Saturday, 21 November 2015

Who Has a Better Story?

‘Creative nonfiction writers have a complicated obligation to their readers: to entertain like novelists but to educate like journalists.’

Like Gutkind says, I want my story’s narrative to flow with entertainment, yet be informative in order to educate my readers on this particularly interesting historical event.

With all the information I found on the Williams family, I know I want to follow their story to lead the plot forward. However, I am undecided on whether to stick to the whole family or focus more on a single member, namely seven year old Eunice.

The main reason I am thinking of Eunice is due to the uniqueness of her story as she decided to stay with the Natives and decline ransom; whereas most of the other captives went back to Deerfield. I really believe her story would creative an engaging plot line.


Leading on from this, my biggest debate when it comes to narrative is whether to write in a continuous narrative, putting all the events in chronological order or mix it up. I could do this by starting with Eunice’s wedding day, where it could be assumed that she thought of her birth family and perhaps had flashbacks to her capture.


If I decide to follow Eunice's life story, this timeline will be something to keep note of, especially if I decide to write in a chronological order.

 

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