On Research
I’ve been quiet on my blog, and I thought I would share a little about why. My current wip, Interior of a Heart, didn’t start out as a story with military roots and ties. I began this book last year and at the time, I knew it would be a young adult book about honor. From there, it evolved and many of the characters naturally transformed into veterans or soldiers. The town in the story became a military town. Recently it hit me. Real men and women have fought – a couple of those veterans from my family – and died. I had better do them justice. And suddenly the stakes in my work were raised.
The last few weeks, when I haven’t been writing or editing, I’ve been lost in research. I’ve read books and articles on the Vietnam War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve watched hours of video footage of soldiers. I’ve not given a lot of attention to politics or grandstanding or personal views on whether or not we should be fighting. Most of my research has been on what war is like on the battlefield, how the experience has differed from war to war, and what it’s like to return home after fighting. This topic has not been easy to delve into, and I’m not out to push my views on others. But wow. What a wakeup call.
On a personal level, I feel changed by what I’ve learned. I am overwhelmed by how little I still know. I am filled with a desire to do more. I am guilty because I’ve done nothing before now. I am saddened by how little we care about our soldiers as a society. I am shamed by how little I’ve cared about our soldiers personally. I am worried I won’t get it right in my story. I am moved by the power of words. I am hopeful that my words will be honest.
So, yeah. These are just some of the things I’ve been thinking about.
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8 Responses to "On Research"
on October 18, 2010 | to this post
Cory, this is such a heartfelt post, and I really appreciate it. My younger brother is an Army Infantryman who has served 14 months in Iraq and is currently serving an 11 month tour in Afghanistan. As the sister of a soldier, it is hard to deal with the way our veterans and active-duty military’s hardships and sacrifices are glossed over in the media. I, too, like to leave the politics out of it, because trust me, the soldiers are too busy over there making sure the battle buddy on their left and the battle buddy on their right make it back to be worrying about what Bush, Obama, or anyone else was or is doing in the political realm.
I fell in love with INTERIOR OF A HEART when you posted the excerpt during your MFA crash course, not only because of the caliber of the writing, but because of the oft-ignored, very human story of our military and their loved ones that you explore. I don’t know what kind of experts you have emailed, but if you have trouble getting answers or would like to ask me anything, I would be glad to answer as fully as I possibly can. And, if you were interested, I would be honored to beta INTERIOR for the military-related aspects or otherwise.
Best,
Abby
abby@abbystevens.com
on October 18, 2010 | to this post
Abby, your brother is doing an amazing thing, and I’m glad he has you supporting him back home. Many, many of the soldiers feel the same way your brother does. Survival for their buddies first, survival for themselves second. Politics hardly enter the picture. Thank you for your comments on Interior, too. It’s by far the most challenging, most rewarding thing I’ve ever worked on. Right now I’m researching specifics on the Fayetteville VA hospital, so we’ll see where I get with that. I’ve been to the Loma Linda and LA hospitals, but I wanted more location details – that I haven’t been able to find on the web. I’ll definitely take you up on the beta offer when I’m in a good place for beta reading! Thanks for the offer!
on October 18, 2010 | to this post
Cory, this is such a powerful post, not just about the role of, and scars left by, the military in our country, but also about how writing books changes us, the writers. It is a huge responsibility when you tell a story like this. I so understand the hope for what the book can do, and the fear that somehow the words won’t be strong enough to bring it to life. (Though given the little bit I’ve seen of your writing – even in this post – I suspect you will succeed!) Good luck – I can’t wait to read it someday.
on October 19, 2010 | to this post
Thanks, Cory. He actually just left from Mid-Tour Leave back to Afghanistan yesterday. We had a great time with him but miss him so much when he’s over there. And I look forward to reading.
If you have trouble getting location details, you could try to contact someone on Fayetteville’s (or equivalent) Craig’s List and see if they will visit the VA and take pictures for a small amount of money. Not sure if you would want to do that, but something along those lines could work…
on October 19, 2010 | to this post
More from a historical viewpoint (but maybe for a future WIP) I’ve been researching WWII a lot again, lately. And it humbles me and it saddens me. The thought that history repeats itself and some things never change. At the same time it gives me hope, because people are also able to do magnificent things. By putting not themselves first, but friends, family, complete strangers. People who are willing to die for freedom, and people who survive against all odds.
What I want to say with this? No idea. Just that it gives me perspective.
on October 19, 2010 | to this post
I have also been researching wars with very high casualties for my novel. I think when we, as a country, pause to consider which wars had high body counts, WWI and WWII come immediately to mine. I’ve had to be careful not to focus only on wars that occur in Western nations. As a result, I found that a rebellion in China in 756 killed 38 million people. Considering the size of the world’s population at the time, that’s unspeakably high.
I also learned that the number of Native Americans that died after North and South America was colonized could be as high as 150 million, but that number is much tougher to estimate. Most died from disease, but many were slaughtered in battles. It just makes me want to cry for the waste of human life.
on October 22, 2010 | to this post
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!