Honouring Loyalist History Through Fiction
(a talk by Jean Rae Baxter)
December 3, 2016
Our speaker was author Jean Rae Baxter, on “Honouring Loyalist History Through Fiction”. Ms. Baxter has published numerous award-winning historical novels, many based on events from the American Revolution. She kindly brought a supply of her books which were eagerly purchased by members, both for themselves and to give as gifts for Christmas – an ideal way to interest a grandchild in Loyalist history.
Jean Rae had been asked to add some pointers in her talk that the members might be able to use when writing up their own family histories. How could we make them more interesting to strangers who may be reading them on our website next year, when we complete our “Canada 150” goal of collecting 150 stories about Loyalists on our website and possibly in a book? Jean Rae gave us a brief writing workshop that was both comprehensive and succinct, using esamples from her own writing to illustrate her points. Before we start to write, she said, we should set out three statements:
- I want to write about…
- I want to show …
- I want the reader to experience…
Jean Rae went on to point out that we need to set events in specific place and time. We need to ensure that our story has a beginning, middle and end: don’t start telling the reader about John Jones’ service in the Kings’ Royal Rangers without expanding on where they fought and where he ended up.
We hope to receive 150 articles that put Jean Rae’s excellent writing advice to use.
