My Unconventional Neurodivergent Writing Practices
Hello, folks! Welcome back to the blog. I’m glad you’re here!
A while back, I wrote a blog post about writing neurodivergent characters into my historical fiction. As I am also neurodivergent, my writing practices reflect my differences. They didn’t always, though. Like so many others in my generation, I only identified my autism and ADHD as an adult. As part of this new understanding, I’ve had to unravel so much that was not me. This includes writing practices that never really suited me, that I acquired while masking. Neurodivergent creativity looks as different as we are, and I learn more about this every day. When we allow ourselves to embody our authentic selves, we can create at our truest, bringing to life such beauty and magic.
So, in this post, I thought I’d share a little about my own unconventional neurodivergent writing practices.
Writing Practices I’ve Let Go
First, I’ve had to let go of so much writing “convention” that never worked for me.
If I boiled it down to one word, it’d be: consistency. I used to try to force myself into a daily, consistent writing practice. Sit down at the same time of day, open up the doc, and “just do it.” It sounds okay on paper, doesn’t it? But for my brain and body, it simply does not work. This ended up looking more like shaming myself: “Why can’t you be more like…? Why can’t you do it right?”
But what is “right,” anyway?
“Right” is what’s best for the individual. When I tried to wrangle my writing practice into what never suited me, my writing suffered. It was like pulling teeth. There was no heart in it.
If this sounds like you, give yourself permission to be different and flow with your own energy!
Embodying My Own Unique Writing Practice
So, what does my current writing practice look like in this season of life?
It looks like flowing with my own energy. It syncs with the moon phases and inspiration. It looks like putting on a favorite movie in the background, or listening to music I love. It looks like drawing pictures of my characters. It looks like talking through plot holes with my husband. It looks like jotting down ideas in a notebook or on my phone while I’m cooking dinner. It looks like me.
A little peek inside what’s worked for me lately:
When the blinking cursor on a blank page looked a little too daunting, I put one of my favorite movies on the TV. The Fellowship of the Ring both calmed and energized me enough that I was able to begin writing again.
The story I’ve been working on lately has some heavy themes and I can get bogged down if I’m not careful. I allow myself to “go there” in the story, yes, but I make sure to refresh and lighten my energy once I’m finished writing. Sometimes I need to balance it out while writing, too. My go-to music for this lately has been the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack! (Shout out to my sister for getting me to finally watch the movie!) I also reset by connecting with loved ones, my pets, or going outside into my garden.
Lastly, as I am working on a couple of long-term projects, I need to balance this focus out with novelty. I can easily get burnt out without allowing myself to pursue side quests and rabbit holes. Exploring new ideas helps me stay on track with my long-term work. Even if these new things never “pan out,” simply following them gives me what I need. Recently, I researched and wrote a story about teenage “hoboes” riding the rails during the Great Depression, a subject that fascinates me. Letting myself explore these kinds of things, even just a little, allows me to stay true to my commitments.
All of these things make my whole writing practice so much more fulfilling and joyful– and uniquely mine.
Tell me: What makes your creative practice uniquely yours?
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog! For book news and writing updates from me, subscribe to my monthly newsletter below. You will also receive a free resource on writing historical fiction, plus a very special short story. Be sure to check out my books, too!
I’ll be back on the blog soon with more!
Katie
P.S. If this post sounds like you, check out The Neurodivergent Creative Podcast by Caitlin Fisher. One great episode is #179: “Shame, Perfectionism, & Songs That Break (and Heal) feat. K-pop Demon Hunters & Encanto.”
“Write as the Birds Sing” Nature & Writing Historical Fiction
“I write as the birds sing, because I must, and usually from the same source of inspiration.” — Gene Stratton-Porter
Hello, folks! Welcome back to the blog. I’m back with another post about my process of writing historical fiction, especially for young readers.
This week, I’m continuing a series on my research process as a historical fiction author: this week, I’m focusing on Nature.
For me, time in Nature is integral to my creative writing process. It fuels my creativity and never fails to lift my spirits. And understanding that Nature is the one thing we have all had in common throughout history feeds my historical fiction writing. No matter where we have come from, we’ve all seen the same sun and moon. We all know the feel of the wind on our faces and the power of a rainstorm. Nature is what connects us through time.
For one of my books in particular, time in Nature was especially crucial to my research:
“A Little Bird Woman”
My middle-grade novel-in-verse, Little Bird Woman, tells the story of a childhood experience of author and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter. To write a story that truly honored her, I needed an even deeper understanding of the natural world. Gene was truly connected and devoted to Nature her entire life, but she especially loved birds. Her mother called her “a little bird woman” when she was little, and she later wrote herself into her novels as the character “The Bird Woman.”
