The Watchmen Files // The Origins of the Watchmen Files // File One

Good morning, everyone!

Darrion here!

   Now a while ago I wrote up a little post about the Watchmen Files before it was thought up to the end where it was completed. Since I'm experiencing the symptoms of writer's block, I thought it would be nice to have this backstory to the story for you guys to read.
   Oh, and don't forget to check out our new website here if you missed the last post about it!

Here it is! The Origins Watchmen Files, File One.

   Almost a year ago, there were no Krugers, no Bartons, and no Watchmen. There was just a simple thought of an (almost) teenaged me.

   That thought came from the notion that Willow and I had only made up fantasy genre stories. We had the Star Wars fan fiction, the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and other stories, but nothing in our time or world. I found that curious and wondered why we didn't have one.

   With that in mind, I was going through my magazine of Rolling Stone Collectors Edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. On page twenty-four there was a picture of Thorin staring off into the near distance, looking majestic as always, and on page twenty-six, there was a picture of Fili and Kili. Kili is, of course, trying (and failing) to replicate his uncle with a mysterious sort of look, though it came off as stalkish, he still looked much like his uncle in that instance.

   And then it struck me. "Hey, these two look a lot like each other! They could even be the father and son I was thinking about using in that modern story..." And so they were cast! Unbeknownst to me, they really didn't look much alike at all and I would later sort-of-regret my casting choices. But that's who they became, and I never changed that.

   The father/son team had to have a name and a purpose, of course. I had been thinking about super power like abilities, but I didn't want to make it cheesy and comic-bookish. So I turned to one of my favorite movies, Captain America: The First Avenger. I found out that Richard Armitage, who played Thorin in The Hobbit, also played a character named Heinz Kruger, who was a Hydra agent in the first Captain America movie. Which of course called for another family movie night in which I was particularly eager to watch my cast member in another film.

   The movie itself generated lots of ideas for me. What if I grew the story off of it? With Hydra agents and everything? That would mean S.H.I.E.L.D., but I wasn't very interested in using them. I wanted something new, something that I made up myself. That called for another group, someone else who was also protecting the world from the forces of Hydra.

   I came up with some names, one was 'The Protectors' (nagh, not original enough), another was 'The Gate Keepers' (much better! I like), and the last was 'The Watchers' (that one was growing on me, but it was too much like other peoples books so I added another shortly), or 'The Watchmen'.

   Then I did a quick look up on Pinterest of Aidan Turner, the yet unnamed character and found a few pictures that were completely fine and decent (later I would discover what exactly he has been in and would totally freak in a negative sense). But not having a Pinterest board to pin it to and knowing that it would get lost in my bookmarks, I made the mistake of downloading it onto our computer and into Willow's picture file (since we shared one), thinking that she wouldn't ever find it (ugh, the stupidity).

   Well, later I went through baby names and found the name Mason. I liked it very much, and Mr. Turner looked like he would fit it fine, so I dubbed him Mason Kruger, without thinking about the fact that Mason isn't a particularly German name.

   And then Willow went looking through old picture files. I mean, who does that anymore? She called me over to the computer which is in our living room in a suspicious and accusing tone of voice. I was in trouble. She tapped her foot and asked me why I had a picture of a guy (and of Aidan Turner, more specifically). I confessed. You see, my plan was to develop the story on my own and tell her about it when it was ready, which wasn't right then. But that's not how it went. After that, it was okay. She didn't think I was being creepy (which is correct), so she didn't bug me much.

   Knowing that in every story there had to be a supporting character, I found Dean O'Gorman, who played Fili, Kili's older brother in the Hobbit. Since they were in may of the same shots together, he was cast in the supporting roll. Later I had three names which I could use that I was debating between, Chad, Chris, and Conner. It was hard, but I ended up using Conner, and the last name McKee was added later when I asked my mom about Irish and Scottish last names. We had the last name McKee a while ago on her side, so that was a nice thought. Conner McKee it was.

   Doctor Kruger's name didn't come for a while, since I didn't like many German names at the time. I had determined that the family was German and that they were descended from Heinz Kruger, therefor his last name was Kruger and he had to have a German name, unlike Mason who was more American.

