Project 1
Contextualization
I N C U B A T I O N
The definition of "incubation" applies to Apollo differently than your previous notion. In Apollo, incubation is a time of brainstorming individually and then with other classmates. Once you, as an individual, creates an idea/multiple ideas the next day would follow with an incubation group. As a group, each participant will speak aloud about their idea/plan and your fellow peers will further your idea with their own. Below is my research and process when writing the skeleton of the story.
The definition of "incubation" applies to Apollo differently than your previous notion. In Apollo, incubation is a time of brainstorming individually and then with other classmates. Once you, as an individual, creates an idea/multiple ideas the next day would follow with an incubation group. As a group, each participant will speak aloud about their idea/plan and your fellow peers will further your idea with their own. Below is my research and process when writing the skeleton of the story.
english_project_4___1_.pdf |
Project Initiation
Initially, I began brainstorming ideas, finding psychology an appealing interest. Then, I decided my project was going to be rooted in psychology and patients with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder or Multiple Personality Disorder). Next, my peers then gave me a few interesting ideas which included; researching DID in-depth and possibly write a short story for the english portion of my project. This began my project process.
Initially, I began brainstorming ideas, finding psychology an appealing interest. Then, I decided my project was going to be rooted in psychology and patients with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder or Multiple Personality Disorder). Next, my peers then gave me a few interesting ideas which included; researching DID in-depth and possibly write a short story for the english portion of my project. This began my project process.
Mistakes and New Beginnings
Before I began writing, I researched how to write a short story and the required steps to execute one. I found that many of them began with an outline, so, as many other stories are built - I began with my outline. As I talked to my classmates around me, I kept developing my story the more the conversations continued. By the end of the first day, I chose the topic of "school shooters" to write my rough draft. In this rough draft I had planned the story mentally rather than organizing it in words, only because I jumped right in without realizing my lack of preparation. In this rough draft, the outline written inside my head went as followed: A little boy named Michael would be diagnosed with DID. The day after his diagnosis, he would eventually meet his six other personalities in his sleep during a dream. The next morning, the personalities would have manifested into the real world and one of the personalities would eventually lead to becoming a potential school shooter. I thought I had contextualized a fictional character, however, the more I wrote I couldn't quite grasp how my story was actually being contextualized. So, my next step was to meet with Ward, the Apollo english teacher. He pointed out my mistake, that my story was not contextualizing anything- and gave me a new idea to begin my new english "short story." The following is the rough draft I had originally began writing:
Before I began writing, I researched how to write a short story and the required steps to execute one. I found that many of them began with an outline, so, as many other stories are built - I began with my outline. As I talked to my classmates around me, I kept developing my story the more the conversations continued. By the end of the first day, I chose the topic of "school shooters" to write my rough draft. In this rough draft I had planned the story mentally rather than organizing it in words, only because I jumped right in without realizing my lack of preparation. In this rough draft, the outline written inside my head went as followed: A little boy named Michael would be diagnosed with DID. The day after his diagnosis, he would eventually meet his six other personalities in his sleep during a dream. The next morning, the personalities would have manifested into the real world and one of the personalities would eventually lead to becoming a potential school shooter. I thought I had contextualized a fictional character, however, the more I wrote I couldn't quite grasp how my story was actually being contextualized. So, my next step was to meet with Ward, the Apollo english teacher. He pointed out my mistake, that my story was not contextualizing anything- and gave me a new idea to begin my new english "short story." The following is the rough draft I had originally began writing:
Contextualizing
After my meeting with Mr. Ward, he had suggested to write a short story on a victim who suffers from DID. However, this person should be written in a different time period, a time period where no one accepted or even knew about this specific mental illness. With that, I went back to the drawing board, researching as much as I could about the past and how mental health was treated back then. As I researched, I found a famous activist by the name of Dorthea Lynde Dix who attempted to close down mental wards, prisons, hospitals, etc. back in the 1820s. This sparked the idea of having her as a character in my story. But how? You may ask. Well, I realized my main character was originally going to be a young boy- hence, giving me the idea to make the mother in my story, based off of Dorthea Dix. This creative idea was a pivotal point in my creative writing process.
After my meeting with Mr. Ward, he had suggested to write a short story on a victim who suffers from DID. However, this person should be written in a different time period, a time period where no one accepted or even knew about this specific mental illness. With that, I went back to the drawing board, researching as much as I could about the past and how mental health was treated back then. As I researched, I found a famous activist by the name of Dorthea Lynde Dix who attempted to close down mental wards, prisons, hospitals, etc. back in the 1820s. This sparked the idea of having her as a character in my story. But how? You may ask. Well, I realized my main character was originally going to be a young boy- hence, giving me the idea to make the mother in my story, based off of Dorthea Dix. This creative idea was a pivotal point in my creative writing process.
