Sharon Dow

Once the decision to write had been made, it was down to business, enjoyable business, but still business.

One day during the last year before I retired, I was reading chapter two of the book of Revelation when I came across a name I hadn’t noticed before. Christ is talking to the church of Pergamum and says, “. . . even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city, where Satan lives.”

Antipas, interesting name, but I didn’t know anything else about him. I checked for other references in the Bible: none. I checked historical sites: minimal information. Something deep inside me said, “This is it!” I knew I had my story.

I started to write. Quite literally that is what I did. I didn’t have a plan, I didn’t develop characters beforehand, I didn’t work out a plot; I just wrote. The story was inside of me, in its entirety. I just had to get it on paper.

The writing was pure joy. I would sit at my computer and the story poured out. I never knew ahead of time what would happen that day. I often would sit back and say, “I didn’t know that was going to happen.” I know this is not the way everyone writes, nor will it be the way I always write. But for this book, for this time, that is the way it happened. Once the characters were established, they seemed to take on a life of their own and whisper their story to me. I just tried to get it down as truthfully as possible.

The story took unexpected twists and turns as the events unfolded. I researched names so my characters would fit in to the times in which they were living. I researched customs and clothing styles of the day, camel caravans and care of camels, cities he would visit so I would have a feel for the marketplaces and other interesting sites, the god of the times, and their places of worship just to name a few. I learned many new things and incorporated things I had known forever. History lessons of the past came back with their information ready to be placed in the manuscript. (Special thanks to my high school history teachers. I’m glad I paid attention in your classes!) The book would be a combination of fact and fiction.

The exciting thing about being the author of historical fiction is that you can work with the known facts, but you can also adjust those facts to fit your characters and your story. This blend is acceptable and desirable to help your story flow and be believable.

Over 120,000 words later, it was done. I had found my genre. I was comfortable. It was a fit. This is not surprising as historical fiction is most often my reading choice. I have steeped myself in it for years.

So when you write, choose what’s comfortable. Write from your heart using all the experiences that have made up the pages of your life. Follow your interests; let your mind show you the way. But most of all, just write.