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So,
where do I weigh in on the value of
research when writing fiction?
Well,
for starters, I disagree with Sherman Alexie, a writer I greatly admire who so
generously offered his Top 10 Pieces of Advice for Writers in a recent
writersdigest.com blog:I don’t think
research is overrated.
In
fact, I’d say it’s under-rated.
I
know first-hand:digging up the concrete
details relevant to each of my imagined stories - for starters, the people, the times and
places, the weather and daily living of lives, allowed me to grow my characters
and puzzle out their plotlines, all while uncovering my story’s Truths.
We
all know 3 is the magic number when supporting an opinion, so I’ll gladly share
3 instances when research enhanced and enriched my stories, making the fictive
details incredibly credible.
I
could not have written my first picture book There Goes Lowell’s Party! (Holiday House) without traveling the
Ozarks courtesy of a host of books I met while reading my way through the 910 Section of the Wilmette
Public Library. (That’s right! I wrote a book set in the Ozarks in May without
ever setting foot there myself!) Shelves of books offered me maps to
read, photographs to study, land forms and water ways that could work their way
into my text. As for the rain proverbs (Section
398) that kept my plotline going – the skies growing red, the birds flying low,
the leaves tickling Lowell’s cheeks, I came to know them thanks to Ozark
folklorist Vance Randolph.My book’s
illustrator Jacqueline Rogers’ first request was for me to send on my primary and
secondary research.I also found a slew
of place and character names printed on maps of Missouri and Arkansas. By
the time Lowell’s kin made it to his party, despite rain and floods and mud
slides and twisters, my readers knew the wonder of familial love.
As for my delicious picture book CHICKEN SOUP BY HEART?
Well,
believe it or not, I read and cooked chicken soup recipes (Section 641) from
around the world.In fact, in its first
iteration, Rudie Dinkins was one of many multi-cultural characters who, so loved
by their afterschool babysitter, Mrs. Gittel, wanted to cook her chicken soup
when she came down with the flu.And to
counter my editor’s doubt that chicken soup could be sweet, as Mrs. Gittel
liked her chicken soup, I was forced to keep digging through cook books until I
came upon a Hungarian recipe.Readers
came to see the crucial ingredient – the reciprocity of love.
My
picture book FANCY THAT demanded time-travel, back to 1841and Berks County,
Pennsylvania (Section 900).Once again,
my Wilmette Public Library served as the World’s Best Travel Agent.Pippin Biddle, my story’s orphaned young
limner, who set his heart on earning his keep traveling about painting people’s
portraits, all to get his three sisters out of the Poorhouse, was a unique
combination of every single limner I read about in Jean Lipman’s comprehensive
book (Section 750).Fortunately, I was
earnest in my research; otherwise Pip would have returned at Thanksgiving, only
there wasn’t aThanksgiving yet; Pip’s dog would have been a breed (Jack Russell Terrier)
yet created.A Christmas return directed
me to Sections 248 and 249 of the Library, so I could read about the Germans who’d
brought Christmas to America in the late 1830’s, and Pip’s sisters could then save
the day with their wreath-making business!To my surprise, I’d written a book about hidden talents and how they
reside in each of us.
“Fiction
is a lie that tells the truth,” Stephen King wrote.IMHO, research helps the writer tell the best
lie possible.
Happy
Writing and Researching!
Esther
Hershenhorn P.S. Don’t
forget to celebrate NCTE’s Fourth Annual National Day on Writing Friday October
19 and Saturday, October 20. This
year’s theme is What I Write. Come
Friday and Saturday, tweet out your compositions of all sorts and post them to
Twitter using the hashtag #WhatIWrite,and
if space allows, #dayonwriting.
Since theNational Gallery of Writingopened on October 20, 2009, more than 3,300 gallerieswere created and nearly 33,000 writing contributionswere submitted. Whilethe
Gallery is now closed for submissions, it is a searchable archive and is a
great resource for you to use when involving others in writing.
P.P.S. Don’t
forget to enter our Guest TeachingAuthor Book Giveawayto win an autographed copy of Eileen Meyer’s Who’s Faster? Animals on the Move.
I finally found time to read your wonderful post, Esther. This will be great for sharing with students about the fictional 'lie' based on research, research, research! It's a challenge to be sure they understand that background bolsters the stories. Thank you very much! I loved hearing the examples.
