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Teaching Life and History
I love to write. I love the thrill of bringing new ideas to life on a fresh sheet of paper, digital or otherwise. I love that the only thing that can ever limit your writing is you. Your imagination rules when it comes to writing. Nothing is off limits. A story about talking animals? Sure! Aliens crash landed on Earth? Why not? Literally, anything goes. While this is the beauty of writing, it can also be its most frustrating element.
The sheer mass of available topics, questions, solutions, thoughts, and the rest is astronomical; its crushing. Without focus, without determination and perseverance, the author can quickly become pulverized in the possibilities, crushed by the choices, asphyxiated by the availability. You get the picture. During my two and a half years as a graduate student in history, I found these choices difficult, but manageable. While I was given the freedom to write on any topic for my courses, I was also limited in a sense by the course topic and syllabus. The selection was there, but only in a much subdued sense. Once I completed the program, my writing world opened wide. No longer did I have to meet a word count or particular topic. I was free! I could write anything! This thought paralyzed me. I choked. I couldn't put pen to paper. I knew something had to be done. How do you solve the problem of too much freedom? I was too financial unstable to go back to school (and let's face it, I was tired of school by that point). There was no demand for written work in my work world. I was stumped. Then, the solution became clear. I read it in Kelly James-Enger's Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets to Freelance Success. In her section on marketing yourself, she suggests thinking about what you can offer current and future readers. So here it is, what I can offer you: parenting and history. Parenting is a difficult task. There's no handbook, but everyone with kids is expected to do it. While I am far from an expert, I am passionate about making sure my daughter grows, learns, and treats others how she wishes to be treated everyday. It's challenging, but I'm lucky to have a loving wife who partners with me and makes the load a bit lighter. History can also be a difficult task. Finding your sources, interpreting them, and making relevant connections to the present can be challenging at times; but the rewards are well worth it. These are the two areas that I feel I can offer the most to all readers. Parenting and history. The purpose of this blog is to explore both. The challenge I am putting in front of me is to find where these two intersect. How can I use history to encourage my daughter to live a better life? What can my wife and I do to encourage our daughter to explore the world around her, to ask questions, to do the hard research, to find answers? Sounds like a daunting task. The posts on The Historical Dad may focus solely on parenting, on history, or both. Sometimes, I may delve into thoughts on writing. I like to keep the material fresh and engaging. In order to do this, you guys (the readers) are essential. Let me know what you think on a topic. Ask questions that get me thinking about my position. Suggest future topics to write on. Get involved! The last thing I want this blog to become is me writing into space with no engagement. Until next time.
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AuthorMy name is Kevin. I'm a husband, a dad and a historian, in that order. Archives
April 2018
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