will definitely include Fort Phil Kearny (at least what's left of it) and the Fetterman fight location and I will at last get to see beautiful America!
In other news, I watched The Colt (2005) a week back and it is simply incredible. I don't really know what else to say about it apart from that it was absolutely beautiful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)