Thanks, Linda, for sharing my post with your students. Reading maps and newspapers of a particular place, from a particular time, helps me immensely - with people and place names, but also,plot possibilities.
Fascinating how research enriched your fiction with detail and verisimilitude (such fun to be able to pop that word in). I just came across some notes I made a few months ago in the course of doing research for my WIP. Some background information I'd forgotten just triggered a great idea for a twist in the story. I can't wait to use it.
Ever since I was a girl, I've dreamed of living in a house with its own library. You know-- the kind of room wealthy people in movies always have, with floor-to-ceiling-built-in bookshelves and a rolling ladder to reach the top shelves.
The fantasy was inspired not only by my love of reading, but also by the fact that we had very few books in our house when I was growing up. (One of the few I can recall was a light blue softcover my father studied to prepare for his "citizenship" test.) For my working-class Italian-immigrant parents, books were a luxury we couldn't afford.
Then one day when I was around ten years old, a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman rang our front bell. You can imagine my amazement when the salesman managed to convince my father to buy a brand-new 20-volume set of the World Book Encyclopedia. I don't know how the salesman did it, but he was my new hero! And since my younger sister and brother were too young to read at the time, I considered the set mine.
As nerdy as it may sound, I loved reading those books. We didn't have the Internet back then, and a trip to the public library meant taking two buses each way. So having my own encyclopedia was indeed a luxury. I used it not only to research class assignments, but for recreational reading, too. I never read a volume from front to back as you would a novel. Instead, I flipped the pages until something struck me as interesting.
I tell students at school visits that my favorite volume was the letter "B," and it's true. As a girl, I pored over the color photographs of Birds and Butterflies from around the world. I studied the rules of Baseball and memorized the stats of many of the record-holders. (I believe Joe DiMaggio still holds the record for the longest consecutive hitting streak at 56 games.) I learned the hand signals for right and left turns on a Bicycle.
Those books held more than information for me. They took me places I could only dream of visiting. They introduced me to presidents, poets, and painters. They sparked my curiosity in mathematics and music.
As I grew older, I became more interested in reading fiction and drifted away from the encyclopedia. But every so often, I still went back to my old World Books. And every time, I inevitably learned something new and interesting from their pages.
I'm happy to say I still own that set of encyclopedia--you can see it pictured here:
Now, whenever I pull out the "B" volume, I'm reminded of how it felt to be ten years old and own not only one book, but a whole set of 20. I was the richest girl in the world!
* * * * *
This is the last in our series of posts for the National Day on Writing, sponsored by NCTE. I will be submitting this entry to the "A Lifetime of Reading" Gallery of the National Gallery of Writing. I hope you'll use the following Writing Workout to inspire your own contribution to the gallery.
Writing Workout
The first book I ever owned . . .
What's the first book you recall as your very own? Was it a picture book, a reader, a novel? Was it brand new, or a hand-me-down? Who gave it to you? What memories are evoked when you think about that book?
Post the title of the book as a comment here on our TeachingAuthors blog, then write a 250-500 word description, essay, or anecdote about the book. When you're done, I encourage you to submit your piece to the gallery called "A Lifetime of Reading," curated by Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn, who blog at A Year of Reading. You can read more about the galleryat their blog.
Happy writing! Carmela
5 Comments on The First Book I Ever "Owned", last added: 10/30/2009
I too loved our set of enclyclopedia. It was American People Encyclopedia and was a warm rich brown color.
I also loved these little magazine type books that one glued pictures into. I don't remember the name but I do remember the picture of a caterpillar very well.
And how many of us remember the dictionaries that we bought piece by piece from the grocery store. The book ended up almost a foot thick when it was done.
A hand-me-down, but I learned to read using this book when I was 4 (my 12-year-old sister was an awesome teacher). Because this book taught me the joy of reading, I felt it was MINE.
I now lead a tortured life of wanting to make all books MINE - but sadly I do not have the room or money. I am a frequent guest at our local library.
Charlotte's Web was my first book. I remember my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Gross (who I thought was the most beautiful woman in the world) read it aloud to us everyday before school ended. I will never forget how she cried at the end - the first time I saw an adult shed tears in the presence of children. I bought Charlotte's Web at the Scholastic Book Fair that year and read it over and over. I still cry at the end...
