Evaluation:
My aim while writing my historical fiction was to revolve it around the coup in 1762 in a creative and interesting way. I felt as though writing my historical fiction in the perspective of Catherine the Great would create an interesting perspective and an even better story. I thought it was very important to mention the risk factor of writing to Grigory Orlov and especially writing about planning to imprison Peter III and overthrow him.
What I found to be surprisingly difficult within writing my story, was establishing the time period. Establishing the time period would make my story have more of a realistic and believable component to it. I had to solidly think of a way to establish time within my story. Besides from the date, written at the top right-hand corner of the page, I wanted there to be a physical reference to the time period. This was especially hard when I put Catherine in her environment where she was alone, in a dark room, sitting at a desk. So I had to really think, and I decided to write about small details that radiate hints of what time period it is in, for example: in my story I write, “I am still in my corset and my hair is still curled and un-brushed”, I wrote this to establish that Catherine was writing this letter during times when corsets and a woman’s presentation was critically important, the period of which corsets were particularly important was roughly between the 1600s – early 20th century, this gives a rough historical date within my story, and when we match Catherine's life-span with the time period of corsets, we get an strong sense of time.
Another main theme within my story was my focus of Catherine the Great’s manipulation of Grigory Orlov. I wanted to write Catherine as though she knew that she couldn’t carry out the task of overthrowing Peter III by herself, so she took advantage of the fact that Orlov was in love with her, in order for her to manipulate him to participate in the coup and to follow her orders. While writing in the perspective of Catherine the Great, I purposely used language like “I don’t waste my love on somebody who doesn’t value it”, “we can be together, I promise”, and “Peter was always the obstacle stopping us, but he soon won’t be”, all this language that I used to almost tease Orlov, reminding him of what he could have, but only if he overthrows Peter. This teasing and romantic language supports my question of ‘how did Catherine the Great interact and perceive people in her personal life?’, as it explores the possibility of Catherine manipulating, and therefore interacting, with Orlov to accomplish becoming Empress.
My historical fiction also informs my research as I used many quotations that I have gathered from my research such as, “ [Peter III\ ... is an idiot, a drunkard from Holstein, he is good-for-nothing”, while researching Catherine the Great, I found out that Catherine truly described Peter III as this within one of her memoirs. I also used Catherine the Great’s opinions and real interactions with Empress Elizabeth within my story; an example of this is when, in my story, I write, “she even verbally assaulted, and nearly physically assaulted me, over the topic of my "lack of duty” to produce an heir with Peter for the Russian throne…”, in Catherine’s memoirs, she discusses this event with Elizabeth and how this changed her perception of Elizabeth for the future, which I also explore in my historical fiction. Overall, I have communicated ideas and information, that I have gathered in my research phase, in my historical fiction.
What I found to be surprisingly difficult within writing my story, was establishing the time period. Establishing the time period would make my story have more of a realistic and believable component to it. I had to solidly think of a way to establish time within my story. Besides from the date, written at the top right-hand corner of the page, I wanted there to be a physical reference to the time period. This was especially hard when I put Catherine in her environment where she was alone, in a dark room, sitting at a desk. So I had to really think, and I decided to write about small details that radiate hints of what time period it is in, for example: in my story I write, “I am still in my corset and my hair is still curled and un-brushed”, I wrote this to establish that Catherine was writing this letter during times when corsets and a woman’s presentation was critically important, the period of which corsets were particularly important was roughly between the 1600s – early 20th century, this gives a rough historical date within my story, and when we match Catherine's life-span with the time period of corsets, we get an strong sense of time.
Another main theme within my story was my focus of Catherine the Great’s manipulation of Grigory Orlov. I wanted to write Catherine as though she knew that she couldn’t carry out the task of overthrowing Peter III by herself, so she took advantage of the fact that Orlov was in love with her, in order for her to manipulate him to participate in the coup and to follow her orders. While writing in the perspective of Catherine the Great, I purposely used language like “I don’t waste my love on somebody who doesn’t value it”, “we can be together, I promise”, and “Peter was always the obstacle stopping us, but he soon won’t be”, all this language that I used to almost tease Orlov, reminding him of what he could have, but only if he overthrows Peter. This teasing and romantic language supports my question of ‘how did Catherine the Great interact and perceive people in her personal life?’, as it explores the possibility of Catherine manipulating, and therefore interacting, with Orlov to accomplish becoming Empress.
My historical fiction also informs my research as I used many quotations that I have gathered from my research such as, “ [Peter III\ ... is an idiot, a drunkard from Holstein, he is good-for-nothing”, while researching Catherine the Great, I found out that Catherine truly described Peter III as this within one of her memoirs. I also used Catherine the Great’s opinions and real interactions with Empress Elizabeth within my story; an example of this is when, in my story, I write, “she even verbally assaulted, and nearly physically assaulted me, over the topic of my "lack of duty” to produce an heir with Peter for the Russian throne…”, in Catherine’s memoirs, she discusses this event with Elizabeth and how this changed her perception of Elizabeth for the future, which I also explore in my historical fiction. Overall, I have communicated ideas and information, that I have gathered in my research phase, in my historical fiction.