First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing First Draft - Geraldine Brooks
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Dec 21, 2015 Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winner, discusses the challenges of writing a biography on King David, the portrayal of his wives, the real story of David and Goliath, and the complexity of the main character. She also shares insights on her writing process and how to deal with rejection.
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When History Goes Silent You Research By Reenactment
- Brooks discovered David largely vanishes from the historical record outside the Bible, forcing a different research method than her archive-driven novels.
- She traveled to Israel with her son, visited sites, and tried to live elements of David's world to imaginatively reconstruct the era.
Use The Source As Spine Then Reimagine The Margins
- Treat the biblical account as the narrative spine but expand it by reimagining backstories and shifting perspectives.
- Brooks opened the viewfinder to tell how David's actions affected the women in his life, drawing on her experience with contemporary Middle Eastern women.
David's Battles Were Cattle Raids Not Medieval Armies
- Popular images of David (boy versus giant, medieval armies) are anachronistic and misleading for the Iron Age context.
- Brooks reframes battles as small-scale conflicts over cattle and territory among roughly 45,000 regional inhabitants.