Jeanne Marie Ford said, on 10/30/2009 6:17:00 AM
My first book was one of The Bobbsey Twins series. It was a Christmas gift from my grandmother. The grandmom who lived with us was functionally illiterate, but my the book-gifting grandmom was a Reader. (Yes, her tastes tended toward Danielle Steele, but she always had a book in hand.) My mother, who was emphatically not a reader, read me the whole Bobbsey Twins series. And for some weird, magical moment in my childhood, wherever we moved, every other girl my age was also reading them. (I think the series had been reissued around this time, and the books were also being sold in military PXs. Perhaps only fellow military brats read them, but I digress.)
I still own the whole series, and I can't wait to share them with my daughter! The original books in this series were, of course, published before my grandmother was born -- talk about speaking across the generations.
And Carmela, we had a 1967 Encyclopedia Brittanica set. (I was born in 1971.) I longed for the World Book! My mom (child of Italian immigrants) grew up with only a Dick and Jane book in the house. She is going to love your family story!
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your "first book" stories. Nina, I'm so glad to know I'm not the only encyclopedia-loving writer! Michelle, I think it's great that you wrote a blog post in response to my question. If others would like to read it, see http://michellesussman.blogspot.com/2009/10/eating-my-words.html#comment-form
JoAnn is unable to post today as planned, so we will continue our series in celebration of the National Day on Writing next week. Meanwhile, I want to remind everyone that the National Gallery of Writing is now open for viewing. I invite you to visit the Gallery called "A Lifetime of Reading," which features entries by members of the Kidlitosphere. And don't forget to contribute your own work, be it a story, poem, recipe, email, blog post, or even audio, video, or artwork, to the Gallery--NCTE's goal is to collect 100,000 pieces of "writing" by next June!
So get writing!
Carmela
0 Comments on National Gallery of Writing Now Open for Your Viewing! as of 10/23/2009 7:56:00 AM
Today is the first National Day on Writing! Not only is this day dedicated to encouraging writing, but also to recognize the varieties and abundance of writing that American Artists have produced. To get involved with this exciting event, check out the National Gallery of Writing, a digital archive of compositions that was just unveiled today.
Not only can you browse through pieces submitted by writers of all ages, backgrounds, and genres, you can submit your own writing on this site. Technology has allowed more and more people to communicate their ideas and creations with more speed and ease. As a result more people are expressing themselves creatively through the literary arts.
The National Gallery is an organized archiving system for people to share their works. In addition, be sure to tune into webcasts from 9 am to 8pm, which will share works and give tips and guides on writing.
Writing is a creative outlet though which the imagination is used as a tool to discover meaning. Internet technologies are drawing more and more people to express themselves in the literary arts. The National Day on Writing is a way to celebrate and promote this freedom of expression, while providing a means to share and experience the written arts.
And, especially today, October 20, our National Day on Writing as declared by the National Conference of Teachers of English.
TeachingAuthors joins other Kidlitosphere bloggers in submitting this, our third post, to The Gallery A Lifetime of Reading, curated by Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn, two teachers who blog at A Year of Reading.
Let’s hear it for Story, both written and read. It’s a technical wonder very bit as marvelous as any GPS; in fact, maybe even more so, to my way of thinking. Not only can story help pinpoint the reader’s and/or writer’s location in Life, determining where he is at any given moment; it can help illuminate where he’s been and might be going. Printed and bound, story is there for everyone to use, hand-held, heart-held, impervious to storms. Signal-sending story characters from time in memorial compute important date, cover to cover. No, not for me, the alluring, beckoning Gypsy-like voice of today’s GPS. No siree. I prefer the voices of my tried-and-true story favorites. For instance, the poignant heart-ful tones of Brave Irene, William Steig’s Heroine who braves wind, snow and cold, not to mention steep terrain, to deliver to the Duchess, (in the nick of time, of course!), the dress Irene’s mother had sewn for the ball. I re-read this classic picture book whenever I’m lost, accompanying Irene on her obstacle-strewn plotline. The burdensome box she totes provides her ticket out. Her foe, the wind, becomes her friend. Once again I pinpoint where I am on my journey. Once again I see where I’ve been and might be going. In honor of our National Day on Writing, let’s hear it for Story, the ultimate Global Positioning System!
But first, as the West Coast representative of TeachingAuthors, I have an announcement to make. Something miraculous happened yesterday: it rained! Real “I’d better hide my book under my sweatshirt as I sprint to the car” rain! Usually when rain is predicted in Southern California, we roll our eyes and put on sandals, because by the time the storm comes panting down the coast to LA, it’s spent. All it has left is one pathetic cough of drizzle.
