When I start writing out a Twine Story I first read the deposition a couple times and take notes on a separate page. From that information, I distill the information further into variables that would change how the player would understand the massacre: crowd size, crowd mood, objects thrown/held, Capt. Preston’s location, etc. These variables are different for every deposition because everyone experienced the massacre differently. For example, in the photo of my notebook below, I noted that Daniel Calfe had information on the crowd size and the firing. Jane Whitehouse had information on the firing as well as , but not the crowd size.  I also note information that wouldn’t necessarily influence how someone understands the massacre, but would sway the player’s opinion of the information or the deponent. If someone is married to a soldier, for instance, and she claimed that the townspeople were abusing the soldiers, then perhaps her account won’t seem as reliable compared to three depositions that claim the soldiers fired on the people in cold blood. In the case of Daniel Calfe, he arrived late to the State House and started running before the first shot. I’ve noted it on the page as the variable “Where were you?” We are keeping a shared google document of variables and constants, as well as who addresses which variable, so that we can easily go back and edit our Twines if we realize later that some information is more important than others.

   Once I have the information I want to include in my Twines, I draw out how I will parse out the information into branches. For Jane Whitehouse’s Twine, my variables were the mood of crowd, what the people were throwing, where Capt. Preston was standing, who said “Fire!”, and how many shots were fired/when. I also wanted to include the fact she was neighbors with the sentinel who was one of the soldiers that fired and he was concerned for her safety. I decided on 3 paths to start: How did you get to the State House? Did you see the firing? and What was the crowd like? No matter what path the player takes, she will receive all the information in Jane Whitehouse’s deposition, just in a different order and with different wording. I like to keep the deposition in view as I work so I can double check the information and pull language from the original for the deponent’s response.

(click the image to see it bigger!)