And so to write Little Bird Woman, I researched Gene’s writing and life story, but I also spent plenty of time in Nature. I tried to get to know her better through Nature, to see it through her eyes, and to channel that perspective into my writing. Gene was born and lived in my home state of Indiana for most of her life, so luckily, the natural world around me is very similar to hers.
I read Gene’s book Friends in Feathers (1917), an in-depth study of native birds in Indiana. I learned the ways she cared for birds as a child, and how she braved the deep woods and swamps to observe them as a woman. I spent intentional time watching these same native birds in my modern world. From flocks of robins to pairs of cardinals to solitary red-tailed hawks, I tried to see all of them through Gene’s eyes. Now when a cardinal sings, I still hear what she heard: “What-cheer! What-cheer!”
When my editor said that this book was like a love letter from Gene to Nature, I knew I’d done my job.
The Cardinal on the Cover
Nature was also important for Little Bird Woman’s cover artist, Shelley Wallace. She and I collaborated closely on the book’s cover for months. The tree on the cover reflected the bare trees in the middle of an Indiana winter. We later realized that her model tree looks just like a chinkapin oak on my block. It seems as if Shelley and I have “twin trees.”
Shelley spent time birdwatching and researching to illustrate the cardinal on the cover, too. I sent her photographs of cardinals that Gene herself took. In a moment of synchronicity, Shelley had drawn the cardinal with its mouth open, and then saw that reflected in Gene’s photos.
In the end, Shelley brought the vision to life in such a beautiful and profound way.
For more on Shelley and her art, check out my interview with her!
Read Little Bird Woman
Set in one day in February 1875, Little Bird Woman follows 11-year-old Geneva on the day of her mother’s funeral. She explores the woods of her old family farm, reflecting on memories, grief, and communing with the natural world around her. The book also includes biographical notes on Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924).
Find Little Bird Woman at Amazon and Bookshop. You can also find it at a number of local bookstores and public libraries in central Indiana. If your local library doesn’t hold it, you can always request it be added to circulation!
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog. For book news and writing updates from me, subscribe to my monthly newsletter below. You will also receive a free resource on writing historical fiction, plus a very special short story!
I’ll be back on the blog soon with more of the goodness that is writing historical fiction!
Katie
The Only World We’ve Got: Empowering Messages in Historical Fiction
Image: Rose window at Notre-Dame Cathedral
Hello, folks! Welcome back to the blog. I’m glad you’re here.
You know, it’s said that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.
This is too cynical an outlook for me, even if it does often prove to be true. Holding onto unrelenting hope, I believe in our potential for goodness just as much as I acknowledge our shadows. This leads me to put a slight twist on this: I believe those who learn lessons from the past have the power to create a better future for us all.
It’s because of this that those who seek power attempt to seize control of the minds of the masses through revisionist history, and beyond that: the arts and storytelling.
Historical fiction spans between the two.
And because of this, there are so many historical fiction novels that have been thrown onto banned book lists. Because the most impactful historical fiction says something. It speaks truth to power. It stands up for what is good and right through stories. And it empowers us to create a better future.
Because stories say so much to our psyches. We communicate through stories. We understand each other through our stories. Humans have been sharing stories since ancient times, and they remain our most powerful means of expressing ourselves– and how we best learn about our collective past.
“Sing the Bells of Notre Dame—”
I look to 19th-century French author Victor Hugo as an example of someone who used stories to say something. Hugo was involved in French politics for years, working toward social justice. However, it has been his novels that have made the greatest impact over time.
His most famous novel was, of course, Les Misérables (1862), which many now know from the 1980 Broadway musical. But another well-known novel of Hugo’s was an earlier historical fiction novel. Published in 1831, the book was set in 15th-century Paris. Carefully researched and crafted, it made as much of a statement as his other works. The lessons from The Hunchback of Notre Dame still reverberate today.
Victor Hugo’s novels stand the test of time– because such stories hold immense power to teach us. They speak to our hearts. Even after Victor Hugo’s political work has faded from public memory, these two stories remain, still impacting us in modern times. Because such stories change with people’s needs– even taking the form of an animated Disney film. We still need their lessons. My hope is that we might listen.
“Morning in Paris, a new day appears—”
Storytellers often face backlash, as we still see today. Hugo himself was in fact exiled from France for many years for his radical views after Napoleon III seized power.
But we must continue telling the stories that mean something.
We may not always be doomed to repeat our most horrible parts of history if we heed the lessons of our stories. And stories that tap into our human condition do “say something” across generations.
