Rosetta-isms/True Bits: that spotted calf
When I wrote the first draft of I Shall Be Near To You, it had been ten years since I’d read the real Rosetta’s letters. I didn’t return to the actual letters until I had completed the draft because I was afraid that if I re-read the letters I would lose the voice I heard in my head, even though my intention was to make the character Rosetta’s voice as true to the feisty and tender voice that shone through in the real Rosetta’s letters. I was actually a bit surprised when I reread the letters to find how many phrases (what I like to call Rosetta-isms) or ideas made their way from the original letters into the novel, though not always in exactly the same context. Here’s an example:
Originals, from Rosetta Wakeman’s letters:
“Alexandria
Nov. 24, 1862
…If you want to save anything to remember me by, keep that spotted calf and if i ever return I want you to let me have her again.”
and
“June the 19, A.D. 1863
Father I want you to Write, too, and let me know all about your Farming and how long do you intend to keep Fony?”
From the novel (one of Rosetta’s letters home): I want to know how that Spotted Calf does and if the Fields are planted and what in (Wheat or Potatoes or maybe Corn) and have you had Help to do it?
True Bits: The Dog
(Spoiler alert! You might not want to keep reading if you haven’t finished the book–each “true bit” gives the background on something real that inspired part of the novel: some big, some small)
This True Bit is a tiny one…
When Rosetta and the boys are hiding in cemetery at Rappahannock Station, Rosetta hears a dog barking down with the Pennsylvania soldiers. It was not rare for dogs to accompany soldiers into the Civil War, and here were at least two Pennsylvania regiments known to have dogs who traveled with them. If you want to get teary, here’s a video about one them named Sallie.
Photos of the dogs are uncommon, but here are 12 images, including the other Pennsylvania dog, Jack.
True Bits: The Crushed Violet
(Spoiler alert! You might not want to keep reading if you haven’t finished the book–each “true bit” gives the background on something real that inspired part of the novel: some big, some small)
This True Bit is a tiny one…
There’s a moment at Bull Run when the soldiers are running toward the embankment and their first real battle and Rosetta sees Jeremiah step on a violet and crush it underfoot.
That came from a young soldier’s remembrance of marching through a field full of wildflowers, and several of the soldiers picking some and sticking them in their hats. It struck me as such an innocent gesture– a gesture of sweetness in the midst of war. I wanted to use that idea of soldiers coming across something beautiful and natural and delicate right at the moment they were entering battle. And I wanted that crushed violet to be trying to raise itself back up after having been stepped on because that seemed to me the perfect metaphor for what the soldiers had to do after experiencing battle, especially for the first time.
True Bits: Hiram’s Ring
(Spoiler alert! You might not want to keep reading if you haven’t finished the book–each “true bit” gives the background on something real that inspired part of the novel: some big, some small)
This first True Bit is a smaller one…
So, you know that ring Hiram carves?
The one made out of a vertebrae he found on the battlefield?
Yeah, that’s something I just couldn’t make it up. It’s a little tidbit that came out of a soldier’s letter that I read in the collection The Soldier’s Pen: Firsthand Impressions of the Civil War. I thought it was the kind of detail that would really show the effects of battle on a soldier, how the horror of war would change a person’s sense of morality.
Here’s the original, in a letter written by Confederate soldier J.M. Tate:
“Dear Sister Mary,
…I rote to darcus last week and inclosed a bone ring in the letter and I will inclose one in this for Ma made by my own hands with an old knife. those sets are pure silver. the bone was found on the Battle field of Seven Pines and all so Darcases was of the same. I have one for you that was found on Mine Town that I will forward in my next letter. Tell the old lady to except this ring in remembrance of her only son and when his sweet harts come to see hir, she can show what hir son did in the army of Northern Virginia.”
Writing Tips that Work for Me
The most important tip I have is do what works for you. That said, I have learned what works for me by reading about what works for other authors. So, in case my method might serve as an inspiration, here goes!
