Lost Track of Time but the Process Continues

There comes a time in the writing process when I lose track of the hours spent on any given piece. I spent many more hours researching, looking for some tidbit that might make a story. I finally found just what I needed and it made it easier to begin actually writing and gave some sense of structure to the book. It isn't necessary to write chronologically but I tend to do so. I just now finished what I consider to be the first chapter in this new book. I have approximately ten file folders of printed information to use so far and a fair idea what the next chapter will be. Taking a break for the rest of today and possibly tomorrow to do other needed things. My brain is feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment. I may read a few of my printouts but that's about it. Even the seeds planted in the earth rest before sprouting.

Days Three - Five the new History Press book

Finally clearing away enough schedule to work on this project. With tight deadlines, I figure I will need to be ready to write no later than the end of December! Yikes.

Day Three: signed contract, reviewed writer's guidelines and highlighted important information pertinent to my book.

Day Four: Internet research to fins as much information as possible on the current topic I am researching. The interested and expected outcome of this is that one snippet led to another search and that produced yet another until actual new topics began to emerge. Now hopelessly lost in a sea of paper and ideas. * I prefer to print out what I find online for three reasons. 1. easy for me to read, 2. I can highlight and make notes on things I find, 3. I can refer to it later side by side with other information I find.

Day Five, which is today: Organizing the sea of papers into labeled folders further solidifying that fact that topics are emerging. Now I'm having fun because I am learning many new and interesting things about this region. My job will be to share that with my readers!

Day Six will involve further investigation into things I am finding until I can take these notes to the Historical Society to snoop in their archives.

Day Two: my newest book about WNY

Day Two is really more like day four or five with the in between days spent on additional gathering of information to determine what stories might be included and if there are enough to make a book at this time. The publisher informed me that they would like the book to go to print in April. That may seem like a long time to some but when you are already writing another book, working to pay your bills and trying to find more work in your chosen field, it isn't much time at all. Add to that the upcoming holidays and the fact that I am still finishing up my dad's estate business and you have one very busy person. Yet, this kind of deadline isn't unusual, so I accepted the challenge.

This challenge of a tight schedule will mean good time management and organization are musts. But I'm no stranger to that either. So this unofficial second day on the new book was spent reading over part of the contract from the publisher and checking their book format requirements. With that I began writing where it works best for me to start. I like to begin at the beginning, though this is not where all writers start. Some prefer to start at the end or write individual stories and figure out how they go together later on.

I started with a table of content and listed Acknowledgements, Introduction, and up to five sections or chapters, to which I gave "working titles." A working title is just that, something you use as you are working but may change later either by your choice or by the publisher's "suggestion." I also wrote out an acknowledgement to my parents which I knew I wanted to include to honor them. Later I will add docents, historians, friends and professionals who supply information specific to this book. I will also acknowledge any major sources from other authors.

I began my introduction and I think it is pretty much finished. Of course, having written before I know that nothing is written in stone until it goes to press. So the introduction may change or grow depending on what I find. At any rate, I now have a table of content and basic intro to help me focus and to give voice to what comes next. My next step will be to write a first story, which may not be the first one in the finished book.

Beginning a New Book Project

I had to leave my trilogy research in favor of finishing up my six year work on a book about using storytelling with at-risk youth and now for a new book on the Western New York region. I haven't signed the contract yet but will in the next day or two. I needed to be sure I had enough material to meet their April deadline. So much to do, so little time but such is the writer's life.

Day One: involved jotting down ideas for book topics and a brief search to see if there was enough for a pitch.

Day Two: Once that was done I started listening and looking everywhere for additional material. I found quite a bot and will reveal that once the book is more fully formed (it's a competitive business you know.)

Day Three: searching the Internet for as much information as possible on each topic to see if there is enough for those to be included and get some idea of how they will fit together.

Day Four: a trip tot he historical library.

Creating a Historical Trilogy

I'm not sure how far this discussion will go but I have had an idea for a trilogy of stories for sometime now. I thought it would be interesting to document the process.

To begin, you should know I created a story about Joan of Arc many years ago. I can’t recall now why I did, it may have been a request or just something I wanted to do, but I have always loved Joan’s story, the tale of a teenage girl’s courage and faith beyond all odds. I have not told it in a long time and so I suspect it will go through some additional work. It will be one story in this trilogy.

Before I talk about The Maid of Lorraine, I will share another piece of my usual process. I like to have a title to work with as it helps keep me focused, but for now this trilogy has no title. That may come along as I get more involved in the research. I have decided on three Medieval woman as subjects for this trilogy, Joan of Arc, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Hildegard of Bingen. Hildegard will be my first research project because I don’t know as much about her as I would like and she fascinates me.

Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d’Arc: Joan lived in a man’s world and because of this she lived by the law of man and the law of the church. I looked at four different stories about Joan, and I often refer to children’s stories because they are as bare bones as you can get. It’s a good place to get small details. Each story offered a different look at Joan. I collected information on her childhood and daily life, dates, places, what brought to her a place in her life where she would decide to openly break the law of the church and take the role of a man and so on. As a child I was taught she was burned as a witch but in fact if you read enough about her you learn that the church could not find her guilty of witchcraft but instead used its laws on the conduct of women against her. She was burned as a heretic. But I never found any account that really allowed me to get inside her head and see things from her perspective, perhaps because she was a woman and most writers were men. Using historical accounts and what I know of the lifestyle, I could have “made up” what Joan would think and say. But I felt that would not do her justice so I chose a different point of view (POV).

Steps so far:
1. Chose a story
2. Find as many versions of that story as you can
3. Learn something of the time, place, customs
4. Choose a POV

My POV for Joan’s story was a woman whose husband joined Joan’s campaign, fought beside her, and returned to tell his wife all that had happened. Then she tells the story of her own interaction with the Maid and what her husband had relayed. Now I can give the opinion of the woman I have created and nobody can dispute whether she said or did what I have given her to say and do. Still I must stay within some societal confines of the culture and time period for my story to feel real.

I don’t know exactly what the next post will be but my plan of action is to read about Hildegard of Bingen and see if I can connect her life with Joan’s in some way, not physically but metaphorically or philosophically. I am looking for a “thread” to bind the stories and help me determine where to place each one and how to tell them in the trilogy.