THE HISTORY WRITER YOU NEED, THE STORY YOU GET

Every history writer has a To Be Read stack of books.

I like to think most people have the same stack.

The difference for a writer is most of their books To Be Read explain how to write.

I’m finally able to say they helped me. How? Thank you for asking.

The big question I pulled out of an American History BS from Portland State, with a focus on Oregon History, was the big question of Big History.

Every other history question shrinks in comparison to the biggie. If anyone says there’s a bigger question, they are not historian-worthy. This is all you have to ask to be Historian-Worthy:

WHAT HAPPENED?

Part of the answer is the writer, make it a history writer. They write history books called monographs when they stick to one subject or era.

Based on their education and reputation, they give an informed opinion you can trust. I read the books on the class reading lists, so I trusted the profs.

The other part of the answer comes from collection artifacts, interviewing witnesses and experts, and reading monographs.

Many of those answers end up in museums.

A WRITER’S BIG QUESTION: WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT?

Like a history writer, writers take a load of material, events and objects, and try to show, not tell.

What to put in, what to leave out, and what to cut once it’s in because you’ve already said the same thing in three different parts of the story, is the question after What’s This All About.

What I learned this very morning comes from a book I bought four years ago. I’m right on time on the reading list, but I didn’t read it straight through. Instead, I opened it and read a paragraph. If I liked it, I read another. Which is the answer to why a four year read.

Finally, I cut to the chase and read the last chapter before writing exercises. The conclusion, I think, but this may have appeared earlier:

“Once you identify the narrator, you have a piece of writing figured out.”

I relate to this most of all because I’m a ‘figure it out’ guy. From minor electrical and plumbing, to coaching sports and managing marriage, to separating ideas that move a narrative forward from the rest of the chaff, I eventually figured it out.

A Virus Story

Because we’re in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, a history writer can’t reflect and collect as much from a long timeline.

Currently, modern history feels like finger pointing and blame, not a presentation of objective fact. Different emotions kick in when fatalities mount in online news and television.

Instead of ‘WHAT HAPPENED’ let’s ask the writer question of ‘WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT.’

This is what I’ve figured out from my isolation bubble:

If we wash our hands and stay down, stay apart, covid-19 will run it’s course. That is the big job.

And if we get help to those in need, we’ve fulfilled a moral imperative, an American moral imperative.

Start with the neighborhood, circle of friends and family, town, county, state. In other words, start close and deal, then check the rest. If you do, they do, then the rest will fall into place.

However, there is a problem when leaders don’t have the neighborhood connection, never had it. Do you know your neighbors? Did you know neighbors growing up?

I had the Hines’ family next door on Ohio St, with the McCrackens on the other side. The Helm’s lived across the street; their daughter grew up and taught in my high school. The Hugo’s lived down on the corner, a bunch of kids with a big brother older than mine.

What this is all about is finding the right narrator for coronavirus, someone who understands what it means to be a neighbor more than they understand being a landlord.

Like Mr. Rogers’ mom said: “Look for the helpers.”