Last spring, I wrote about my current work in progress: a nonfiction book about South Dakota women homesteaders. It’s quite a journey.
So far, I’ve written stories about twenty women homesteaders. After doing deep dives into each woman’s history through genealogical records, homestead records, journals, letters, and newspaper clippings, I’ve tried to reconstruct details about what it was like for these homesteaders. Details like why they came west, the struggles and successes on their claims, and historical events that happened near them.
One thing I’ve found is that each woman’s story is different. That difference is key to each story. From the unwed mother whose father banished her from the family farm to a black woman who helped bring formerly enslaved people to western lands, every woman was the hero of her own story.
The other thing I’ve learned is that it all starts with one sentence. That’s the hardest part of writing each story, each chapter. But that’s something that all authors face: the blank page. That’s where the research helps. After I’ve done the research and let that information marinate, something always makes each woman stand apart.
And that’s the first sentence.
I’m still writing these stories, and if you know about a woman homesteader in South Dakota, I’d like to tell her story, too. Contact me at ckayvandam@gmail.com or through this website.