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I’ve never done as much research as I’ve done for this middle grade novel on the founding fathers. Every chapter is an adventure . . . And I never know what I’m going to uncover.  Part 1 – How I Do The Research: I learned within the first 10 chapters that I need 3 different kinds of research for each one. First and most importantly, I look up the man who died. It’s your only chance to meet him. I need at least three sources of information about him. Then I cut and paste the sources together. If I find the same fact 3 times, I can use it. Less, I can’t. Even then I still need to decide which facts are important, and which ones to skip.  Next, I research the death year from the American Revolution. I copy and paste everything, until I know what’s important. Finally, I look up what my main character, Charles Carroll of Carrollton was doing. I save everything he did that year. The same rules still apply – I need to know which facts I can verify, and which ones fit in the chapter. Note – I save all three kinds of research, after my first draft of the actual chapter. Then I paste the research in the order it fit in the chapter, with all the source links. The last and biggest part, that’s all the stuff that didn’t fit in, verified or not, with their source links too. It’s there, just in case. The first draft of a chapter is 10 pages or less. The research I use is usually 5-8 pages, and the rest, it’s what didn’t fit. The whole document is usually 30-40 pages altogether. Part 2 – Stuck on a Fire: The idea for this post came when I hit chapter 36. I was stuck for 2 days on the research, and I couldn’t move forward until I pieced it together. When I looked up tobacco planting in the 1790s, I discovered they burned the seed beds before they planted them. I couldn’t imagine setting a fire on purpose – I grew up with Smokey the Bear. And today kids are still taught NOT to set fires, and I was writing about setting one. WHOA!  The first thing I looked up – controlled burns. The link: Controlled Burns on the Farm | Beginning Farmers I learned from Beginning Farmers that you wait for a calm day to start the burn. Go to the bottom of a hill with the wind blowing up the slope. Set your fire so the wind blows away from people and houses. Aim it towards things like creeks, dirt roads, or rock barriers. Those 4 ideas helped, but I still wasn’t ready to write.  I also looked up this link: 13869 (ncpedia.org) It’s from North Carolina’s encyclopedia. The title – Tobacco Farming the Old Way. I copied the pages I needed, but I didn’t use them. Why? I already had that information, but it confirmed the facts I knew. I’ve never started a fire without matches so I found another source: Link: How to Start a Fire With Flint and Steel | The Art of Manliness I copied and saved the supplies I need for the chapter. I’ll get a piece of flint, steel, and a char cloth. They all have specific requirements to start a real fire, but I don’t need to do that. Only write about it. Next, I’ll find some tinder. That’s dry grass or bits of plants from last year.  I also copied two pictures from that link. I had to remember what they looked like. If I can’t picture them, you won’t when you read the words. I couldn’t share my pictures. I wasn’t sure if they were copyrighted so I took a screenshot from the search engine. The second and fifth pictures are the ones that helped me start a fire of words for you.  But I still couldn’t write, so I found a YouTube video. I watched it a few times and wrote down these notes: - fire burns slowly - hearing crackling - left behind black ash - edge of flame licked edge of field Then I could write my controlled fire scene in chapter 36. Charley sets the fire, watches it burn, and keeps it under control. I was thrilled! My critique partners said they could picture the fire, all from my words. As a writer, that’s as good as it gets! And the link: VN 000355 L65 CB283 16x9 3m30s 230620M (youtube.com) Part 3 – False Family Connections:  Meet the four delegates from South Carolina who signed the Declaration of Independence. The first is Edward Rutledge from Chapter 38 of my middle grade novel. I thought I found a great angle – that he was the brother-in-law of the other three. Then I double checked my research.  