



The next file is called "RAMBLINGS ON FORM OF STORY" and it's also from box 4 folder 2.



You're going to catch me reevaluating a lot of my perceptions of these notes as I go along because I have by no means studied them thoroughly yet. In fact this thread is a fun way to do Round 2. (It will take many more rounds, and ins and outs, to make a thorough study.)



I think this one was probably written not long after the previous file, though the beginnings of the story are much more recognizable. He had outlined the series, and he went back to outline book 1. He got into the details and the story began to change.



(The previous file was for books 2-6. There are other, earlier files for book 1. I apologize for not giving these files in chronological order as to when they were written, but they're not labeled and I'm going to have to sort it out. So I'm going by box.)



The typed heading has "THE EYE OF THE WORLD" in the top left corner and "NOTES" in the top right, and "1." in the middle (page number). Below "THE EYE OF THE WORLD" there is a handwritten note in red ink that says "Revision 1". I'm not 100% positive but I think this is RJ's handwriting. Then, centered: "RAMBLINGS ON FORM OF STORY". Below that, left-justified: "FILENAME: RAMBLINGS".



This one is more difficult to summarize because it's not a numbered list. The opening quote is a good example of why it's clear he hadn't written the early chapters yet, and also why it's clear he was very close to doing so.



RJ's brackets changed to parentheses; brackets mine.



Quote: Originally Posted by RJ Houses in the village of Emond's Field are arranged around a village green. (One street or two?) The houses are of wood and stone, some plastered. Only the tavern is of two stories, for the tavern-keeper and his family live above it. [...]



1. Owan al'Vere, Nyneve, Egwyn, Spring Festival. Tam and Rand and Lan are the only other people with names in this file, aside from Sha'tan.



2. Owan/Bran serves his homemade ale, "though he does have a little of brandy and such from the outside." He hires out big horses and oxen. He is the tavernkeeper and Mayor, but the Mayor bit isn't mentioned until later in the file, a weird break in the narrative like he was going to make a list or something, but then he goes back to the narrative:



Quote: Originally Posted by RJ The peddler is dead(?). The gleeman is gone.



Egwyn al'Vere (her father is Owan al'Vere, the tavernkeeper and Mayor).



3. RJ goes into detail of how Emond's Field gets news from Outside. They get it from peddlers and grain-buyers. No mention of tabac as the main crop.



4. No mention of the "Two Rivers". Just Emond's Field. (The "Two Rivers" was inspired by the geography of Charleston, and tobacco is big in South Carolina too, if not as big as in North Carolina.)



5. RJ says they get peddlers with wagons and carts no more than twice a year, and pack-peddlers come every month or two.



6. This changed: "The grainbuyers know what is happening in the city they come from (the capital of the land)..." Clearly he had not sorted out Baerlon and Caemlyn yet.



7. More orientation quotes:



Quote: Originally Posted by RJ The story will begin actually in the village of Emond's Field, or perhaps with Rand and Tam on the way to it. We meet some of the village people (the Wisdom, Nyneve, the tavernkeeper, the girl Rand loves, some of the village boys with whom he is friends.)



Quote: Originally Posted by RJ On the way to the village Rand sees one of the strange riders, seemingly a man swathed in a hooded black cloak.



8. The unnamed Aes Sedai is veiled.



9. RJ reminded himself to mention offhandedly at some point early in the story that Nyneve does not like Aes Sedai. And when the veiled woman and her armed companion appear, Nyneve is suspicious of them.



10. Nyneve is around 30 years old. She is a healer, and all Wisdoms are healers.



11. Blights is still plural. This comes up when the boys are trying to decide whether the armed man is a Warder.



12. The peddler tells them the False Dragon is somewhere to the north and west. (That could work for Taim, but it was Logain they heard about from Fain, and he was to the south and east.)



13. The unnamed gleeman teases the stories he will tell:



Quote: Originally Posted by RJ 'Anla the Wise Counselo.' [sic] 'How Len Flew to the Moon on the Back of a Fiery Eagle, and how Daughter Salia Walked among the Stars.' 'The giants, Rus and Us, who battled with huge spears of light.'



14. Tam's sword is over the fireplace, so no premonition is required to get his sword down from the chest upstairs. Rand has never seen him actually use it.



15. Tam and unnamed wife had children of their own who had died "of sickness or accident".



16. RJ has cute ways of noting important details:



Quote: Originally Posted by RJ Tam had found one of their women on the slopes of the mountain (He Does Not Name Mountain).



[...]



In thier [sic] talk it comes out that the veiled woman is an Aes Sedai. She weilded [sic] Power (They Don't Know Proper Terms) against the attackers...



17. Tam and wife and baby return "south" to the land of Tam's birth.



18. Tam was originally going to mention that no one "down south" would recognize their gray eyes, so Rand figures out that he is one of them , whoever they are. ( They don't sound like nice people.)



19. Rand even thinks that, because Tam mentioned coming south, that the mountains were in the north, and he knows the Great Blight is to the north, so he's worried that he's some kind of Shadowspawn (not that this name is used).



20. When they get to the village, most everything goes as in the book. Just after Lan is named, there's that little blip I mentioned earlier where RJ notes that Owan is Egwyn's father, and after that blip he starts going on about how no one really thinks of Nyneve like they think of other women (we all know how that is) because she is the Wisdom.



