Story Proposal

I had to submit a formal story proposal for my literary feature. We basically had to outline the story, discuss the stylistic strategies we planned to do and give a story sample.


I haven't yet gone to interview my Nana - I'll be doing that over the semester break. I spoke to her on the phone to find out a few things, but it meant I was quite limited in my synopsis and my example, so I worked mainly on the intro. 


I'll skip the synopsis - I've discussed what I'm doing in earlier posts, but I'll include the strategies I plan to use, and my story example here to give you a idea of where I'm going.


Stylistic Strategies

I will be putting myself in this article, and plan to write it as a sort of journey to learn about my grandfathers history, before he passes away. He has Alzheimer’s. However, I do not want to become self indulgent in my feature, and I want to make sure that I keep the focus on the story of his life, not the story of mine.

I want to write the piece emotionlessly. I believe that if I’m going to already be present in the article, writing it with too much emotion will make my presence overwhelming By being somewhat emotionless, and in the style of Rebecca Solnit, I think I can keep my presence separate from the importance of the story I’m telling.

I also need to be very descriptive, without coming across as ‘flowery’. Because much of my research is based on memories, photos and news articles, I need to be sure that the reader can relate to the story, and feel involved, rather than just feel like they are reading a re-hashing of old news pieces.

I will shape the purpose and drive of the piece to be that I am going to Brisbane to find out my family history before my grandfather passes away, but I want this to be a subtle driving force.

Sample

It was the year Wall Street Crashed, Hollywood played host to the first Academy Awards, in London the BBC lit up English television screens for the first time, Western Australia celebrated 100 years of white settlement, it was the year that marked the end of the ‘Roaring Twenties’. It ws 1929, the year my grandfather was born. He was nine years old when World War II started, and 36 when troops were sent to Vietnam. By then, he was living in Papua New Guinea with his wife and two sons.

Now, he is 80, and lives in a nursing home in Caloundra, a suburb of Brisbane. He's in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease and no longer recognises his grandchildren, children or his wife. For anyone, it is a cruel disease, but for a man who moved his life to a third world country, dealt with local animosity towards the Japanese men he hired, and then created a pearl trading legacy for his sons, it seems especially unfair. 

I have left it too late, I can’t speak to my grandfather to hear this history from him. But, my nana has, over the many years, kept everything, as if to catalogue their lives. Every newspaper article has been laminated for longevity. Her memory is good. Even now, she can recall to the day they moved to Papua New Guinea, as newlyweds.

Obviously I have a lot more work to do, but I like the the tone I've set. Once I've done all my interviews I'll have far more to run with. I always struggle with introductions though, and I feel like - with a bit of tweaking - this one can really work.