Edward Rutledge and Arthur Middleton WERE brothers-in-law. Edward married Arthur’s sister, Henrietta. He died on New Year’s Day in 1787. I knew that – Arthur died in Chapter 14. Henrietta Rutledge died in 1792, and Edward remarried. My source said he was related to the other men through his second wife, Mary Shubrick Everleigh. And that source: Edward Rutledge | Facts, Early Years, Life, Death, Military & Politics (revolutionary-war.net)  Thomas Heyward Edward Rutledge died in January 23, 1800. Thomas Heyward was still alive, so I kept looking. Thomas married twice. His first wife, Elizabeth Matthews. The second, Elizabeth Savage. No Shubrick’s there, and Rutledge wasn’t mentioned, AT ALL. Here’s one of the sources I checked: Thomas Heyward, Jr. | Facts, Early Years, Life, Death & Politics (revolutionary-war.net)  Thomas Lynch Jr. I thought I was done with Rutledge and his brothers-in-law, but I discovered there might have been a connection. I didn’t realize it until I did the research for this post. Thomas Lynch Jr. married a Paige Shubrick in 1772, but they took a ship to the West Indies in December of 1779. Their ship never arrived so they must have died at sea. It’s one of the saddest chapters I’ve written, because of their age/cause of death. Paige may have been Mary’s sister, but she and her husband died long before Mary married Rutledge. AND there was no mention of a connection on the site. I’m glad I never used the brother-in-law reference in Chapter 36. Here’s one of the sources I used: Thomas Lynch | Facts, Early Years, Life, Death & Politics (revolutionary-war.net) Part 4 – A Shocking Discovery: This is a painting of the Declaration of Independence, but it’s not the signing. The five men standing in the middle are the Committee of Five. They drafted the Declaration. I always thought the Continental Congress signed it on the Fourth of July. Nope! Only two men did – President John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson. But that wasn’t my shocking discovery.  When I started writing Chapter 1 back in January of 2023, I knew the signing happened on August 2. And I thought all 56 men signed their names. Nope! Only 49, and THAT was my shocking discovery.  Meet Matthew Thornton! In that first draft of Chapter 1, I knew he signed late. His name was last on the Declaration, not with the other 2 men from New Hampshire. Something happened, but I didn’t know the what – so I took my best guess. Simplest is always best – Matthew signed later in the week. Then I hit Chapter 38, this summer on June 25. I think I went into shock. My mind probably raced, trying to figure out what to do. Here’s what I saw that night. It stopped me cold! Source #1: Matthew Thornton | Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (dsdi1776.com)  Although Thornton was not present during the debates on independence or when 50 of the delegates signed the Declaration on August 2, he became one of six signers who did so in the following months…”  “…was elected to the Continental Congress just in time to sign the Declaration of Independence…”  “…signed the Declaration, several months after the official signing in July, one of six signers who were not actually present at the Congress when the Declaration was adopted…” Did you notice I color code my notes to help me ‘see’ my sources when I write? Later it helps when I go back to check something, like shocking discoveries!  Within 30 minutes I texted and asked a critique partner if we could zoom the next day. She said yes. So I did some searching, and here’s what I learned . . . Link #1: The Declaration of Independence: A History | National Archives This one had 5.  Among the later signers were Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean, and Matthew Thornton, who found that he had no room to sign with the other New Hampshire delegates. Link #2: Signers of the Declaration of Independence | Daughters of the American Revolution (dar.org) Had 2.  1. Matthew Thornton from New Hampshire Granted permission to sign. Arrived 3 months later. 2. Oliver Wolcott from Connecticut Signed after he returned to Congress in October.  And here are the men who signed late: 1. Matthew Thornton - Arrived in Congress November 4. Probably signed in November. New Hampshire 2. Elbridge Gerry - Away on July 4; Returned to Congress September 2, 1776. Probably signed September 3. - Massachusetts 3. Oliver Wolcott - Returned October 1. Probably signed in October. Connecticut 4. Lewis Morris - Returned to Congress after August 2, before September 8. Likely signed in September - New York 5. George Wythe Returned to Congress after August 2, before September 14. Probably signed in September - Virginia 6. Richard Henry Lee Returned to Congress August 27, 1776. Probably signed in September - Virginia 7. Thomas McKean - Returned to Congress briefly in September,1776. Returned in January 1777. Signature is missing from Goddard Broadside, printed January. No one knows when he signed. Delaware  And here’s my plan for going forward:
1. Go with 7 late signers. 2. Three names are mentioned in Chapter 1. Change/delete them and leave the rest alone. 3. Make notes on the 7 late signers on the chapters I’ve written, and on my timeline for the ones ahead.
2 Comments
9/30/2024 06:25:18 pm
Wow. You are quite the sleuth, Rinda! Fascinating!
Rinda Beach
9/30/2024 08:23:47 pm
Thank you! It's good to be fascinating! Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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AuthorWhen I write, I can only have one voice in my head, mine. A little noise is fine. But too much, or worse yet, WORDS, and I must change rooms or pull out headphones. Then I can write on! Categories
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