moira finnie wrote:Thanks to PT, Hardwicke, and Christy for your great questions and contributions to this topic. I hope that everyone reading this will post more if you would like.
If you don't mind Scott, I'd like to ask a bit about how you write.
In your
interview with Cliff Aliperti about this book, you mentioned two current projects:
--A book on the film
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang book for The McFarland Press.
--The essays you (and other historians) are writing for The Library of Congress about movies that were recently added to The National Film Registry.
Without giving away too much, can you mention which films you are writing about for the LOC? How do you balance the need to give the general reader factual information about the subject and the need to express your own passionately held POV?
Have you found that research has gotten easier over time, especially with the development of the internet? Have you developed a network of human contacts to turn to for help? Could you please describe any instances when your subject or attitude toward a person changed as a result of something you unearthed?
I recently encountered a historian who writes everywhere--even on the subway and standing in line at a grocery store. Do you have a particular place or time of day to write? When you immerse yourself in a subject do you gather as many related objects as you can for inspiration?
Do you recall the most memorable reactions you have had from readers of your books? Did one subject evoke greater responses than any other?
Thanks very much for returning today, Scott.
You're very welcome, Moira, and these are some very good and, for me, difficult questions.
I've been writing since I was four years old, so it's always been something that I've just DONE. I haven't really taken that much time to analyze it, although during my 10 years with the National Archives (1991-2001), I taught writing classes to people, from second graders to senior citizens. Honestly, I don't remember how I did it! But they kept asking me to do these seminars, so either (1) I did a good job; or (2) nobody else wanted to do it! The latter actually happened a lot, because the phrase, "Just get Nollen to do it!" became a running gag around there. I just have a very strong work ethic and, if I think I'm capable of doing something, I won't say, "No." Back then, I could pull off that sort of thing. My father raised me never to resist a good challenge. (He was on Search and Rescue in the Coast Guard, so I've always had a lot to live up to, and I could NEVER touch that man's greatness--not a chance. He's 85 and out mowing the lawn right now.)
But to try to answer some of your questions:
I have never written on a schedule, like it's a "real job." Everything I've written (except what I did for REAL jobs) has been of my own conception, so I have to FEEL it. It has to be some sort of artistic muse for me. I am now working pretty steadily on I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (Glenda again!), which is another of "the books that have been in my head" for the past 30+ years (and it's almost the last one--there's one more, which I also will do, if I'm up to it).
I was "retired" (ha, ha), but I had signed a contract years ago with McFarland, and they still wanted CHAIN GANG. And then I realized that I HAVE to write this book for several reasons. I needed something to DO with myself now that I'm disabled, and I literally only go outside my room (maybe) once per month, and that's for a doctor's appointment or possibly to shop a little (which CAN be fun!). Also, the subject of this book isn't REALLY the film. I am using the film I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (with full coverage, as I always do) as the centerpiece for the COMPLETE story of Robert E. Burns, the actual fugitive: his biography, before, during and after the film. The film obviously only covers his life up to 1932--and that ENDING, as far as I'm concerned, is THE GREATEST film ending of all time because it is TRUE.
Burns' troubles were just BEGINNING at the end of that film, so I will be completing the story from 1932 until his death in 1955. The book I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A GEORGIA CHAIN GANG actually was ghost-written by his brother, Rev. Vincent G. Burns, who later was the Poet Laureate of Maryland (until his death in the 70s). I also have the sequel (published in 1942), OUT OF THESE CHAINS, a first edition hardcover from Vincent's own stash that is beautifully inscribed and signed to a good friend of his, and also contains some signed poetry of his. Unfortunately, the binding is falling apart because of all my heavy use--gotta break some eggs, right?
So this SHOULD be an "important" book. It's not just about a film or filmmaker, it's about how we humans treat each other; and, as we all know, much of the time, it's not very good, is it?
So, now I wake up every morning with REALLY something to do; and, IF I feel well enough, I write for a couple hours, take a break and/or a nap, and then repeat the process. The book also will be filled with some pretty amazing photos. I'm not only going to tell the rest of Burns' story, but I also am going to include a chapter about the "progeny" of CHAIN GANG: subsequent films inspired by, or just ripped off from, the original.
A unique story, a unique film, a unique project after writing 21 other books; and my proofreading stages (I usually proofread about 10-12 times to make the prose more lean) this time will be to fashion the style in an almost novelistic style. No two of my books are the same. Some are pretty good; a couple I don't think much of anymore--but they're all different. I am going to try my damnedest to make this one the best, or there's no use doing it.
When I was mobile, I used to write everywhere, also. On napkins in bars, ATM receipts out on the streets, on the subway and buses, etc. So I can definitely identify with the other person you mentioned. Often you'd better get it down, or it's GONE!
I wrote two essays for the LOC that are on their website: STAGECOACH and THE QUIET MAN. For some reason, it wasn't that difficult to refashion these for a different audience. I also wrote essays on THE EMPEROR JONES and THE SEARCHERS, but I could never whittle them down enough--so these are in limbo right now. I will say that the LOC (they don't pay anyone, but that's par for the course for us writers, right?) can be very rude. They don't thank you, and they don't answer questions to make the process any easier. I guess just the "honor" of being asked is supposed to be enough. I already wrote and made films for the Fed many years ago, so being asked, yes, was nice, but once they hook you, you're just a fish. And, obviously, I'm not afraid to voice this (or anything else) in public, if it's the TRUTH.
Some aspects of doing research have become MUCH easier because of the internet, but I really did enjoy those days when folks like us/scholars had to physically look through all those publications, huge bound volumes, boxes of stuff, stuff and more stuff. To have that actual tactile sensation from the research material. For me, personally, now I CAN'T do that anymore, so what is on the internet (and that's a lot) makes it possible for me to keep writing.
For CHAIN GANG, I already put together all the physical evidence many years ago--and it's a good thing I did, too.
One thing that has become much worse are the fees and regulations that archives and libraries now have. "Back in the day," all that stuff was free. Today many "pennilesscholars" (to borrow a term from my "pal," Robert Louis Stevenson) can't afford to DO the work anymore. Even if I was mobile, I also am quite poor (in material things, a lot of it by choice--I give a lot of stuff away), so I can't afford to do research at the institutions anymore. For example, I have a friend in L.A. who was going to look through the CHAIN GANG file at USC, but the restrictions and fees were so ridiculous, I told everyone to forget it. I'm just going with what I have--and it's plenty!
All of my book projects have been "passion projects." BUT, if I am writing about someone, and I run into something I don't like personally about someone, that doesn't affect my writing. As a historian, it is my JOB to report the FACTS and hopefully do it in a manner that is interesting. For instance, I love WARD BOND as an actor; but as a human being, not so much--but that didn't affect my writing about him. The only people who have not liked my FORD, WAYNE, BOND book are right-wing extremists, and I KNEW they wouldn't like it before I wrote it. My book has been accused of being "Liberal." People can put whatever labels they want on something, but it is the artist's own INTENT that is the TRUTH. I wrote that book in the manner in which I was educated: to be as objective as possible. Honestly, how can anyone in 2015 defend the BLACKLIST? Might as well bring back slavery and take the vote away from women. That's just an example of how people can read your work through filters, rose-colored glasses, whatever their particular viewpoint is. Try to absorb things with an OPEN MIND and you just MIGHT LEARN SOMETHING. Come at something with your "mind" already made up, and you'll always remain as IGNORANT as you were when you exited the womb. Read to learn. If it's real garbage, anyone will know that. If it's well done, give it a chance!