The official census tells me that Great-Aunt Minnie was born in Canada. Family history and legend tell me she was born in Minnesota. Family stories also tell me the family traveled back and forth in cattle cars because the fares were too high in passenger cars. It was a common practice at the turn of the last century. So, can I imagine?
The family is headed back from visiting relatives in Michigan. Great-Grandma Elizabeth is about to give birth in 1906 to Minnie. They are traveling back to Canada and her time comes. Is Minnie born in the cattle car? Do they stop along the tracks to allow Elizabeth to give birth?
Can I use the same imagination to develop a story about Grandpa Will? I found him in the 1891 census in England living with his uncle. Why was this one child living with an uncle rather than the rest of the family? He was 8 years old. What had happened that this one child was separated from the rest of the family? Then I find him again in Canada in 1906. He tells the census takers he immigrated in 1892. He was at most 10 years old! What happened to make him, all alone, immigrate to Canada? How did he get along on his own? What makes the story more intriguing is by 1906 he was a preacher. How did he come to this path? He never told. In fact, we know precious little about how he made his way to America.
If I use these facts as starting points, does it become fiction or creative non-fiction? Just how much do I have to create. How much can be based on general history of the time? How much can be representational? These are questions I will have to answer...or not, as the case may be.
The family is headed back from visiting relatives in Michigan. Great-Grandma Elizabeth is about to give birth in 1906 to Minnie. They are traveling back to Canada and her time comes. Is Minnie born in the cattle car? Do they stop along the tracks to allow Elizabeth to give birth?
Can I use the same imagination to develop a story about Grandpa Will? I found him in the 1891 census in England living with his uncle. Why was this one child living with an uncle rather than the rest of the family? He was 8 years old. What had happened that this one child was separated from the rest of the family? Then I find him again in Canada in 1906. He tells the census takers he immigrated in 1892. He was at most 10 years old! What happened to make him, all alone, immigrate to Canada? How did he get along on his own? What makes the story more intriguing is by 1906 he was a preacher. How did he come to this path? He never told. In fact, we know precious little about how he made his way to America.
If I use these facts as starting points, does it become fiction or creative non-fiction? Just how much do I have to create. How much can be based on general history of the time? How much can be representational? These are questions I will have to answer...or not, as the case may be.
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