Young Writers Society

At 02:20, on Monday 15th April, 1912, the Titanic finally slipped below the surface. She carried with her over 1500 men, women and children, and 700 survivors watched from the insufficient lifeboats as the unsinkable liner plummeted to the ocean floor.

This storybook is going to play out the five days of the Titanic's maiden voyage, from her launch at Southampton to her sinking, 480 miles southeast of Newfoundland, Canada, in the North Atlantic Ocean, after striking an iceberg. This will be an entirely fictional affair other than setting and events, and I will not allow anyone to play a real person who was aboard.

I want this to play in real time. We "set sail" on the 13th July, 2010, and we sink on the 18th July, assuming I get all six people. Each post should state the time and date, as it would have been, e.g. "02:20, 15th April 1912. The ship is gone" would be a post on the 18th July. No diary entries. If you're not around, register interest on this thread just in case we don't get all six people for the 13th.

Calendar


I am a self-professed obsessive and I own several Titanic books and a collapsible model, so I'll try to keep on top of the facts. I'll provide a log of events when we're ready to start, and I'm working on a list of all the rooms available to each class of passenger. If you're ever unsure, check out Encyclopedia Titanica. It is legendary.

Rules

1. All posts must be grammatically correct, and with proper punctuation, to the best of your knowledge. That includes profiles.
2. At least two paragraphs per post, and by paragraphs I mean at least three sentences. More if possible!
3. No sex scenes, godmodding, and only mild cussing. Keep it clean, people!
4. Please post regularly. That means once every day, when the time limit's so short, and that's a minimum, unfortunately.

5. Aim to be historically accurate in descriptions of settings and people, as well as dialogue. Slang exists, but you know, it's 1912.

6. No real age restrictions, but try to keep to about 16 and over.
7. Don't just repeat James Cameron's Titanic. Go watch the film again, instead.

Character List: I'm keeping the characters at six, including myself.

First Class: You're very rich, or you've married into a rich family. A vast workforce attends to your every whim. Some of you are American and returning home. Some of you have even brought your pets along.

1 male claimed by phantom of the potter
1 female claimed by Jetpack

Second Class: You've never experienced such luxury before. You could be emigrating, or just lucky enough to be boarding for the experience.

1 male claimed by Loller65
1 female claimed by untameabletiger

Third Class:: You make up the majority of the passengers. You're from all over Europe, though are predominantly Irish, and are on your way to start a new life in America. Many of you have never been to sea before and carry very little. It's cost you two months' wages to get here.

1 male claimed by austenite
1 female saved by Elinor Brynn

Character Profile Template


As I said, there will be a list up soon of the main rooms and possibly a bit more background for you. Most of it won't be necessary, but I just want to cover every eventuality. This could get complicated, but I feel like a challenge with storybooking. It's got a five day limit on it, so it shouldn't be too hard to keep going until then. You can register interest below, if you're not around, just in case we start late.

UPDATE: Profiles up today people! Room list will be up in a couple of hours.

- Jet.

second class female spot saved please.

Third class female please! Will post profile a bit later.

Third class guy spot please?
Do we survive or die, or what? Just out of curiosity. I have another question actually... sorry for being a pain.

What if we can't post often enough for just five days? It would be kind of lame if this Storybook was only, like, four pages long. Especially if we want to make it a good one with a good plot. Does that make sense...? I don't really want to post a profile until I've got these things cleared up.

I'll take the first class guy spot.

2nd class male spot plox?

Name: Karidee
Age: 18
Gender: Female.
Class: second
Why's s/he on board?: She has been sent aboard by a rich family, She had done them a huge favor in the past, and they paid her back with the ticket.
Character History: karidee grew up with 2 sisters and 1 brother, her parents divorced when she was 10 because her mom found her husband cheating on her with her best friend. her dad secretly beats karidee every time he is alone with her.
Appearance: Long Blonde naturally curly hair, Golden eyes, very tall,slender but strong, heart shaped face,very elegant.
Personality: She doesn't talk much, but she isn't shy. She is very lovable, and caring. She is defensive, and doesn't give up very easily. Her fear of darkness and needles, is her major setback. She hates being alone, because she feels unprotected.
Up for Love? sure.(:

Skins wrote:Third class guy spot please?
Do we survive or die, or what? Just out of curiosity. I have another question actually... sorry for being a pain.

