In so many words

In So Many Words - July 2025

By Nicki Ehrlich

It’s Summer! Write your story about a place you’d love to visit, because it’s travel time!

Make it fun, call it research, and if writing is your business, save those receipts.

Of course, you don’t have to travel to do research, but if you do, consider both the travel

mode and the destination. The travel mode (train, plane, horse, camel) might affect your

characters’ actions, movements, opportunities, and possibilities. The destination counts and gives

occasion for rich setting descriptions, but the journey may hold the secret to the story.

Whether near or far, the places you visit are full of people who love to talk about their

hometowns and experiences. If you find yourself in a new-to-you town, check out the visitor

centers, museums, and libraries. Ask if there’s a local-knowledge-only site you shouldn’t miss.

If you’re a staunch believer in butt-in-chair, your favorite place to do research may be the

internet. I venture to say that for most of us, here lies the initial hunt for answers. Nothing wrong

with that, just be careful not to assume it’s all fact. Check more than one source and confirm with

a human when possible.

Books beget books. The more you read, the more you learn. Nonfiction can give insight

into your themes, can provide guides to language, clothing, political facts, etc. And other fiction

from the time period you’re writing about might answer some questions or bring up topics you

want to cover in your story.

Don’t forget to grab the popcorn and a favorite beverage and indulge in a fun way to do

research. Find a movie that, if it were a book (and many movies are), would be on the shelf next

to yours. Pay attention not only to the story, but to the backgrounds, props, clothing, food, and

period details. Study how the plot moves along. What works and what doesn’t. And remember,

it’s Hollywood. If you question authenticity, look it up elsewhere before including it in your

story.

Recently, I researched the Pony Express. For those who might not know, the Pony

Express existed for only eighteen months from April 1860 to October 1861. But in my novel,

there is a similar startup called the Zephyr Post.

For many years now, the Pony Express Re-ride has been run every June. This year, the

riders left Sacramento and arrived in St. Joseph, Missouri, a mere ten days later! Since the trail

they rode will be a prominent location in my next book, and I wasn’t invited to ride, I did the

next best thing. I induced my main character, Ellis Cady, to write a letter to her friend, Lucas (in

1866), and a copy of that letter traveled through time and almost two thousand miles from

Sacramento, California, to St. Joseph, Missouri, by Pony Express (re-riders). How cool is that?

Thank you, and congratulations to all the riders who participated. History lives!

Enjoy the longer days, and Happy Trails!