"Often the tip is something I already know; often it’s about a feature that I don’t think I’d ever use, and sometimes—like today—it provides a solution to a problems that’s been vexing me for weeks."
Category: Narrative History
On Writing: Narrative History Requires More Than Getting the Facts Right
It's my job to present old stories for today's readers. I want people to read straight through my stuff and say: "That's interesting."
On Writing: Cubism, Narrative History and the Nez Perce
"Like a Cubist painting, the final narrative won’t always arrange things in the way that people are used to seeing them, but I hope it will be compelling and enlightening."
Narrative History or Historical Fiction 3: A Moonlit Night In Yellowstone Park, August 23, 1877.
"Emma couldn’t have known that Yellow Wolf and his band of Nez Perce scouts had seen the bonfire and were planning to attack the camp the next morning."
Narrative History or Historical Fiction? — Redux
"If I were writing fiction, it would be easy to foreshadow the drama . . ."
Narrative History or Historical Fiction?
Most of the time I think I’ll write my next book, Encounters in Yellowstone, as narrative history, but when I hit a dead end in my research, I’m tempted to switch to historical fiction.
Researching Attitudes Toward Indians
What would it feel like to wake up in a wilderness with a lead slug embedded in your skull and remember watching your wife being dragged away by hostile Indians?
