by JC Schweingrouber
Sometimes a writer’s job is to just be curious. I think that’s especially true for Appalachian writers. You don’t have to necessarily travel across the country to find something worth writing about. Sometimes the best material is sitting at the end of your road or behind an old church. It could be in a family photograph or floating around in the memory of someone who has lived in your town for eighty years. The point is that Central Appalachia is filled with stories. Just look around Bristol and the smaller communities that are scattered throughout Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. The area is filled with hollows and crossroads, creeks and cemeteries. Every farm and old building has a story attached to it. The trick is learning how to find that story. For me, it all starts with a simple question. My curiosity gets the best of me. I’ll play the “question game” with myself whenever I’m driving.
Why is that road called that?
Who lived in that old house?
What kind of memories are found in those walls?
Why did that business close down or why did the old general store close?
Who hung out there?
What happened to the people that used to live in that community?
Why does everyone remember that particular person?
Don’t worry about knowing where the question will lead. Just follow it. We don’t always have to start with a story. Sometimes we begin with a question and follow it until the story appears. Ideas for great books and stories are all around us, whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction. You can get a new idea by taking a different route home after work or walking through an old cemetery. I often think of Sinking Springs Cemetery in Abingdon or the one at the end of old Jones Chapel Road in Cedar Bluff. I’ve walked through both of them and wondered about the lives lived of those who are buried there. What they saw, how they felt in their times. Sometimes an idea can come from visiting a small community in your area that you may have passed by a hundred times but never stopped to explore. Pay attention to the names of buildings and old signs. Have you ever noticed a house that didn’t look like they houses being built today? A good place to learn about a town is to stop by their local diner and don’t be shy. Open up and talk to a few of the older folks that come in to eat. They’ll tell you all about the town. They may know why an old school was torn down or why a particular family left town. Whatever your interest is, follow the trail. That seems pretty cut and dry for nonfiction. However, for fiction the process is different, but curiosity remains the starting point. Perhaps you drive past an abandoned house. You don’t know what happened there, but that’s where your imagination takes over.
Who lived there?
Why did they leave in such a hurry?
What did they leave behind?
Who knows the truth?
You don’t have to document the answers for fiction writing. You just have to create it.
Sometimes a writer’s job is to just be curious. I think that’s especially true for Appalachian writers. You don’t have to necessarily travel across the country to find something worth writing about. Sometimes the best material is sitting at the end of your road or behind an old church. It could be in a family photograph or floating around in the memory of someone who has lived in your town for eighty years. The point is that Central Appalachia is filled with stories. Just look around Bristol and the smaller communities that are scattered throughout Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. The area is filled with hollows and crossroads, creeks and cemeteries. Every farm and old building has a story attached to it. The trick is learning how to find that story. For me, it all starts with a simple question. My curiosity gets the best of me. I’ll play the “question game” with myself whenever I’m driving.
Why is that road called that?
Who lived in that old house?
What kind of memories are found in those walls?
Why did that business close down or why did the old general store close?
Who hung out there?
What happened to the people that used to live in that community?
Why does everyone remember that particular person?
Don’t worry about knowing where the question will lead. Just follow it. We don’t always have to start with a story. Sometimes we begin with a question and follow it until the story appears. Ideas for great books and stories are all around us, whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction. You can get a new idea by taking a different route home after work or walking through an old cemetery. I often think of Sinking Springs Cemetery in Abingdon or the one at the end of old Jones Chapel Road in Cedar Bluff. I’ve walked through both of them and wondered about the lives lived of those who are buried there. What they saw, how they felt in their times. Sometimes an idea can come from visiting a small community in your area that you may have passed by a hundred times but never stopped to explore. Pay attention to the names of buildings and old signs. Have you ever noticed a house that didn’t look like they houses being built today? A good place to learn about a town is to stop by their local diner and don’t be shy. Open up and talk to a few of the older folks that come in to eat. They’ll tell you all about the town. They may know why an old school was torn down or why a particular family left town. Whatever your interest is, follow the trail. That seems pretty cut and dry for nonfiction. However, for fiction the process is different, but curiosity remains the starting point. Perhaps you drive past an abandoned house. You don’t know what happened there, but that’s where your imagination takes over.
Who lived there?
Why did they leave in such a hurry?
What did they leave behind?
Who knows the truth?
You don’t have to document the answers for fiction writing. You just have to create it.
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