What if we can't post often enough for just five days? It would be kind of lame if this Storybook was only, like, four pages long. Especially if we want to make it a good one with a good plot. Does that make sense...? I don't really want to post a profile until I've got these things cleared up.

It's totally up to you whether you survive or die.

I'd like to try and keep it to five days, just because I hate the storybooks that drag and don't get going. There isn't much of a plot other than the stock events that happened on board, so we should be able to get it in. I'm not going for a plotline here; it's more an experiment to see whether it's possible to play out the events. I'm starting everyone off in the same situation (i.e. boarding), but not everyone has to meet each other. You might only meet two or three of the other characters before the ship sinks, and don't say you can't fall in love (*cough* JamesCameronDidIt *cough*). This is more about characterisation, emotion and relationships, and of course, the history.

I'll save you the spot anyways, Skins.

I know it's a lot, but some of it is probably unnecessary. I'd love for you all to read everything; if you want, though, you can just read the parts I've bolded in the spoilers. Please read all of the rooms that are applicable to your character, and the timeline, for sure.

The Ship


The Second and Third Class Rooms


First Class Rooms


1912


Timeline


Phew. My profile will be up when I get around to it, but I'd like all profiles up by the end of today in your respective time zones. I'll start it up tomorrow morning, and I'm just about to create a DT for any more questions, the link to which will be here in just a moment.

EDIT: Discussion.

You wouldn't happen to have room for a stowaway on board, would you?? I love (and am obsessed like you) anything to do with the Titanic, and would love to take part but all the spots are taken!

austenite wrote:You wouldn't happen to have room for a stowaway on board, would you?? I love (and am obsessed like you) anything to do with the Titanic, and would love to take part but all the spots are taken!

Well, there are two possibilities.

1. Skins may/may not join so you could end up with that place.
2. You can be a crew member, as I was thinking of putting in one spot for them anyway, and decided against it. It's up to you where you go, but it's probably easier if you're serving first class, because then at least you're around a lot, as there were a lot of duties. There's a little more pressure on you (if you end up doing this) to be involved, though.

So, we'll wait on Skins to come back, I guess.

Name: Jessie Hartland
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Class: First

Why's she on board? She's the bride of the previously divorced, successful businessman George Hartland, who's travelling to New York to finalise an investment. Jessie is the daughter of a White Star Line executive and her husband has used this influence to buy tickets at short notice.

Character History: Jessie comes from a family whose wealth was originally accumulated through seafaring, and though her father's an honourable man, there's a history of piracy in her ancestry. Her wedding was only a few weeks ago, and she barely knows her husband; he is over ten years her senior and primarily married Jessie for her father's good connections. George courted her and chased her, to the delight of her parents, but Jessie herself still insists on calling him Mr Hartland. It's a token of her indifference towards him.

Appearance: Jessie dresses to kill. For a married woman, it's verging on inappropriate, but her husband will forgive her anything as long as she comes when he calls to smile in front of the gentry. She has quite a michievous smile, and her contemporaries don't approve. She's taken to wearing a lot of white face powder recently, which is all the more startling against her dark eyes and walnut brown curls.

Personality: Jessie is wild and aloof, dreaming bigger and better than the restrictions of married life. However, she's also fickle and even cold at times, though she can blame her upbringing, indulged as the only daughter for her selfishness. She's superficially kind and very well-educated, but as naïve as a toddler in her views, though she's curious to find out how the lower classes live. In her defence, she's aware of all her flaws; in fact, she revels in them.

Up for Love? An affair? Of course. She's looking for one.

Okay. Taking into consideration austenite's situation, I'm not going to join this. Austenite seems a lot more eager than myself to do it, so I'll let her take my place. Sorry for any inconvenience I caused...
If you ever want me to join a SB of yours, or anything, just let me know.

Absolutely no problem, Skins. Thanks for the interest.

Skins wrote:Okay. Taking into consideration austenite's situation, I'm not going to join this. Austenite seems a lot more eager than myself to do it, so I'll let her take my place. Sorry for any inconvenience I caused...
If you ever want me to join a SB of yours, or anything, just let me know.

Thanks Skins, that's very awesome of you. Sorry if I've caused any inconvenience at all!!