Utilizing current events and/or history in writing
From www.history.com for this date in history:
- American Revolution
- Archibald Bulloch dies under mysterious circumstances, 1777
- Automotive
- Lee Petty wins first Daytona 500, 1959
- Civil War
- Battle of West Point, Mississippi, 1864
- Cold War
- George Kennan sends "long telegram" to State Department, 1946
- Crime
- Gang commits largest robbery in British history, 2006
- Disaster
- Deadly tornadoes rip through central Florida, 1998
- General Interest
- The U.S. acquires Spanish Florida, 1819
- Battle of Buena Vista begins, 1847
- Suharto takes full power in Indonesia, 1967
- Tet Offensive ends, 1968
- Hollywood
- Actress Drew Barrymore born, 1975
- Literary
- Edna St. Vincent Millay is born, 1892
- Music
- Milli Vanilli win the Best New Artist Grammy, 1990
- Old West
- Montana passes law against sedition, 1918
- Presidential
- George Washington is born, 1732
- Sports
- U.S. hockey pulls off Miracle on Ice, 1980
- Vietnam War
- Westmoreland asks for Marines, 1965
- Operation Junction City begins, 1967
- World War I
- Mussolini wounded by mortar bomb, 1917
- World War II
- President Roosevelt to MacArthur: Get out of the Philippines, 1942
This date has a wealth of history. Not only did several things happen that changed events in the world, many events happened in local regions throughout. Using today’s date as an example…for a person writing about early Americana, one glance at this page taken from www.history.com (website of the History Channel) shows interesting things about future president George Washington (this date is his birthdate) and Archibald Bulloch (a mysterious death…great fodder for a novel). Writing a World War I or II epic? What story of either would be complete without including Mussolini or MacArthur? A visit to any of these sites can get a writer’s creative juices flowing.
I am interested in writing about the Civil War era…nearly 150 years ago the Battle of West Point, Mississippi occurred. For the Confederates it was a battle resulting in turning General William T. Sherman back from his objective.
Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay was born on this date…she went on to become a Pulitzer Prize winner for a book written in 1923. Her life story is very interesting, quite an interesting series of events!
All are great events in history, all happened on February 22. Perhaps reading and researching an event you see online or hear about in today’s news will spark that writer’s imagination and a new book or series of books will be born!
Here’s to sparking the imagination,
KW
Cool Technique !!
The one that got me was:
George Kennan sends “long telegram” to State Department, 1946
I was in my third term in my momma’s womb 🙂
Cool Technique !!
The one that got me was:
George Kennan sends “long telegram” to State Department, 1946
I was in my third term in my momma’s womb 🙂
LOVE to incorporate history with my writing. Although I do write fiction, knowing more about the era brings me so much closer to my characters. That touch of realism.
An interesting sidenote…tomorrow is the anniversary of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima (the year before your mom’s third term!).
LOVE to incorporate history with my writing. Although I do write fiction, knowing more about the era brings me so much closer to my characters. That touch of realism.
An interesting sidenote…tomorrow is the anniversary of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima (the year before your mom’s third term!).