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To Include or Not to Include

07 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by Nancy Clark in Writing Biographies

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biography, characters, details in biography, family history, how to choose details

Decisions, decisions! As I have commented before in this blog, trying to figure out what to include and not include in Dr. Blaine’s biography is a constant source of frustration. My mind gets overloaded with so many details that I can’t see the forest for the trees–and the bushes, leaves, sticks, mud puddles, flies, gnats…. Well, you get the drift. Too  much information is almost worse than not enough. How do I control this deluge?

decisionsIn desperation I turned to my file folder labeled “Writing Tips,” bulging with words of wisdom collected over many years from Writers Digest, websites, books on writing, presenters at various writing conferences, and I read through every page. Surprisingly, all of it boiled down to a few simple guidelines: (1) Tell the truth; (2) Include only details that establish the setting, advance the plot, or shed light on the characters; and (3) Explain only as much as you need to. The reader will fill in the rest.

Whew! There is a way through this forest if I just follow the path these guidelines create. Even as I tackle those parts of the doctor’s life that are more exposition than story, I can test each detail that floats into my consciousness by asking these questions: Will it give the reader a sense of the setting? Is it relevant to the story I am telling? And/or will it help the reader understand one of the characters better?

Following these guidelines, I can see now that the story about how Dr. Blaine helped the town marshal capture a shoe thief, although not of cosmic importance, does reveal his impulsiveness and his deep respect for the law.

On the other hand, the menu for a January 1904 Knights of Pythias banquet probably does not belong in the book since it adds only a very small bit of information about the setting.  But in case you are a true history buff (and I am too!), I’ll share the menu here. The appetizer was cut oranges and bananas. The main course included cold ham, escalloped oysters, olives, mixed pickles, cheese, biscuit, butter, and potato chips–all cold food except possibly for the oysters. How different from our present-day banquet fare of hot chicken, beef, or fish with all the fixings! Dessert was more what we would call traditional fare: cake, ice cream, and wafers. The differences are fascinating. But you also need to remember that oranges and bananas in the middle of a Midwestern winter in the days before the mass movement of perishables were no doubt a real treat! And not many venues were equipped with kitchens large enough to serve hot food to a large crowd of people.

And so the book takes shape one detail, one story at a time. How all of it will eventually fit together is anyone’s guess. But what sustains me is the “aha” moment described by the contemporary short story writer George Saunders when writing an entire book for the first time: “Of course, I can make a mansion with a series of linked yurts!” And I plod on, writing those yurts with as much finesse as I can and hoping that a mansion will result.

For those of you who also write biography, how do you decide what to include and not include? Feel free to share your words of wisdom by responding to this blog.

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The Century Ride

03 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by Nancy Clark in Uncategorized, Writing Biographies

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bicycles, biography, Century Run, characters, Dr. Blaine, Harry S. Blaine, safety bicycles, writing biography

I have many memories of my grandfather, Harry S. Blaine, one of Dr. Blaine’s sons. He was ever present during my childhood as a quiet, studious man whose interests ranged from clocks to genealogical research. By the time I was a teenager, I was taller than he was. Nowhere in my wildest imaginings did I picture him as an athlete.

But when I recently reread his recollections of growing up in Attica and Toledo, I discovered, to my surprise, that he was an avid bicyclist in his youth. And we’re not talking about short rides around the neighborhood here. At the age of 18, my grandfather took on the challenge of what is still called today a Century Ride and accomplished not only the required 100 miles or more in a 12-hour period, but added even more, accumulating a total of  almost 200 miles on his bicycle before he was finished!

safety bike 1896With the invention of what is called a “safety” bike in the 1880s, the bicycle craze took off around the world. With two wheels the same size, these bikes were easy to control and became a popular alternative form of transportation for both men and women. In fact, their popularity among women encouraged not only new styles of clothing, but also more independence and wider participation in society.

In the summer of 1898, Harry conceived of his plan to bike from Attica to Canton, OH, and from there all the way to Pittsburgh, PA, where his grandparents lived. As a warm-up for that long trip, he and a friend rode from Attica to Toledo, a distance of about 70 miles. With that successful venture behind him, Harry then took on the Century Ride. Dressed in a cut-off pair of old trousers and packing only a coat and a small kit of tools, Harry started off early one July morning on the 100-mile trip to Canton.

