Historical Fiction – Prewriting
Use this Vesuvius eruption timeline to help you plan your story
Predawn: many small earthquakes
8am: small emissions from the cone
1pm: sudden, large eruption;
14km-high
“mushroom” cloud of debris
3pm: Vesuvius spews hardened lava higher and higher, debris clogs the river Sarno and the port; strong shockwaves; most people flee
5-6pm: Giant chunks of pumice falling and destroying buildings, burying roads; 25kmhigh cloud of debris and ash blocks sun; many lightning flashes
1-2 am:
Scalding mudflows spill down the side of Vesuvius
4am:
Herculaneum is buried to the top of tall buildings; everyone there is dead and buried; the plume of ash
& debris in the sky collapses on both cities
August 24, 79 CE August 25, 79 CE
5am: Strong earthquakes shake the whole area; 2 nd surge of lava flow further buries
Herculaneum; Pompeii dark from ashes in the air; survivors trying to run but ashes clog throats and streets
6:30-7:30am: 3 rd & strongest pyroclastic surge reaches
Pompeii, but wall stops it; more surges force lava over the wall; toxic gas instantly kills any people left; they are buried in ash
Beginning
Middle
End

Most people cannot sit down and just let a story flow from their brain, through their fingers, and onto the page. Even the best writers need to plan their story. This means deciding on a character’s traits, what the problem is, how the character will deal with the problem, and what the outcome will be. In this assignment, the problem is the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. This checklist is to help you plan the other details of your story.
Character (Choose the details)

Child who is separated from parents?
 Parent searching for a lost child?
 Adult helping others to the boats to escape?

Survivor trying to rebuild their life?

Male?

Female?
Names (Plan these also)
Your character’s name _______________________
Family members’ names:
 ____________________________

____________________________

____________________________
Other names you may want to use:
 ____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________
Create details that describe your character and his or her family members. You must name each person that plays a role in your narrative. How are they dressed? Are they tall or short? How does their hair look? What is their job or role in society? Describe the way
You must mention something from each page of your research. Use this checklist to help you to know what should happen next:
 The timeline of the eruption itself (see other side of page)
 Clothing

Foods

Technology, art, trades or jobs

Religion
 Architecture

Government and societal roles

Family life
Each of these details can be worked in during the beginning of your story as you introduce the characters, or during the search for a missing family member, or while describing the things being destroyed by the falling debris and ash. These details can actually help write your story as you figure out ways to work them in.
Point of View
This is very important for your story, and must be used from beginning to end, consistently. Is your story being told by a narrator who is not part of the story (3 rd person), or by the main character telling his or her own experiences (1 st person)? Once you begin using
1 st or 3 rd person you must continue to use it throughout.
First Person: I, we, me, mine, us, my, our the ashes have affected their looks. What sounds are heard? How does it make your character feel?
Third Person: she, he, they, them, theirs
You must write a minimum of 700 words. Use the word count option in both Word and Google Docs.