1. Have a regular writing schedule. I think pretty much every writer says this, but it’s because it really helps! When I was drafting I Shall Be Near To You, I shot for writing 5 days a week–like a job. Often I wrote more than that. Having a set schedule helps the ideas start and keep flowing. It’s much easier to get back into a scene I was working on the day before than one I haven’t touched for a week (or more).
2. Have a writing routine. I think of this as a gentle warm-up– a way to ease into the work and get ready to write. My routine when I was drafting my “practice” novel (and the beginning of I Shall Be Near To You), was to walk my dog and then immediately write as soon as we got home. Invariably inspiration would hit at about the time we turned for home. Now my routine is different–usually I make a cup of tea and then as I sit down to work, I turn on the playlist for the project I’m working on. I love working to music that helps set the mood and tone for the project.
3. Set a word count goal for each session I only do this when I’m writing my first draft. My goal is 1000 words. Though, at the beginning of a project, I often set my goal lower, say at 500 words. The idea is to make it something that feels manageable and then, once that gets too easy, increase it. Usually I find that once I get going, I hit my stride and it’s pretty easy to routinely hit 1000 words (and often more). This tip came from Anne Lamott.
4. Research just enough to get going. I start by researching my characters. Since they are always inspired by real people, finding out more about those real women–what their lives were like, what their childhoods were like–almost always gives me ideas for the events of the novel. Then, as I write, I discover other things I need to know, so I’m sort of constantly writing and researching; the two feed each other.
5. Follow the inspiration. If I have a scene that’s begging to be written, I write it! I take inspiration any time I can find it, even though it means I often write out of order (and curse myself for it later). I find it incredibly freeing (and fun) to write a scene I’m feeling driven to set down. Then, on days when nothing is begging to be written, I work on connecting the scenes I already have. It was an interview with Diana Gabaldon that first gave me the idea that it was OK not to write chronologically.
6. Quit when you know what’s next. I try to stop for the day when I’ve got two things: 1000 words AND a good idea for what comes next. That way I can sleep on the “what’s next” and my subconscious can work on it (and be ready to go) the next day. I can’t take credit for this idea–it came from Hemingway.
So there you have it! I hope something on this list will work for you too.
Swearing
When I wrote the first draft of I Shall Be Near To You, there was almost no swearing in the book at all. But over the course of the many rounds of revision, one of my editors pointed out that the men seemed awfully “tame” for soldiers.
It became clear to me that one of the major adjustments a woman disguising as a man might have to make was getting used to the way a group of men might talk to each other when they thought there were no ladies present. It was also clear from my research about the women that many of them adopted “male” mannerisms (chewing tobacco, drinking, playing cards, spitting, and swearing) in attempt to create a more convincing disguise. In fact, the real Rosetta wrote home on two separate occasions about what we might consider “vices”– once she reveals to her mother that “I use all the tobacco I want. I think it will keep off from catching diseases.” Later she mentions that “there is a good many temptations in the army. I got led away into this world So bad that I sinned a good deal. But I now believe that God Spirit has been aworking with me and ’til that I was aComing back to Him again and I hope and pray that I shall never be led away like it again.” I wanted to show what some of these tensions might be as I wrote about the fictional Rosetta.
I also consulted the book The Story the Soldiers Wouldn’t Tell: Sex in the Civil War
The Real Rosetta
The moment I saw the real Rosetta’s photo on the cover of An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864
You wouldn’t ever guess the soldier pictured here is a woman, would you?
The Soldier Behind the Cover
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the identity of soldier on the cover of I Shall Be Near To You. Is it the real Rosetta? And the answer is, alas, no. But it is a real photo of a real Civil War soldier, although his (or her?) identity is unknown. Interestingly, the soldier fought for the Confederacy, so for the cover image, we had to change the color of his uniform.
Here, for the curious, is the full photo (which is available through the Library of Congress), with its original frame (I just love Civil War era frames!):
And here’s the photo without the frame, which makes it easier to really see the soldier:
