Wednesday, March 26, 2014

RESEARCH

by Kathy Cannon Wiechman

Writing historical fiction means doing a ton of research. And I love researching! I find historical facts, places, and events against which to set my fictional story.

My recently completed novel, LIKE A RIVER, will be published soon by Boyds Mills/Highlights Press. It’s a Civil War story with a few elements the average reader might not be familiar with. It’s also a story about hardship. And triumph. And people.

My research included stops in six states. I visited dozens of intriguing sites and met numerous helpful people. I learned to load and fire a muzzleloader. I talked to experts and read stacks and stacks of books. I learned a lot of facts.
Kathy firing a muzzleloader.

There were “ah ha!” moments that helped mold my story line. And interesting facts that gave me a new perspective on lives lived 150 years ago.

Many of them will not be in the novel. Some of them were things I needed to learn to get a feel for the place and time I was writing about.
Confederate prisoner-of-war camp at Andersonville. http://www.classroomelectric.org/
30,000 soldiers were crammed into an area designed to accommodate 10,000.
Swagger Writers will participate in the A to Z blog challenge during the month of April. I plan to use my portion of alphabet letters to share some of the facts behind the fiction in my book. I hope you’ll revisit this blog next month to read about them.

8 comments:

  1. That's so cool that you got to do fun stuff as part of your research. Since my WIP is a mystery set in small town, USA, I haven't had to do any hands on research. Although I have had to google some unpleasant stuff about ways to kill people.

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  2. I love research too, and I can't wait to read your book.

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    1. Thanks, Ann. I hope it's a book you'll enjoy. I couldn't write historical fiction if I didn't love the research process. Loving research is one of many things we have in common.

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  3. I think it's wonderful you're using the A to Z to highlight your book. Wow, sounds like you were very dedicated with your research.

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    1. Thanks, Theresa. When you write historical fiction, you have to be dedicated to the research. If you're not, someone will catch your mistakes.

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  4. I love research! It sounds like you had lots of fun, Kathy, as you worked on this book. Congratulations on it coming out soon!

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    1. Thanks, Carol. I'm really excited about it, & hope readers will enjoy it.

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