Finally, the file ends with a handwritten page where RJ is calculating words to a line and words to a page and words to a book, long division included. He calculates that 200,000 words will be 621.20 pages. The first file was clearly written before RJ had actually begun writing TEOTW. Maybe he had written a few scenes, but if he had, no doubt he had to scrap them.The next file is called "RAMBLINGS ON FORM OF STORY" and it's also from box 4 folder 2.You're going to catch me reevaluating a lot of my perceptions of these notes as I go along because I have by no means studied them thoroughly yet. In fact this thread is a fun way to do Round 2. (It will take many more rounds, and ins and outs, to make a thorough study.)I think this one was probably written not long after the previous file, though the beginnings of the story are much more recognizable. He had outlined the series, and he went back to outline book 1. He got into the details and the story began to change.(The previous file was for books 2-6. There are other, earlier files for book 1. I apologize for not giving these files in chronological order as to when they were written, but they're not labeled and I'm going to have to sort it out. So I'm going by box.)The typed heading has "THE EYE OF THE WORLD" in the top left corner and "NOTES" in the top right, and "1." in the middle (page number). Below "THE EYE OF THE WORLD" there is a handwritten note in red ink that says "Revision 1". I'm not 100% positive but I think this is RJ's handwriting. Then, centered: "RAMBLINGS ON FORM OF STORY". Below that, left-justified: "FILENAME: RAMBLINGS".This one is more difficult to summarize because it's not a numbered list. The opening quote is a good example of why it's clear he hadn't written the early chapters yet, and also why it's clear he was very close to doing so.RJ's brackets changed to parentheses; brackets mine.Interesting points:1. Owan al'Vere, Nyneve, Egwyn, Spring Festival. Tam and Rand and Lan are the only other people with names in this file, aside from Sha'tan.2. Owan/Bran serves his homemade ale, "though he does have a little of brandy and such from the outside." He hires out big horses and oxen. He is the tavernkeeper and Mayor, but the Mayor bit isn't mentioned until later in the file, a weird break in the narrative like he was going to make a list or something, but then he goes back to the narrative:He is not an innkeeper in this outline; RJ specifically says that he has no rooms and the peddlers and gleemen and merchants have to make their own camp or hire a barn. But when Moiraine (no name) comes, he makes a room for her, and her Warder (this term is mentioned and detailed) sleeps in Owan's stable.3. RJ goes into detail of how Emond's Field gets news from Outside. They get it from peddlers and grain-buyers. No mention of tabac as the main crop.4. No mention of the "Two Rivers". Just Emond's Field. (The "Two Rivers" was inspired by the geography of Charleston, and tobacco is big in South Carolina too, if not as big as in North Carolina.)5. RJ says they get peddlers with wagons and carts no more than twice a year, and pack-peddlers come every month or two.6. This changed: "The grainbuyers know what is happening in the city they come from (the capital of the land)..." Clearly he had not sorted out Baerlon and Caemlyn yet.7. More orientation quotes:A few paragraphs later:Then he gives all the recognizable detail of that scene. As you can see, this is something of a brainstorming file. The first quote is from p. 2, the second from pp. 3-4. The file is 10 pages.8. The unnamed Aes Sedai is veiled.9. RJ reminded himself to mention offhandedly at some point early in the story that Nyneve does not like Aes Sedai. And when the veiled woman and her armed companion appear, Nyneve is suspicious of them.10. Nyneve is around 30 years old. She is a healer, and all Wisdoms are healers.11. Blights is still plural. This comes up when the boys are trying to decide whether the armed man is a Warder.12. The peddler tells them the False Dragon is somewhere to the north and west. (That could work for Taim, but it was Logain they heard about from Fain, and he was to the south and east.)13. The unnamed gleeman teases the stories he will tell:(Mosk and Merk was much better, and Merk wasn't even mentioned until TSR.)14. Tam's sword is over the fireplace, so no premonition is required to get his sword down from the chest upstairs. Rand has never seen him actually use it.15. Tam and unnamed wife had children of their own who had died "of sickness or accident".16. RJ has cute ways of noting important details:The underlined iterations of "they" referring to the Aiel are the same kind of thing. That whole long passage about Tam's fever dreams uses underlined "they" words.17. Tam and wife and baby return "south" to the land of Tam's birth.18. Tam was originally going to mention that no one "down south" would recognizegray eyes, so Rand figures out that he is one of, whoeverare. (don't sound like nice people.)19. Rand even thinks that, because Tam mentioned coming south, that the mountains were in the north, and he knows the Great Blight is to the north, so he's worried that he's some kind of Shadowspawn (not that this name is used).20. When they get to the village, most everything goes as in the book. Just after Lan is named, there's that little blip I mentioned earlier where RJ notes that Owan is Egwyn's father, and after that blip he starts going on about how no one really thinks of Nyneve like they think of other women (we all know howis) because she is the Wisdom.Finally, the file ends with a handwritten page where RJ is calculating words to a line and words to a page and words to a book, long division included. He calculates that 200,000 words will be 621.20 pages.

Qui nos rodunt confundantur, et cum iustis non scribantur.

@Terez27 __________________ Last edited by Terez; 12-13-2015 at 05:33 AM .