Bear Lake
Historical fiction helps us to understand the past. It educates and entertains us at the same time. History books give us the facts, but historical fiction helps us to understand history in a special way. Leon Garfield said, "The historian, if honest, gives us a photograph; the storyteller gives us a painting."
Research is an important part of writing historical fiction or nonfiction. Learn everything you can about the area your story takes place, the time period, non-fictional characters, and historical facts you would like to add.
Find out everything you can about the area to both educate your readers and to make the setting feel real. While the reader can't be there physically, they can be there mentally. If possible, go to the area you want to write about, walk around, and look at the historical buildings. If you can't travel there, find pictures of that area, study books at the library or search the Internet. Description is very important in a story. Paint a picture like an artist, describing what you see and feel. Make the scenery believable by describing the crunching of pine needles beneath your feet or allow the reader to smell the pine trees in the forest.
I wanted to find out what it was like in the area my ancestors settled. After much research I found that Bear Lake Valley had a lot of intriguing history between 1896 and 1925. In my research, I found that in the western part of the United States, the market for cattle was lucrative. Cattle rustling was a terrible problem in the West. I also learned that a ten-foot grizzly bear by the name of Old Ephraim roamed the mountains of Cache Valley and Bear Lake Valley, wreaking havoc everywhere he went. I learned that the Bear Lake Monster is an old Indian legend, and part of Bear Lake history. Many accounts were written about it, testifying to its reality. I also found out that women had to fight for the rights of equality in the Eastern states. A woman was not encouraged to go to college or become anything more than a teacher or a nurse. She could not bob her hair or raise her hemlines without the threat of being fired from her job. In the Western states things were different. Women had more rights. When doing research, it makes the book come to life and it's so much fun to imagine what things must have been like as we learn more about history.
Another important part of writing is using emotion. It's the secret of holding a reader. By giving description of emotion, it helps the reader feel part of the story as if he were actually there himself. When emotion is left out of a story, we can feel let down. Emotion is part of our lives, so why ignore such an important element in a story?
It can be difficult, however, for an author to know exactly how the character feels unless he or she had been in a similar situation, and that's where research comes in. After researching stories about people who have been faced with a similar situation, the author can describe the emotions of a character much better.
If a character were approached by a grizzly bear, how would that person react? These are questions that you must research. Read about other people's accounts, so you can adequately describe your character's feelings during a situation.
Research is an important part of writing. Learn all you can about the area, any non-fictional characters, and the time period. Remember: "The storyteller gives us a painting."
Linda Weaver Clarke received her Bachelor of Arts Degree at Southern Utah University. She travels throughout the United States, teaching a Family Legacy Workshop, encouraging others to turn their family history and autobiography into a variety of interesting stories.
Clarke is the author of Melinda and the Wild West, a semi-finalist for the Reviewers Choice Award 2007. The historical fiction series, A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho include the following novels: Melinda and the Wild West (2006), Edith and the Mysterious Stranger (2008), Jenny's Dream (2009), David and the Bear Lake Monster (2009), and Elena, Woman of Courage (2009).
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