Overview: John's Story.

For my true story, I have chosen a story close to my own heart. Under request of those involved, all who feature within the story will be given pseudonyms.

I will be telling the story of John Summers, his experience in a highly abusive relationship, and his reflections on how the relationship has affected his current mental health and more recent relationships. Prior to the incident, John was a perfectly normal teenage boy. He achieved all A grades at GCSE level, he had a strong group of friends (some of whom he is still extremely close to), and regular hobbies such as gaming and playing football. 

This week I sat down with John, and went through notable dates in the timeline of his relationship. I will use these throughout my research in order to fact check and verify the details disclosed within future interviews. 

Key Dates:

September 2009 – 
The two sixteen year-olds meet for the first time.

January 2010 –
The couple becomes official and exclusive, despite Harris’ history of cheating in relationships. This pre-existing factor weighs on Summers’ mind, and coupled with Harris’ constant belittlement's and criticism, the psychological abuse begins.

March 2010 –
Harris discovers she is pregnant, and despite the wishes of Summers and his family, is adamant on keeping the baby. The couple stay together, despite Harris’ temper and the increase of abuse in the relationship. Harris uses her new found pregnancy as an excuse and emotional blackmail. She revels in the fact that ‘he can’t hit back’.

19th December 2010 –
Baby Liam was born.

I will aim to use this research continuously throughout the remainder of my research, as keeping track of events will be crucial when assembling and framing my story. 

Introducing initial ideas: Identifying what makes a 'good' true story.

Hello readers, thank you for stumbling into the depths of my blog. This will be the place to be if you’re following my progress throughout my research assignment for Telling True Stories. Today’s post presents brief overviews of the possible people/events to base my research, including pros and cons.

Jeffrey Dahmer:
Dahmer was a prolific serial killer, sex offender, and cannibal of Milwaukee, America.
My research will focus mainly on life events leading up to his first kill, looking at the nature versus nurture argument in reference to psychopathic behavior in teenagers.
The main advantage of researching Jeffrey Dahmer would be my interest in the topic of serial killers, and the already detailed records of his crimes and arrest.
However, being an American serial killer, achieving first hand research such as interviews, and objective views of the topic would be difficult. Also, the story of Jeffrey Dahmer has already been developed into film and literature.

Abusive Relationships between young adults:
This topic would focus on one example of an abusive relationship (the people involved wishing to remain un-named), and how it affected their future relationships and people around them.
My research will focus mainly on the severity of the situation, and bring to light how common abusive relationships are in young adults.
The main advantage of researching this topic would be the amount of primary research available to me, as well as the secondary research often undergone by social-scientists, and psychologists. 
The cons of this research may be my own ability to develop it into a story without sacrificing the depth of research. However, this is something I may be able to work out and overcome.

H.H Holmes:
Another prolific American serial killer, Holmes was the designer, creator, and owner of the “World’s Fair Hotel”, also known as the “Murder Castle”. Holmes is also considered to be the first American serial killer, taking the lives of between 20-100 people in his hotel – the actual figure is ambiguous due to Holmes’ constant change in statement in the time between his arrest and hanging.
Similar to Dahmer, the interest in this topic would be the serial killer aspect, although my research would focus on the day-to-day running of the hotel.
The biggest disadvantage of choosing this topic for research is the amount of false information available about the topic, due to its prolific presence in media and literature. 

Next week’s blog post will present a brief overview of whichever of the above ideas I choose to develop and research further.