Search Through Yesterdays to Write Today

I started reading books by Pearl S. Buck in my teen years. Her stories, mostly set in China, were memorable and impressed me a great deal. As a young adult, I continued to read her books and follow her life. Born to missionary parents in China, she was able to write about her adopted country with knowledge and insight. 

Today's photo quote is her version of a thought given to us by other writers, too. The quote holds good advice for all but especially for writers. Delving back into history helps us with what we write today. Not only our country's history, or that of the world beyond, but also our family history. 

If you want to write about an older member of your family, you need to learn about that person's personal history. For instance, you might be trying to write a personal essay about an encounter with an elderly aunt who has a sharp tongue and an unforgiving nature. To understand why she is that way, you would need to look back at her early life. What happened to make her bitter? She probably is not going to tell you, but other family members might. 

If you want to write about the civil unrest going on in our country today, you'd better do some homework and look at the history of the Civil Rights movement and farther back to the times prior to and during the Civil War. All of that has a definite bearing on what is going on today. 

I've heard more than one person say that they really don't like history; they'd rather worry about today. Or they really detested it as a student. Boring some would say. Maybe learning the dates of this war or that war, or memorizing the Preamble to the Constitution is boring. Even so, to understand much of what is happening today, we need to know what went on in the early days of our country. 

I have always enjoyed historical novels, not only because of the stories but it's such a painless way to learn some history. Recently, there have been many novels published that are set in the WWII era. There are those who fear another such war and perhaps looking back at that period will help understand present-day circumstances and hopefully, avoid a recurrence.

Getting back to writing about a friend or relative or even a well-known person:  We are a sum of all our parts. What you or I am like today may be totally different than the kind of person we were 20, 30, 40, or more years ago. We move through phases. We live through sorrows and joys, each one of which affects us in some way. 

Write for today but search through many yesterdays to do it well.