Chronicles of a Procrastinating Novelist Volume 4: In Which I Explain my Research Process Using Stre
Common practice for Historical Fiction Writers is to research exhaustively the time period in which their novel is set. The timeframe in which I had to produce my Capstone project for my master’s allowed for no such indulgence, so I developed a reversed order system in which I draft a story after performing only cursory research whilst leaving myself parenthetical notes in the body of the actual draft, a-la (check period policing practice/ flesh out period accurate architectural description/ find a town or make one up). The succeeding prose presents the results of that process using a recent example from the first draft of The Whisper of Souls.
Entering B's Brain in 3, 2, 1 -
Grahame and Theo need an origin story. All great literary duos must have an origin story, and so Imma do one. First story is set in…1870. Grahame’s 30 so…whoa. He’s got to be a Civil War vet. Oh wow! He could find Theo on a battlefield. Newfies are rescue dogs, so he could be rescuing a fellow soldier and Grahame could stumble on him! Wait a tick…a psychic empath as a war vet. Feeling all the emotions of an army’s worth of frightened, dying, wounded men…yeah, no, he’d pass out in 2 seconds, so ix-nay attle-bay. But the rescue thing is cute. *mopes* Transfer screw up? Commands merging or something so he gets accidentally transferred to the field for one day before getting to a city post? Oooh I like it. Any major regimental mergers or anything? *Wikipedia pause* Halleck merges with Buell as they take over Western Tennessee. Perfect! *drafts original short story. 3 years later, secures book deal and melds origin into first draft of novel*
Aaaaaaand time to play fact check and plug in info. *Rereads scene* A) Were there any battles in Tennesee in Fall of 1864. B) Double check the Halleck stuff and see if you need to change commanders. C) Where should Grahame get transferred? What was the Union army up to in Tennessee at that time? Please don't need to change states, please don't need to change states, please don't need to change states… *rechecks Buell stuff* Bugger, bugger, bugger, buggity bug bug!! Buell and Halleck merged in 1862!!! Not as bad as it sounds, just change the year. You haven’t pinned down any character ages yet. Army merger happens in February 1862…held west and middle Tennessee for most of War so…*looks up Map of Tennessee* Nashville’s in the running for where Grahame transfers to. *looks up Nashville and Civil War* Nashville was occupied Feb 25th 1862 and held for the rest of the war. Perfect. Now, need a battle at which he meets Theo. *researches Civil War battles. Finds Battles and Skirmishes of the Civil War, 1899* Holy crap!!!! It’s got everything!!! The dates, regiments, and locations for every skirmish verifiable in that time period!!! Score on toast!!!! So, Tennesee…February...round about occupation of Nashville…near-ish to actual Nashville…*makes lists of candidates.* This one: Cumberland Gap, skirmish near, February 14th 1862.
Exit B's Brain -
So goes the eureka process of crafting a story then melding it to the actual history of the period. This little exercise is not a comprehensive representation. Often, whole scenes and scenarios get scrapped because they’re implausible once I start digging. But on a good day, the history ends up aligning with the existent story line in a quite pleasing and less scrap-it-and-start-over fashion. The added bonus is that because I’ve already written the scene, I can plug in significant, grounding, accurate period detail without also feeling obligated to include a short essay on the history of the Union Army’s invasion of Tennessee, as the exhaustive research method often tempts writers to do. You know, those big fat historical fiction novels that turn text book for 30 pages then suddenly remember they’re supposed to be telling a story? The backwards method helps one to avoid that temptation. That way, during the drafting process one is focused on story, not history. Hope you enjoyed the peek behind the authorial curtain.
Thank you for reading.
B.
Sources:
Ash, Stephen V. "Civil War Occupation." The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.
Tennessee Historical Society, 1998. Web. 7 Dec. 2016.
http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1013
"Henry Halleck. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikidmedia Foundation, 2017. 29 Oct.
2012. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Halleck
Stickler, Theodore D.. Battles and Skirmishes of the Civil War. Walter C. Stickler, Philadelphia, 18
99. pp. 162-193. 7 Dec. 2016.