Developing The Story
I began researching once again, after I determined the setting was going to take place in the 1800s. With this in mind, I loosely based my story in 1807, 13 years after Dorthea's advocating for abolishing mental asylums took off. I did this because as I researched, I discovered education in the 1800s would only proceed until 8th grade, where children were 13 or 14 years of age. To add to the story, I also discovered the father of Dorthea suffered from major depression and alcoholism, becoming the father of the main character in the story. I did this because, DID is only present in children who have dealt with major traumatic abuse (mentally, physically, sexually, etc.). I needed a family that was dysfunctional and the relationship between Michael and his father caused the disorder to occur. The outline of the story continued, becoming more complex as I researched about the 1800s. Michael would attend school in a schoolhouse, live on a farm, and his mother would be working on her research on mental wards and how to shut them down. This would leave the father and Michael alone for most of the story. Now, the personalities shortened down to two, rather than six, because I believed having too many characters would only confuse the reader and restrict my work time. The other two personalities clash against the other, one being smart while the other is rebellious. The intellectual is named David and the dangerous, rebel is named Henry. The following outlined the possibilities and ideas I had when first writing this story. |
The Beginning Works
When I had finished an outline, I finally began writing the body of my story. I followed the story plot originally planned, however, I found myself getting lost in the story, and before I knew it- the story was writing itself. I got so involved into the story, that the outline had changed and made itself a little more complex as it developed. The story begins with Michael's brith, and being adopted immediately after being brought into the world. This was possible to be done so quickly because it was in the 1800s, where many women gave birth at home without a doctor. After his birth, he was given to his abusive father(Joseph Dix) and working mother (Thea Nixon). The beginning is a moment where Michael defied his father, resulting in a useless attempt when his father hit him unconscious. It was memory inside a dream, where he is now awake at thirteen years of age. It's the first day of school, where it will introduce more of the setting around him. |
The Schoolhouse:
The schoolhouse is one single building where children went to school in the 1800s. This passage is introducing his friend, who becomes an important character in the story when he allows Henry, the dangerous personality, to take possession of Michael for a night.
The schoolhouse is one single building where children went to school in the 1800s. This passage is introducing his friend, who becomes an important character in the story when he allows Henry, the dangerous personality, to take possession of Michael for a night.
Post Trauma
The night Michael comes back from school, his hands are beaten and bruised by his mother when Michael forgot to collect the eggs in the morning before he left. This allows for the reminder of his father's insulting voice to echo in the Michael's mind. I attempted to look through the eyes of a student where heat was limited and students were also aids in teaching the other students. |
The Rising Action
As mentioned before, I lost myself in the story itself- leading to a different path towards the climax than originally planned. When Michael wakes up from his dream and returns home from the field, I made it so that when he enters, his mother begins to take notice of his behavior. In simplest terms, she asked him how it was possible for someone so dumb, to be so smart. Curious to know, but never to find out, as a man dressed in black knocks on their door. This was to create tension and lead to an antagonist that doesn't go against the protagonist, but rather his mother. Instead, he is collateral damage and will have to face the obstacles going his way.
As mentioned before, I lost myself in the story itself- leading to a different path towards the climax than originally planned. When Michael wakes up from his dream and returns home from the field, I made it so that when he enters, his mother begins to take notice of his behavior. In simplest terms, she asked him how it was possible for someone so dumb, to be so smart. Curious to know, but never to find out, as a man dressed in black knocks on their door. This was to create tension and lead to an antagonist that doesn't go against the protagonist, but rather his mother. Instead, he is collateral damage and will have to face the obstacles going his way.
Short Story To Possible Novel
This is the last section of the story I wrote, two days after meeting with Mr. Ward once more. That same day we talked about how my story was progressing. In this meeting I had mistakenly written a skeleton of a novel rather than a short story. A short story spans in a day or two, giving me two different options to choose for rest of my story. 1, I either take a portion of my story and make a story out of that; or 2, call it the skeleton of a possible book that I could possibly continue in the future. With everything written, my investment in this story, and how much fun I had writing it gave me a simple answer of calling is a skeleton. In this portion of the skeleton, I made it so a man named Dr. Catten interrupts the conversation between Michael and his mother, only for the mother to rush out of the house. The doctor is loosely based off of a man named Henry Cotton. He was a doctor who did surgery on patients in mental hospitals during the 1800s. He becomes the antagonist later in the story. How this was written was the story itself. As I wrote about Michael and his mother talking, I realized I wanted them to not get any further. But how? I began typing and as if magic, a man showed up at the door without my intention of adding this character into the story. |
The outline ends there, with Michael being left alone. However, more is written after his mother leaves. This is due to the time constraint I had when typing. I had the outline proofread on a separate document where the story continues.
Click below to read and find out what happens next in One Life As Three."
Click below to read and find out what happens next in One Life As Three."