| Through research you can find topics, subjects and | | | | Sea Islands where the culture is similar to after |
| 'seeds' for stories. Pick five different topics that | | | | slavery. The slave castles on the West Coast of |
| interest you, and research them on the Internet, or | | | | Africa, and children who are reared in foster care, |
| through your local library. These topics can be virtually | | | | and its after effects. Sometimes you can combine |
| anything, as long as they interest you, and | | | | different story ideas for an interesting story. |
| information is available. Write brief "summaries" of | | | | Where Can You Begin? |
| specific pieces of information that you come | | | | Know your idea. Start with a "What if" premise. For |
| across-seeds that could become the basis for future | | | | instance, "What if there was a secret conspiracy to |
| stories. After the summary, list things you've learned | | | | put African Americans in concentration camps?" |
| or thoughts that could form the basis of future | | | | (Author, John A. Williams, The Man Who Cried I am.) |
| stories. | | | | You might bring a moment in history alive through |
| Example: | | | | weaving fact, poetic license and fancy. |
| Through my research, I discovered old-fashioned | | | | Use old newspapers to find out people viewed the |
| practices for abortions and birth control and other | | | | world in a different era. You can find these on |
| home remedies during and after slavery. The deeper | | | | microfiche at the library. |
| level of meaning was that life was almost so | | | | Look for subjects of your interest such as animals |
| unbearable for Black women at that point in history | | | | such as ferrets, computer dating, the criminal justice |
| that women would rather abort using primitive | | | | system, serial killers, (ie. If you're a mystery writer.) |
| methods and risk her life than bring another child into | | | | Go on field trips in your local area to add local color |
| the world. I used them in The Ebony Tree. In my | | | | to your book. |
| novel, No Pockets in a Shroud, the blacksmith who | | | | Go to travel agencies to get information for different |
| was not branded because of his ability to work with | | | | locales your book if you can't visit a location. |
| horses, later exemplified a black man whose soul | | | | Or you can use mind mapping to use a non-linear |
| could not be branded, chained, or enslaved. | | | | approach to outlining your book's significant details. |
| Topics I am currently researching: The North Carolina | | | | |