The roads were the biggest challenge. They were mostly unpaved and poorly maintained. Harry was kept busy weaving from side to side in order to avoid large holes and other obstacles. At one point, he glanced too long at some harvesters in a field, hit a board in the road, and tumbled over the handlebars into a shallow ditch. Fortunately, the only injury was to his dignity, as the farmers guffawed loudly upon witnessing his spill. After 11 1/2 long hours, he arrived at the home of some cousins in Canton, tired and with numb wrists after all those miles of pressing down on the handlebars. But the sense of  accomplishment made up for the temporary discomfort. He had mastered the Century Run!

That was only the first leg of his grand adventure. After resting a few days in Canton, Harry turned his sights toward Pittsburgh. It was smooth sailing until the relatively flat landscape morphed into small hills, then large hills, and then mountains. This was before the invention of coaster brakes and gears on bicycles. Going up involved pumping with more and more effort; going down with no way to control his speed became an impossibility. By the time he reached the state line and saw the mountains of Pennsylvania looming before him, Harry realized that he could ride his bike no further. At the nearest town, he bought a train ticket to Pittsburgh, checked his bicycle, and rode the rest of the way in comfort.

He did manage to ride his bike part of the way home in between stretches on the railroad, therefore obtaining his ambitious goal. But as he noted in his recollections: “This was the last trip of any consequence I made per bicycle.” Now that sounds more like the grandfather I knew!

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Life Isn’t Linear

09 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by Nancy Clark in Writing Biographies

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biography, characters, Dr. Blaine, old time doctor, old time doctors, writing biography

When I first started pulling together resources for my great-grandfather’s biography, I figured that it would be easy to organize: start at his birth and end at his death — right? Wrong again! Writing it that way, I soon discovered, was boring. No one wants to wade through pages of “He was born on…. When he was nine, he…. In 1877 he married…. He died in….” And after recalling biographies that I have read and enjoyed, I realized that good biographies are much more than just lists of events.

So, taking the advice of a writer friend, I began to look for stories to hang the facts on. And there are plenty of those. Implication in a grave robbery, two devastating fires, the early death of a son, a divorce, a trip to England right before the start of World War I — these are only a sample of what makes Dr. Harry Blaine’s life so compelling. Now that I am about halfway through a very rough draft, using stories as a way to organize all the bulging files of information I have collected seems to be working. They are certainly more interesting to write and hopefully will be more interesting to read.

One problem which still lingers, however, is what to do with portions of his life in which specific stories are lacking but which reveal more about his character. He was active in community affairs, for example, serving as mayor of Attica, Ohio, for one term. He also invested in a number of business ventures, but had an uncanny sense of picking largely unsuccessful ones. No compelling stories there, but important facts that round out who this man was. What do I do with those? Will it be possible to slide some factual chapters in between the stories and still keep the reader from nodding off? Maybe I’ll just have to wait and see how it all fits together and decide from there.

But that brings me back to my original question: How do I organize this mess? No one’s life is a straight line. Even in telling a story from my own life, I find myself circling around, backing up, filling in detail, flying off in tangents. Stories may be paramount, but what order do I put them in and how much backstory can I cram in without confusing — or boring the reader? People who write novels must share some of these same concerns, but they at least have the freedom to invent their way around obstacles. Writers of biography are stuck with the facts, just the facts, ma’am.

I’m already slipping out of that straight-jacket. And it feels liberating!

Comments – and advice – are welcome!

Dr. Blaine

Dr. Blaine

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Adding Characters in a Biography

19 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by Nancy Clark in Writing Biographies

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biography, characters, historical fiction

To include or not to include — that is the question! As I write the biography of my great-grandfather, it is obvious that he is the main character, but who else do I include as supporting cast? His wife and four sons were a main influence in his life, and I feel that I know enough about them to do them justice. But what about the myriad of friends, neighbors, co-workers, and other family members that peopled his word? Since I know so little about any of them, do I mention them only by name? Or do I once again slide over the boundary between biography and fiction and flesh some of them out as real people? I have seen examples of other writers doing that very thing in order to carry the story along. Whether or not I can find enough confidence in my ability to create characters on my own remains to be seen.

If anyone has any advice or has wrestled with a similar dilemma, please feel free to

Dr. Blaine's sons: Ernest, William, Earl, Harry S.

Dr. Blaine’s sons: Ernest, William, Earl, Harry S.

respond!

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