   Ava came about kind of half-heartedly, as an add-on of sorts. An adorable little kid was always a must in any book, right? But she couldn't be too closely related to them, she had light brown hair, not so dark like theirs, and I wanted Mason to be an only child. So she became his four year old (which I later changed to six) cousin who was being taken care of by my protagonist, Mason.

   Mason's situation with his parents being divorced, living on his own, taking care of Ava, and having a Super Soldier Serum in his blood came later too, but eventually it was generally in order.
   I finally picked a name for the group, calling them 'The Watchmen' since Willow wanted to use the 'Gate Keepers' for something else. I named the soon to become series, and 'The Watchmen Files' was born!

   Then I finally named Dr. Kruger. After going through a few German baby and most popular names with no avail, I found one that I could live with from a book. Doctor Hans Kruger was established (the middle name Jürgen would be added later, though I had no idea how to pronounce it, it just looked really cool).

   Everything was going pretty swell. But then I tried to start.

   Writing it was a nightmare! I couldn't get it right. Not like the wording, but I didn't care about him really. And if I was going to write this, care was the one thing that I needed. So there he was, getting fired and attacked by Hydra and I didn't really feel for him.

   That ended quickly. I quit, and just started a board on Pinterest (which was called A Modern Story at the time and was later changed to The Watchmen Files) where I could accumulate ideas to use later. My friend in real life, Ammelia G., commented and asked about my story and we talked it over, which was helpful, but not enough to break my writer's block.
   I pinned and soon caught the attention of a certain pinner who I didn't even know at the time: Megan Jane. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was the first time that she commented when she asked about my story. She was super nice about wanting to read up on my story, and I had actually been hoping that no one would notice and ask about it, because it wasn't ready at the time. But she seemed interested in it, so we conversed and I checked out her boards and found she had a similar story. I encouraged her to make a blog (and she did!), later to publish the finished project on paper.

   It got me all interested in blogging and Willow let me back onto her story blog, The Call, which was previously called 'Many are Called but Few are Chosen'.

   I started a personal blog and everything was fine. Someone else commented and asked about the story, and I soon came out of my shell and brought up the empty draft on the computer.

   Again, nothing seemed to work. I had added two characters, Jason Gray and Warren Jones (the latter of whom I would soon exterminate from the first file but insert into a later one), but I couldn't start it right. Then I decided to move it back from the moment Mason got fired to that morning. Poof! Writer's block gone! Adorable Ava started us off and it all came naturally after that.

   I had gotten to about the fifth chapter and Willow encouraged me to put it on the blog. I decided to commit to this thing and do exactly that.

   So on Tuesday night, September tenth, 2013, I did an introduction post, character profiles, the back of the book and such. Then I posted the first chapter of The Watchmen Files: File One.

   Six comments (and another later on) was huge for me! It was so cool how people liked it, even though it was different.
   I charged on from there, writing a full book of twenty-four chapters, an epilogue and an extra add on which I still don't completely know what is! It took me eight months and nineteen days, but on May 28th (that day was a Wednesday, unlike the first chapter which was posted on a Tuesday), 2014, The Watchmen Files: File One was completed.

   It is the first real book I have ever written from the beginning to the end, and also the first one finished on our blog, The Call.

   I did have help, of course. Willow read over the chapters before I posted them, and readers gave me their opinions on both the blog and Pinterest.

   Without the readers, this would have never happened! Thank you guys so much for all of your support through the good and not so great times, it's been great! I'm glad I could entertain you and brighten your days a little with this story.

   I also learned some things from this little adventure. I dove deeper into my faith, and learned lots about the fictional world of Marvel.

   I thank God for giving me the experience and life that I have now. I certainly struggled in the beginning, and had a hard time deciding to actually write, but it eventually worked itself out.

   By the end of the book, the characters became very real to me. Sometimes (scratch that, all of the time), I wish they were real. If I saw Mason on the street, without a word, I would go up to him and give him a hug. Not romantically, but like a hug you would give to a close friend. Because that's sort of what he is, really. A friend. A made up one, sure, but that's what he is to me. And it saddens me to know that someday I'll forget about him, about this story. He'll fade away into obscurity, out of memory.
   But today, they're here. And for now, I'll keep the memories associated with this book close to my heart and say thanks to God for them.

   I hope all of my readers will remember these times fondly as I do.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

 

 

Always Watching,
Darrion