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This week I’m answering some questions that have come in about my trip to North Carolina.

What on earth could be worth driving three days one way? Sometimes, we get the idea to write about someone or something but we don’t see the story. The 13th-century Italian writer Boccaccio sounded interesting. But who was he really?

How did you know about this woman you visited? Dr. Roberta Morosini teaches Italian Studies at Wake Forest University. She writes articles about Boccaccio. When I realized that there was an expert in the southern United States (who spoke English!), I knew I wanted to have a lengthy visit with her.

alisonHow did you set up the meeting? I wrote to her and asked to interview her. I made it clear that I wanted a formal interview in her office and then an informal brainstorming session over dinner. She suggested we go out the evening before the interview as well.

 

 

 

What questions did you ask? My first question was: If you knew Boccaccio today and you were going to tell me about him, what would you say? Then I asked the question of first importance: what drove him? What was his burning desire and did he achieve it?  
 
Did you record the interview? I didn’t. I could have, but I was looking for big points on which to hang my plot, rather than specific dates and details. I have a theory that the cream rises to the top of our brains, and that too many facts and figures actually impede creativity. 
 
Was it worth it? Totally. This will be a much different book—and a truer book—because I went to the effort to spend several hours with a woman whose life’s work is this character. She explained to me about being “crowned with the laurel.”
 
In the ancient world, a laurel wreath symbolized not only athletic victory but poetic prowess. It wasn’t just an award for being a great poet. (I tried to compare it to literary prizes today, but Dr. Morosini said no no no no no no no.) The laurel was a symbol of wisdom. She showed me an amazing image of a man shipwrecked and drowning who has reached out and grasped hold of a laurel bush to save himself. This reflects the belief that only wisdom can rescue society. To receive the laurel wreath was to be recognized as a writer who had something important to say about how one should live one’s life to create a good society that would benefit all its citizens.  

boccaccioDuring Boccaccio’s life, King Robert of Naples, the most cultured monarch of the time, crowned the writer Petrarch with the laurel wreath. After that, Boccaccio spent his life working for that honor but never received it, despite the fact that he is often portrayed as wearing a laurel crown.

So what? Well, I don’t know about you, but whenever I get a rejection letter, I totally understand the heartbreak of not having my work appreciated. Yes, the novel will still feature the Black Death, war, assassination, illegitimate children and their mothers. But the real heartbreak will be that darn laurel.
 
I’m excited about this, and I would never have understood it had I not gone to North Carolina.
 
Over and over, I advise writers to pursue research and not to be put off by a little effort or expense. And never forget that an academic brings a whole other perspective to any discussion. Maybe you’re not writing historical fiction but science fiction or crime drama or your memoir that begins in the 1950s. I promise there is an expert out there who would love to share their knowledge with you on any of those topics.

alison3Not only did I come away with great information, but I made a friend who is going to be my guide in Naples this summer and take me into the very castle of King Robert.

So don’t be afraid to get up and go. Consider research a necessity rather than a luxury. Give yourself permission to put your writing first, even if it means something else has to wait.

And don’t forget your expenses are tax deductible.