Hello, fellow campaigners of the writing world! Though right now I am not writing a historical novel (I’m writing a scifi comedy), I want to share one of my favorite things to do.
I love visiting historical sites for inspiration for writing. I never gave historical sites much thought until I took a creative writing class Sophomore year of college. I learned about taking in details to write them into things or harness inspiration. It was literally homework to go somewhere and I decided to go to a local Civil War house: Carnton Estate.
I ended up writing a poem about it later called “The Battle of Franklin” from the perspective of the daughter who lived there. Their house was turned into a Confederate hospital and I wrote the traumatic experience from her point of view.
It was like a locomotive,
rumbling in my bones.
A trembling from deep beneath,
foundation made of stones.Twenty thousand pairs of shoes,
like thunder in the sky.
The ground, it trembled, as I knelt
by Mother and I cried.Outside the rattled windowpane,
they ran to face their death.
As I waited for the guns to crack,
I stared and held my breath.Twenty-three-hundred pairs of shoes
“The Battle of Franklin” by A. F. Kopp (circa. November 2020)
were left in Carnton grounds.
I won’t forget those shoes no longer
make that thundering sound.
I actually entered that one into the Tennessee Magazine and ended up getting second place in my age group.
Historical sites are awesome!
I even visited Cheekwood up in Nashville and it reminded me of a fantasy college setting I created and inspired me more of the reality of the fictional setting.
That’s all I have for today! Do you guys like to visit places for inspiration? If so, what type of locations?
Salutations, fellow adventurers!
Respectfully,
A. F. Kopp Author 