What I Don't Know Could Fill a Book

Wasn't there a mention in one of my earlier posts about my plan to write a story featuring Sherlock Holmes' alter ego Altamont? There was a time--meaning my whole life up until recently--when I was sure I'd never write a Holmes pastiche because I didn't feel like I was equal to the task. In fact, it's still unlikely I'll pen such a tale, but that doesn't mean I won't play in the same sandbox, as my above reference to Altamont should make clear. Also, there is my proposed Holmes stage play, which is a different creature entirely, being an amalgamation of multiple Conan Doyle stories and elements of stories into one narrative. The Altamont piece, however, must be original. And it will require research.

There is an old adage, familiar to most scribes: write what you know. My upstart answer to that advice is: what's the fun in that? If every writer stuck to what he or she knew, there would be no historical fiction, because no one today was alive in the Middle Ages, the Colonial Era, or the Victorian Age (or, if there is someone who saw the turn of the last century, he's at the edge of death and unlikely to be writing anything). That means no one would be adding to the world of Sherlock Holmes, which would be a terrible shame. So, we rely on research and imagination to write what we don't know.

I believe I also earlier made some passing reference to my first genuine short story, "The Case of the Copy-Catted Clerk." That mystery tale is set in Washington, DC, a city I'm very familiar with, living right across the line in Maryland. But I wasn't familiar with 1912, the year in which the story takes place; thus research, the entirety of it online. All hail the inventor of the internet! I've no books in my sizable library about 1912 (in general), and certainly none that focus on that time in DC. But I was able to locate some maps and newspapers that helped set the scene for me, and I used my own imagination for the rest.

How did that work? I used the maps for scenes of the story that required buildings to be placed, streets to be named, and neighborhoods to be identified. DC is not the same city it was a century ago, and I needed to demonstrate that my characters lived in that older version. I sprinkled in some landmarks I learned about, such as the Christopher Columbus Memorial outside Union Station; it was new at the time, so I could get away with having my protagonist stop to admire it. Then I used the newspapers for news and events that the characters could mention (in context, of course), so that the historical period could be established in a seemingly authentic way.

But my research was not exhaustive. It wasn't laziness, it was self-awareness: I have a tendency to get lost in the reading and note-taking so that I have binders and notebooks full of information but, in the end, no completed story. I was determined that wouldn't happen with "Copy-Catted Clerk," the rough draft of which I wrote pretty quickly. Another downside of too much research is the danger of cramming it all into the story, either through a need to be praised or just because you don't want to waste what you found. I still don't know if I fell into that trap with this story, but my two critical readers didn't mention it.

Then, there was the "imagination" part. In this case, that's another word for "fudging it." There were places in "Copy-Catted Clerk" where I was intentionally vague because I just didn't have specifics for what I was including. I didn't describe the buildings mentioned, I didn't identify the types of vehicle used, and I went into little or no detail about the suburban neighborhood my lead characters visited. But that's okay, I think; I can chalk it up to the faulty memory of a very human narrator at a far remove from the time of the events. When the story is finally published (I hope, soon), we'll see if any history buffs take me to task.

Now, with that story, I was dealing with a city I know. For the Altamont story, it will be necessary to set the scene in Chicago, a place I've never visited. Not only may I have to contend with historians, but there's also the possibility of a Chicagoan or two reading my tale. There must be a high degree of authenticity about this one; hence, some serious research. Unfortunately, websites devoted to or mentioning 1912 Chicago are limited and inexhaustive, and I've no clue where I can find useful books locally.

Then, just this morning, I was googling again and happened on a scan of the Chicago Blue Book that was published at the end of 1911. Eureka! This gem of a tome contains advertisements with addresses and phone numbers; directories of businesses, hospitals, government agencies, and other types of establishments; and long lists of Chicago society's most prominent residents. It will be incredibly useful for city locations, street names, contemporary people's names, and the spelling of words during the period, among other things. I'd much rather have this one document of the time than ten objective history books.

With background and tools in place, I can now concentrate on my plot and characters, which are still developing. When this one is done, I'll have other historical stories to look forward to, set in the colonial period, the Depression, and even again in that fabulous year of 1912. I may be writing about places and times I don't know, but I'm bringing to these tales something no other writer in the whole world has: my perspective.

#history #fiction #writing