Title/Theme: While I'm sure a final title will come to me in time, the theme that i am working with for my short story is the idea of what a person thinks when they stand face to face with death. People often contemplate their life when they near death and in my story a young man will be forced to look back on his own life and come to grips with the fact that he may die in moments as he waits for his troop transport ship to land at the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. This idea came to me as part of an in class writing exercise. I liked the short piece that i wrote for class but wanted to do something more grand with it and thought this would be a nice chance to expand on my original idea and see where it goes.
Background/Description: The short story will take place on June 6, 1944 at the allied landings at Normandy. My character is an unnamed private in the United States army who is on board a landing craft that is headed toward the beachhead at Omaha Beach. The story will be told through his internal thoughts with flash back memories mixed in with fear of death and the reality of what he is experiencing. I will try to tell the story in a way that resembles how i might have felt had i been there myself. I'll insert some of my own memories as his own to add some feeling and authenticity. I want to connect with the character because, if i can, the final product will feel more genuine.
Focus/Scope: The focus is squarely set on this young soldier and his thoughts as he is but a small player in one of histories greatest battles. The scope is also quite small as i will spend little time on the historical significance of the events taking place. I do this simply because, as the men were experiencing it, i feel that most of them were thinking about their loved ones, the prospect of being killed, and how scared they were rather than the grand implications of what they were doing. With such a narrow scope, i will try to give depth by going deeper into some of his thoughts and memories.
Genre/Style: The style will be free flowing thought. The thoughts will be jumbled, emotional, and at times confusing in hopes of doing justice to this unnamed soldier and how he really felt. As it is a short story, i will tie in his past with his present and examine, through his thoughts, what his life was like.
Justification/ Delimitations: I will stay within the prescribed length and try to stay focused on the reality and grit of the young man's situation. My aim is to stay with him and make his thoughts as realistic as i can. I will not go too long into his memories without snapping him back into his grim, frightening reality. As the entire length of this story will be only moments, the actual length of the paper will be shorter than other entries.
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2 comments:
Great idea. Your idea seems very developed already--I am excited for the finished product. Where would you submit this?
This is a timely theme because we have many unknown soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan now. Your empathy was profound in the first draft. If you continue to develop this character, the story will be powerful.
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