By Devon Abbott Mihesuah
So that you are looking to Write approximately American Indians? is the 1st of its kind—an critical consultant for an individual drawn to writing and publishing a singular, memoir, choice of brief tales, historical past, or ethnography concerning the Indigenous peoples of the USA. In transparent language illustrated with examples—many from her personal experiences—Choctaw student and author Devon Abbott Mihesuah explains the fundamental steps concerned with writing approximately American Indians. So you must Write approximately American Indians? presents a concise assessment of the different sorts of fiction and nonfiction books written approximately Natives and the typical demanding situations and pitfalls encountered while writing each one kind of e-book. Mihesuah provides an inventory of moral directions to stick to while learning and writing approximately Natives, together with the ambitions of the author, stereotypes to prevent, and cultural concerns to think about. She additionally deals worthy assistance for constructing rules and getting to know successfully, filing articles to journals, drafting powerful ebook proposals, discovering suggestion, contacting an editor, sharpening a manuscript, getting ready a persuasive r?sum? or curriculum vitae, dealing with rejection, and negotiating a e-book agreement.
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Additional resources for So You Want to Write About American Indians?: A Guide for Writers, Students, and Scholars
Sample text
For my book on the Cherokee Female Seminary, I made a card for each seminary student (over two thousand) and on each card put all the demographic data I accumulated on each student. Combined with the cards I made for all the other data, such as an overview of the complex Cherokee history, I had thousands of cards (with one fact on each card). 378 ——— Normal * PgEnds: [36], (6) getting started with a project 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 a few future projects such as the Cherokee Male Seminary and essays on identity, boarding schools, and women.
Many pictures were staged by a photographer who desired to have his subjects looking as “Indian” as possible: holding war clubs, wearing feathers, and dressing stereotypically. Assessing the authenticity of photographs is a major undertaking. Informed readers are eager to read your accurate descriptions. However, they will catch any errors, no matter how small. Specifics are what give your work life and importance, and it will take effort on your part to make certain that you have your descriptions correct.
Unless you plan on becoming a writer with a reputation for having no concern for the people you write about (and that includes many prominent, award-winning writers), then you should contact tribes to see if they approve of what you are doing. You must start early. Don’t decide on a topic on Monday and plan to start that afternoon. Think of a topic in April and get an answer about it in July. [34], (4) Lines: 10 ——— Organization The more organized you are, the smoother your writing project will be.