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.
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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