Tell me: if you were to write a historical fiction novel in which you could truly “say something”-- what story would you write?
Thank you for stopping by the blog. I invite you and the young people in your life to join me in this incredible work.
When you subscribe to my monthly newsletter, you’ll receive free resources on writing historical fiction, especially for kids. Be sure to check out my latest posts about writing historical fiction, too. And stay tuned for more to come about my research process as a historical fiction author.
Ready to read more? My books are available online through both Amazon and Bookshop, as well as several libraries and shops across Central Indiana.
I leave you with some of the final lyrics from the 2015 musical of The Hunchback of Notre Dame–
"Finale Ultimo"
[STATUES & GARGOYLES]
The world is cruel
The world is ugly
But there are times
And there are people
When the world is not
And at its cruelest
It's still the only world we've got
Light and dark
Foul and fair
[QUASIMODO]
Out there
Live the Story: My Path of Writing Historical Fiction
Image: photograph of a log cabin at Spring Mill State Park Pioneer Village in Mitchell, Indiana. This cabin inspired the cover art for Going Over Home, illustrated by Kristin Mary.
Hello, folks!
Welcome back to the blog. I’m back with another post about my process of writing historical fiction, especially for young readers.
This week, I’m starting a new series on my research process as a historical fiction author. And I thought I’d start at the very beginning (a very good place to start).
My Beginnings as a Historical Fiction Author
I always knew I would be an author because I always have been. I’ve been writing books since I was very young. But my love of history first began with two things in high school. I had an incredibly inspiring U.S. History teacher (shout out to Mr. O’Hara), and I fell in love with family history (thanks to my Grandma Mary Andrews and great-great aunt Betts Fox).
I suppose the rest is history?
A number of years down the road, married and with a new baby, I found myself visiting a pioneer cemetery where many of my husband’s ancestors were buried. (Of course I started researching his family history shortly after we married.) And as we wandered among the old stones, something landed within me: a new story idea.
Following Curiosity: Asking & Answering Questions
That story idea became my first novel, Going Over Home. It took me three years to finish it, but not only did that story sustain me through a difficult time in my life, it set the stage for the whole of my creative career as a historical fiction author.
The story idea that landed in me while I was in the pioneer cemetery was more of a question that I followed and eventually answered with the novel. The question: What would it be like to go back in time to the days these people were buried?
This led to more questions: What would it be like to go back in time to when they were alive? What would it be like to meet them? To get to know them? To live alongside them, even?
This process of questioning is why curiosity is so integral to my writing process. I ask questions and then follow the trail, exploring the many possibilities of answers.
My first novel, Going over Home, ended up being my answer to that first question I asked one day while wandering the old Rogers Cemetery inside Indiana’s Yellowwood State Forest.
Writing My First Historical Fiction Novel
Writing Going over Home was truly an adventure– and I created my research process as I wrote the story. More questions arose, and I found new ways to answer them. I certainly dove deep into traditional research mode: reading Indiana history books and fiction set in pioneer times, as well as researching local and family history records.
But what ended up being the most important part of writing this book– and every book since– was diving into experience. I didn’t go back in time, but I did the next best thing. I spent as much time at local history museums as possible, using my imagination to experience the places as if I was truly there in the early 1800s.
I pretended I was my character while walking through the pioneer villages at Conner Prairie and Spring Mill State Park. I explored more pioneer cemeteries. I began listening to old folk music that my characters would have known. I drew pictures of my characters in traditional dress. I learned to cook and garden as they might have.
I experienced my characters’ lives in the past as much as I possibly could while living in the 21st century.
The Path of Historical Fiction
Going over Home was released in 2012. I wrote its sequel, Going Over Jordan, and released it in 2015. They are now out of print, but several local libraries still carry both books. These stories hold a very special place in my heart, and they set the stage for writing more historical fiction down the road.
Perhaps the most important thing about their writing process was learning how I write best. I need to experience my story. Experience my characters’ lives. Think their thoughts. Move how they might move. Speak how they might speak. Be in the places they would have known. Live their lives, in the best ways I possibly can.
As they say, “live the question”-- but for me, it’s: Live the story.
Be sure to check out my last post about writing neurodivergent characters in historical fiction. And stay tuned for more to come about my research process as a historical fiction author.
Ready to read more? My books are available online through both Amazon and Bookshop, as well as several libraries and shops across Central Indiana.
For more book news and writing updates from me, subscribe to my monthly newsletter below. I’ve got a free resource on writing historical fiction coming soon, plus a very special short story!
Thanks so much for stopping by! I’ll be back on the blog soon with more of the goodness that is writing historical fiction!
Katie