Monday Musing: Write What You Know: True Grit Edition

[writertracy]

This weekend was my mother's birthday. To celebrate, my sister and I took her downtown to ride the restored trolley. The volunteers at the historic site are very excited, so we received a pretty good education in local history. That's the inspiration behind today's Monday Musing: an example of write what you know.

In 1968 an  Arkansas native named

Comments

[writertracy]

Thank you! I love history. Quite a bit of it works it's way into my own books.

[bogwitch64]

Well, this was certainly a good story to head off into break with.

[writertracy]

Thanks! There are a lot of great stories in this region, I've mined a few of them for my own books, which I usually set somewhere in Northern Arkansas. I'm fairly convinced that every region in the country is like that. There are good stories, but you have to look for them.

Thanks for all the great info!

[novelfriend]

I'm definitely with you on the importance of writing what you know. It gives much more soul and spirit to a piece because there are so many concrete facts... and who but a native to a place would know better where the magic can fit in between the buildings? And where stories normally walk the roads?

Besides that, thank you for all the great info on the area. I love researching location for any place, and I've had westerns in my head for a bit. Cannot wait for the movie, actually. :) Happy Holidays & New Year to you, Tracy!

Re: Thanks for all the great info!

[writertracy]

Fort Smith history has been mined for a western or two through history. The 'Hangin' Judge' in Hang Em' High is also based on Parker. And parts of Lonesome Dove were set in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

[amethyste5]

If only my grandparents were computer literate, they would love this post! My grandfather is a huge John Wayne fan, my sister made his year when she was quite small by saying they looked like each other, and my grandmother has this ceramic rooster named...yep, Rooster Cogburn.

Happy Holidays!

[writertracy]

They would probably enjoy a trip to Fort Smith, since it's such a western town. In about 5 years they're going to build the National US Marshall's museum and expand the trolley so that it is a regular passenger line instead of just something that tourists can ride.