Every time I create something,
whether it is a piece of art, photography, video production, sculpture, or
writing, there is always something new and different. Even though there are
always familiar elements, there are always changes and differences.
When I was first considering writing
another novel, I had a few vague ideas, but nothing solid. Oddly enough, the
inspiration for The Little People came one morning after I awoke. I’d had a
dream that night that would become the basis for the story. In this dream, most
of the characters were what most would consider “mainstream” fantasy personas
such as giants, dragons, fairies and elves.
Since many of these types of
stories have already been done, many time, I started thinking of ways to change
it to be different. While listening to my wife discuss her Native American
heritage with her parents, the thought occurred to me, why not use Native
American myths and legends and apply them to the overall theme that had
occurred in my dream.
From there I began doing research.
One of the places I started was with a Native American book my wife’s parents
owned that has stories in it. One story in particular was about a mythical little
people. From there I went on to find Native American mythical creatures that
were similar to the other characters that were in my dream. I also researched how Native
American stories were structured and written as well as names and terms.
Once I had all of my characters in
place and had a solid outline, I began writing. Since I already had a basic
story, I just began filling in the details.
As I was writing, I continued to do
research as the need arose. A major difference in this story compared to the
first novel I had written, was the fact that I tried to use actual events and
places that I knew about, had experienced, or was familiar with.
One example of this is the trailer on
a river in the mountains mentioned in the story. When I was a child, my grandparents took me on trips to
a trailer they had that was on the Spring River in Hardy, Arkansas. Another example
is that a friend of mine that worked at Riceland in Jonesboro, Arkansas was kind
enough to give me a tour of their facility. I used many elements
from what I saw during the tour in events that take place in the story.
I had also remembered a teacher once telling
me that a good way to flesh out a story is to use things that you already know
about. So I began incorporating elements from places, people and events that I
had personally experienced in my life.
More in Part II
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