The Facts of Fiction

Information Literacy for Creative Writing

Objectives

After the session, you will be able to

1. Identify the special information needs of creative writers

2. Discuss the research process for creative writing and how different source types fit into that process

3. Evaluate the usefulness of sources for creative writers based on their information needs

4. Design an information literacy instruction session for creative writers to help them articulate their information need and understand the best options for their research

One Minute Paper

• Imagine that you are taking a creative writing course and your instructor has asked you to write a story about a Civil War soldier returning home after the surrender at Appomattox. •Take a minute to start writing.

Small Group Discussion:

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Share what you wrote.How did you start your

paper?Who is your soldier?

Was this easy or hard for you? Why?

So Many Questions…

• What was America society like in the 1860’s? • Where would this soldier see himself fitting in?

• How did people live in the late 1800’s? • What would the soldier have eaten? What would he

wear? Where would he live? How would he travel?

• What problems would a soldier likely face when returning from war?• What adjustments would he need to make? Would

there have been a job for him? What if he were injured in the war?

Where No Man Has Gone Before…

The Special Needs of Creative Writers

Traditional Research &

Writing

Standardized Formula:

• Abstract• Introduction• Materials &

Methods• Results• Discussion• References

Traditional Research &

Writing

• Style and Content Reflects Academia

• Thesis Clearly States Purpose

• Communication Based on Shared Knowledge

Traditional Research &

Writing

A Well-Defined Path• Identify Research

Question• Search Catalog and

Databases for Relevant Literature

• Analyze Results and Discuss Context & Meaning

Creative Writing:

Structure & Content

• Narrative Structure is Flexible

• Tone Ranges from very Formal to Informal & Conversational

• Reflects Life, People, and Society

Research for Creative Writing

• Purpose for Writing is often Implicit• Not Driven by

Research• Need to Create

Your Own Path

What Does All This Mean?

Imaginative and Original Approaches are Essential

• Immersive• Visual• Tactile• Olfactory• Behavioral• Psychological

Breaking Free From Orthodoxy

Unconventional Uses of Conventional Sources

• Most Primary Sources are created soon after an event occurs

• Over time, more Secondary Sources are created

Complicating the Situation…

• Source types that are typically considered Secondary may also be seen as Primary Sources• Books, Articles, and

Reference Materials may be Primary Sources

• Source types that are typically considered Primary may actually be (or may be seen as) Secondary Sources• Letters, Diaries, and

Photographs may be Secondary Sources

The Rest of the Story…

•Unconventional approach to sources disrupts the ‘traditional’ schema•Context for the use of a source is just as important as the context of its creation

Dictionary as Primary Source

The Book of the Household; or Family Dictionary of Everything Connected with Housekeeping and Domestic Medicine ...

Compiled by competent persons, under the superintendence of an association of heads of families and men of science

Encyclopedia as

Primary Source

A cyclopedia of Agriculture, Practical and Scientific: In Which the Theory, the Art, and the Business of Farming are Thoroughly and Practically Treated

Edited by John C. Morton

Article as a Primary Source

• The Authority of the "Provisional Court" of Louisiana

The American Law Register (1852-1891), Vol. 13, No. 7, New Series Volume 4 (May, 1865), pp. 385-390

Diary as a Secondary

SourceBelden, the White Chief : or, Twelve Years Among the Wild Indians of the Plains

George Belden and James Brisbin

Every Source Has Many Potential Uses

• How many ways can you think of to use Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ?

Your Turn to Combat Conformity

• Form small groups• Brainstorm uses

(conventional and unconventional) for the source you are given• Try to think of as

many as you can!

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Discover, Read, RepeatThe Research Process for Creative

Writing

The Research Cycle

Ask a Question

Brainstorm

Background

Information

Search

Evaluate Results

Ask a Question

• Research starts with Curiosity• What do you want to know?• May start with a general question

Ex. What would life have been like for a young man in the 1860’s?

Brainstorm Related Terms and Ideas

• Pick out the key ideas in your topic/question

• Try to think of synonyms or alternate phrasing

• List any related terms (broader/narrower) you can think of

Especially important for searching primary sources and historical literature

(American) Civil War / War Between the States / War of the Rebellion / War for the Union / War of Succession / War of Northern Aggression / War for Southern Independence / War of Southern Aggression / War of Freedom / Second American RevolutionPTSD / Post Traumatic Stress Disorder / Shell-shock / Soldier’s Heart / Irritable Heart / Combat Stress Reaction / Combat Fatigue

Anxiety / Panic AttackReaction to TraumaPeritraumatic DissociationFlashbacks, Nightmares, Hypervigilance, etc.

Initial Search for Background Information• Read for general information on your topic • Identify gaps in your existing knowledge• Narrow and focus your research

Sources• Encyclopedias and other Reference Books• Skim a Book on the general topic • Web Search

Define a Search Strategy

•Articulate what you need to know•Determine where/how you are most likely to find it

• If you don’t know, ASK!

Types of Information Sources

• Primary Sources• Has not been published anywhere else or put into

a context, interpreted, filtered, condensed, or evaluated by anyone else

• Secondary Sources• Restates, rearranges, examines, or interprets

information from one or more primary sources

• Tertiary Sources• Leads you to secondary sources

Where Do I Find…

Primary Sources• Library’s Catalog• Library’s Databases• ARTstor

• Print Indexes• Archives & Historical Societies• Manuscript Collections• Museums• Embedded in Secondary

Sources

Secondary Sources• Library’s Catalog• Library’s Databases• JSTOR• Arts & Humanities Citation

Index• Project MUSE

• Bibliographies• Print Indexes

The Firefly Visual Dictionary, 2002

Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang

Chambers’ Book of Days, 1863-1864

American Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of Published American

Diaries and Journals, 1983

Repeat ?

•Research is an iterative process

•Finding the answer to your initial question may raise new, more interesting questions

Ask a Question

Original Question

What would life have been like for a young man in the 1860’s?

Focus and Narrow• What choices would a

man have for an occupation?

• What kind of clothes did men wear?

• What would have been popular or common knowledge?

Questions?Comments?