Reaching Into the Past

p.m.terrell

I have often heard that no experience is ever lost on a writer. This is true not only for current events but also for our memories. If we were lucky enough to have older generations share their memories with us, we harbor those images within ourselves because they, too, may have made us who we are.


A chance conversation recently took me back to the 1971 Mississippi Delta. A family member mentioned legislation that is now before the Supreme Court, and my life flashed back in an instant.


My father is a former FBI Agent. In 1967 amid the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement, he was transferred from the New York office to the Mississippi Delta. He was the Senior Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Greenville office, the largest field office outside Washington, DC. It was a tumultuous time, and as I began writing my latest book set against that backdrop, I realized how much this country had changed and yet, how much had remained the same.


I avoided controversial subjects throughout most of my writing career, recognizing my readers probably fell on both sides of an issue. After that chance conversation, I could not shake the idea of writing a fictional story about the attack of a young woman in 1971 Mississippi who discovered she was pregnant with the assailant’s child. The book was meant to show the options—and lack thereof—that were available to a young woman facing an uncertain future and society’s judgment. Seventeen-year-old Dani had her entire life planned out, or so she thought; she was engaged, graduating from high school, and embarking on a journalism career and college. Everything changes one fateful night when she is attacked in her own home by a stranger.


In writing about 1971 Mississippi, I encountered many of the issues still being fought and debated today: women’s reproductive rights, class systems, racial inequality, unpopular wars, and misogyny.


Here are a few tips for writing about the past:


(1) Choose an era with conflict. There are reasons why authors set some of their greatest works against times of war, such as Doctor Zhivago, War and Peace, Gone with the Wind, and others. There are other types of conflict, such as the suffrage movement, civil rights, the rise of unions, and the settling of the west.

(2) Find hope in the chaos. Readers seek inspiration, particularly in dark or troubled times. Even amid war, love can be found. In times of hardship, there are success stories. During times of economic depression, someone is rising to the top. The tougher the climb, the sweeter the victory.

(3) Weave historical facts into the storyline. Selecting a time of historical significance and then weaving parts of that history through the plot lends authenticity to your story. Readers may recognize the backdrop and empathize more strongly with certain characters if they are recent events, but even those from centuries past can evoke strong emotion. Check your facts carefully; your credibility could suffer if you get them wrong.

(4) Make the story personal. I’m sure some of us dozed through at least one history class. The likely reason is we were not connecting to the facts and figures. When you introduce characters we love or hate into the historical backdrop, readers become invested in what happens to them. It’s what made Michael Shaara’s and Jeff Shaara’s historical books bestsellers.

(5) Don’t preach. Allow your characters to tell the story through their actions and their challenges. To this day, we instinctively know the nature of an Uncle Tom, Simon Legree, Scrooge or Hannibal Lector. In my book, Dani’s Decision, I remained on a thin line, never leaning too far in one direction or another as Dani contemplated her future. It fascinates me that the ending differs in the readers’ minds depending upon their own beliefs and morals. I had never before written a book with such unexpected and varied reactions.



And sometimes, reading a book in a different era tells us that we will be all right. The world survived past plagues, wars, and seemingly insurmountable challenges. We know we will prevail again, and we will flourish again. There is always hope amid the chaos.

p.m.terrell is the internationally acclaimed, award-winning author of more than twenty-five books, including historical fiction, creative nonfiction, and contemporary suspense. She is the co-founder of the Book ‘Em Foundation and founder of the annual North Carolina Book ‘Em Writers Conference and Book Fair. Both raise awareness of the correlation between high illiteracy rates and high crime rates and raise money to promote and increase literacy. She divides her time between North Carolina and her ancestral home in Ireland. She is an avid supporter of animal rights and has welcomed seven rescue dogs into her family.


Website: https://pmterrell.com/


Facebook: pmterrell.author

Twitter: @pmterrell

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/P.-M.-Terrell/e/B001JOXFXK

 

 

An Unusual Year

p. m. terrell

This year has undoubtedly been one for the record books.

In one sense, I discovered my solitary lifestyle is already suited to the restrictions of a pandemic. My writer’s studio is removed from the rest of the house, placing me in a familiar cocoon filled with the characters, settings, and plots that fill my next book. I’ve discovered this to be a blessing, as I have managed to escape for a few hours each day into history. Several years ago, I’d begun transitioning from contemporary fiction to historical fiction, and it had an unexpected benefit in 2020. I found that historical settings were soothing; no matter how dire things became with revolution, pandemics, plagues, or world war, there is the knowledge that the world survived it. The human race moved through it and carried on, many times to peace, prosperity, cooperation, advancement, and renaissance.

However, writing about historical backdrops also compelled me to travel to those settings. Over the years, I’ve met with historians, archeologists, museum curators, university experts, and more. There is nothing like standing on the battlefield itself, especially when it appears so much like it had generations earlier. There is nothing like touring Kilmainham Gaol, where Irish rebels, now revered, were executed or looking at the bullet holes that still grace Dublin’s Old Post Office, or touring the old Viking segment of Dublin Castle. Even if I managed a flight to Ireland, all are closed now, as they have been for most of 2020. It has also been surreal, discovering that while some countries’ citizens are allowed back into Ireland, Americans have not, because the pandemic in the United States is far worse than in many European countries. It has forced me to rely more on memories of my ancestral home.

To work successfully at home:

It helps to have an area dedicated to work, whether an office, he/she shed, or a comfortable spot in the woods.

Routines become crucial, rising at the same time each day, breaking at specific times, and setting the work aside at a particular hour.

Video has become a good friend. Many museums offer digital tours of rooms and whole facilities, historical and educational videos, and much more. Emails and Zoom calls round out my research now.

Learn to exercise outside the gym.

Limit social media. Many people that have been off work or work from home have flocked to social media. Unfortunately, with the upheavals of 2020, it’s easy to get pulled into the negativity. Remember, you control what you see in your newsfeeds. I’ve made a conscious effort to follow Irish photographers. They bring beauty onto my screen, and often their photographs are accompanied by historical information.

Above all, remember this too shall pass. 

p.m.terrell is the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 24 books in numerous genres, including suspense, historical, instructional, and general fiction. She is the founder of Book ‘Em North Carolina and The Novel Business. Her latest release, A Struggle for Independence, is historical fiction set against Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising. Visit www.pmterrell.com for book trailers, excerpts, behind-the-scenes articles, and much more.

You will enjoy reading p. m. terrell's article in the magazine below, she was the cover January 2014. Just click on this link and scroll to January, 2014.

https://www.presspadapp.com/digital-magazine/southern-writers

 

Change the World with Your Writing: Character Conflicts That Help Your Reader (Part 1)

Continuing Series:  Change the World with Your Writing

p. m. terrell   @pmterrell
Columnist for Southern Writers 

A gripping read must have at least one character with which the reader can identify. A book that makes an impact is one in which the conflict this character must face places the reader in a position
to empathize with their situation and consider how they would handle it if they were in the character’s shoes. The top stressors an individual can face in their lifetime include: