Narrative Matters!

Narrative matters

As a nonfiction writer and teacher, I find that the most common mistakes in nonfiction is being bogged down by facts. While facts are the lifeblood of our work, historians and historical writers must remember that the reader does not want a textbook. I am a massive history nerd, but I have absolutely no desire to read dry, tactical based tomes that just list the facts of the event. I write about the Civil War which can bog the writer and the reader down in just strategic or tactical discussions. The key to writing an engaging passage in non-fiction is to bring the event to life for the reader. Tell us about the individuals and what they did on the battlefield, take me to the front. Instead of writing about where an Army was stationed on the battlefield, take us to the eyes of the soldier. Tell me what they would have seen, smelled or heard. History is alive all around us, don’t bog the reader down with just the facts, take them back in time and let them truly see history for what it was.

As a middle school history teacher, I have found through the years that people are not attracted to history classes and history texts. There are many reasons for this, but the most common complaint is the dryness of the information and the way in which it is delivered. Nobody wants to read a textbook, many writers fall into this trap because these writers are in love with the material and they don’t need the added narrative to enjoy the story. Writers must always remember that they are not writing for their own enjoyment, we are writing to give people information from the past and, at least in my opinion, to help people gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the past. I am not perfect, I have caught myself many times writing way too much in a bullet point formation. First this happened, then this…. Things like that. This will very quickly alienate the common reader and make your writing quite bland.

My chosen area of study is the Civil War, which lends itself nicely to narrative because there are so many personal stories to be told. I thought I would include a passage out of my next book about the battle of Antietam.

Example of narrative in non-fiction text

I am currently working on a passage about the battle of Antietam. Instead of just talking about an attack that took place, try to put some narrative and bring color into your writing. Here is an example of historical narrative depicting the attack on the Sunken Road of Antietam.

The afternoon sun was oppressive as it beat down on the soldiers of the Irish Brigade. The Irishmen stood in a woodcut watching the remnants of the II Corps, battered and beaten, retreat back to the safety behind the lines. Just as these men were reaching the woodcut, the gallant Irishman, General Meagher, screamed out to his men, “Forward March!” With that, the Irish Brigade was on the move, ahead was the Sunken Road and their date with immortality.

Copyright Matthew A. Perry

I sincerely hope this blog post sparks the inspiration to write non-fiction in a more flowing and narrative style. Keep writing about what you love and the words will come! 

Finding the voice

Hey guys,
I thought I would share one of the most difficult things that I have run across as a writer. Finding your voice can be a very difficult task depending on what you choose to write about. To obtain a masters degree in American history it requires countless research and writing assignments. I was quite comfortable writing this way I would get in trouble or would lose points when I strayed to a narrative style too much. Writing books for public consumption you want to bring that narrative voice out but also keep the facts and the historical record intact and that's the hard part. I've read through my first two books and at times I felt I was a little too flowing with my narrative and then at other times I felt that I was too straightforward with just historical facts. The difficult part and what I am working on is finding a good voice that is a happy medium between the two. What do you all struggle with when writing? I would love to read some comments
take care

The Greenbrier Ghost

Hello, all! My first blog on my new site!

I thought I would post some writing I have been working on independent from my books. This is an old post about a famous West Virginia folktale that will be published later this year in an anthology of West Virginia Folktales. Hope you enjoy!

Greenbrier Ghost
Sam Black Church/Lewisburg, Greenbrier County
Written by: Matthew A. Perry
Greenbrier County, West Virginia is a bucolic, outdoor lover's dream. The natural beauty of the Mountain State is no more prevelant than along the shining riverside of the mighty Greenbrier River. It is a rural county with very few large towns, so mountain culture and lore are important to the inhabitants of the area. Hidden in the beauty and the outdoor pursuits, is one of the strangest tales in American history.
Near the turn of the 20th century, the small, unincorporated town of Sam Black Church, would see the unexplained death of a young local woman. Zona Heaster was a 24-year-old girl that worked in a local store. A new man in town started coming around, Edward Shue, and they soon fell in love. Despite the objections of her mother, Zona married Edward after a short engagement.
Things went fine for the newlyweds early on, but Mary Jane Heaster, Zona's mom, despised her new son-in-law. On January 23, 1897, Edward sent a local boy on an errand to his home. When the local boy arrived, there was no answer at the door. The boy noticed that the door was ajar and slowly opened it wider. To his horror, he found the lifeless body of Mrs. Shue lying at the foot of the stairs. Her body position was quite odd, she laid out with her legs together and her hands on her chest. Not quite the position one usually finds a victim from a fall. The local Doctor/Coroner, Dr. Knapp is called in to perform the autopsy.
During the autopsy, Mr. Shue was doting over the body of his dearly departed causing the Dr. much aggrivation. Every time that the Dr. would try and examine the neck of Mrs. Shue, Mr. Shue would become bilidgerant. Even with the odd behavior of Mr. Shue, Dr. Knapp ruled the death accidental and burial was set for two days later. As was common practice in rural areas, the wake was held in the front parlor of Mrs. Heaster's home. This was the tradition of "sitting up with the dead" that was popular near the turn of the century. The reasoning behind it was simple; there were many cases where rudimentary medical practitioners had declared people dead when they truly weren't. This led to many cases of people being buried alive. Unfortunately for Mrs. Shue, she was most assuredly dead. During the wake, Mr. Shue would not allow people to get near his wife. He had dressed her himself (quite out of the ordinary) in a high necked dressed. This behavior seemed odd, but noone attempted to re-open the case. Mrs. Shue was buried and life in Greenbrier County went on.
Life went on for everybody except Mrs. Heaster; she was convinced that her beloved daughter was murdered by Mr. Shue. This is where the story takes a paranormal turn. Starting a month after the burial, Mrs. Heaster claimed that her daughter came to her in a succession of dreams. She said that her ghost spun her head around fully to show that her neck was snapped. Mrs. Heaster pleaded with the local prosecutor to exhume the body and re-open the case. The prosecutor does so, and the Dr. is allowed to examine the body without the interference of Mr. Shue. The Dr. finds that there was massive amounts of burising around Mrs. Shue's neck, finger prints on her neck and her windpipe was crushed. Mr. Shue was a blacksmith, so he had the strength to crush her neck with his bare hands.
Charges of murder were brought against Shue and trial was held at the county seat of Lewisburg. The prosecution used cold hard facts, but the defense wanted to try and make Mrs. Heaster look like a crack-pot, the plan didn't work. Mr. Shue was convicted of murder and was sent to the infamous Moundsville State Penitentary written about earlier in this book. Mr. Shue was the first, and last, person ever convicted of murder in the United States on the testimony of a ghost. Only in West Virginia....

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