The last time I actually remember it raining substantially was February.
I just had to share that because the rain is gone now and though the sky is sparkling blue and the streets are scrubbed clean, I wonder if it really rained here or if I imagined it. I have it nail it down in words to know it happened.
Okay, back to our topic. I’ve written a poem to post on the National Gallery of Writing. You can, too. In fact, there’s another one of TeachingAuthors’ famous Writing Workouts below to get your juices going.
As Carmela wrote in the last post, the National Day on Writing, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English, is meant to celebrate all forms of writing. In conjunction with the event, NCTE has created a National Gallery of Writing, a digital archive of writing samples showing how and why Americans are writing every day. The Gallery will be unveiled on Tuesday, October 20th.
Teaching Authors will join other Kidlitosphere bloggers by submitting our posts to the Gallery called A Lifetime of Reading, curated by Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn, two teachers who blog at A Year of Reading. The details about their gallery and the process for submitting a piece of writing can be found in this post on their blog: http://tinyurl.com/nc4zga
TeachingAuthors offer no prizes if you post a comment on our blog this week, but we really, really want to hear that you’ve gone to the links above and hung up your own work of art—your own writing—in a gallery. Report in!
* * * * *
Years ago, when my golden boy was young, I went to pick him up from kindergarten and found the teacher and a few children reading a book under a tree. That’s when I took a lovely deep breath and s-l-o-w-e-d down.
Then I took out my notebook.
I found the rough draft of the poem I wrote and today I reworked it. Here it is. For you. For the National Day of Writing. For being outside. For yesterday’s blessed rain. For the holy goddesses of reading. For all of it.
1) Look at the ideas that Mary Lee and Franki of A Year of Readinglisted to get our juices flowing:
~ an anecdote from childhood,
~ a recent experience around books or reading,
~ a memory from school (good or bad),
~ a vignette about learning to read,
~ the impact of a particular book,
~ your life as a reader.
If the list doesn’t bring up anything, observe children reading or someone reading to them. Take notes.
2) Now—circle the topic that opens you up, that pulls you in.
3) Go outside or find a cozy spot and write as many ideas as you can about that topic. Cover the page. Write for ten minutes. Or more. Free associate. Keep your pen moving. Include vivid images, smells, textures—all five senses.
4) This is your compost, as Mary Ann calls it. Your rich soil.
5) Go now—work in your garden. See what grows.
April
drawings by April Halprin Wayland
2 Comments on Joy, joy, joy! Writing about reading ~, last added: 10/18/2009
What a lovely, evocative poem. I submitted to the Gallery, too---a blog post about reading books as a way to watch other writers at work---but I never thought to submit a poem. I hope you inspire many more poetic uploads to the Gallery!
My
picture book FANCY THAT demanded time-travel, back to 1841and Berks County,
Pennsylvania (Section 900). Once again,
my Wilmette Public Library served as the World’s Best Travel Agent. Pippin Biddle, my story’s orphaned young
limner, who set his heart on earning his keep traveling about painting people’s
portraits, all to get his three sisters out of the Poorhouse, was a unique
combination of every single limner I read about in Jean Lipman’s comprehensive
book (Section 750). Fortunately, I was
earnest in my research; otherwise Pip would have returned at Thanksgiving, only
there wasn’t a Thanksgiving yet; Pip’s dog would have been a breed (Jack Russell Terrier)
yet created. A Christmas return directed
me to Sections 248 and 249 of the Library, so I could read about the Germans who’d
brought Christmas to America in the late 1830’s, and Pip’s sisters could then save
the day with their wreath-making business!
To my surprise, I’d written a book about hidden talents and how they
reside in each of us.
Let’s hear it for Story, both written and read.
I finally found time to read your wonderful post, Esther. This will be great for sharing with students about the fictional 'lie' based on research, research, research! It's a challenge to be sure they understand that background bolsters the stories. Thank you very much! I loved hearing the examples.
Thanks, Linda, for sharing my post with your students.
Reading maps and newspapers of a particular place, from a particular time, helps me immensely - with people and place names, but also,plot possibilities.
Fascinating how research enriched your fiction with detail and verisimilitude (such fun to be able to pop that word in).
I just came across some notes I made a few months ago in the course of doing research for my WIP. Some background information I'd forgotten just triggered a great idea for a twist in the story. I can't wait to use it.