Historical Fiction . Writing

Sparks in Time Episode 7: The Power of Landscape (a Vermont Perspective)

On July 6, 2020 by admin

Landscape and History

The power of landscape is undeniable—landscape is inseparable from our own personal story and our collective past. You can’t describe a history without understanding the world it took place in…after all the landscape shaped the very events of history. Conflicts, battlegrounds, outcomes of wars, settlements…our story is the story of how landscape shaped history.

A Vermonter’s Perspective

I don’t remember if I fell in love with landscape or history first. Growing up in Vermont, I was spoiled beyond measure with beautiful views absolutely everywhere. Rolling mountains, blue skies, farmland, water…in my mind there is no better scenery than the mountains and lakes of Vermont. And Vermonters are very proud of their history. To say that it looms large in elementary education is an understatement. When I was young, Vermont was celebrating its bicentennial anniversary of statehood, so we spent the better part of a year learning about the history of the state.

And central to that history is Ethan Allen, a man who is a household name in Vermont, but not nearly as well-known elsewhere…something I didn’t appreciate until later in life when I referred to him as a “founding father” and got laughed out of my lecture hall. (Apparently, not every state teaches this as part of their compulsory elementary school curriculum.)

The Power of Landscape

But as I learned about Ethan Allen, his life, his travels, I learned that the very landscape that I saw each and every day was an integral part of his own life, his own history, and even the fate of our nation. Vermonters love to talk about Fort Ticonderoga and later, the Battle of Lake Champlain, as key events in the American Revolution.

Allen’s siege of Fort Ticonderoga (Vermonters will tell you that Arnold was very much a minor character) laid the groundwork for the Revolutionary War that would follow. Similarly, the Battle of Valcour Island (where Arnold was decidedly a main character) delayed the British from reinforcing the Hudson Valley. Skirmishes between Allen’s Green Mountain Boys and the British throughout the waters of what are now the Hero Islands cut off or delayed crucial supply links for the British, and used the natural landscape of the islands to accomplish it. Growing up on Grand Isle, I was always beyond proud that my family’s land had once been gifted to Allen’s Green Mountain Boys as a reward for their heroism during the Revolutionary War.

One of my favorite chapters in Willard Sterne Randall’s Ethan Allen: His Life and Times is the description of Ethan Allen climbing up through the Green Mountains and seeing Lake Champlain for the first time, and the description of the emotions he felt at the sight of it. I felt instantly connected to this historical character. Yes! I know that view, and it is just as powerful for me every time I see it!

In fact, I know and love that landscape from both viewpoints…from the top of Mount Mansfield…

…and from the lake itself, looking up at Mount Mansfield…the very places that I still, even after all these years away, think of as home.

I’ve always appreciated landscape wherever I’ve lived and traveled. I am pretty sure we live in the house we live in solely because I love the scene out the back door….a cornfield and a barn, and horses visible from every bedroom window. That was more important to me than designer kitchens or square-footage. (You may call me crazy, but I just call me Vermont-raised.)

Because landscape is so much a part of my own life, I recognize it as a powerful tool for connecting with readers. Whether they have visited the settings of my stories or not, I want to help them to connect to them. Interestingly, I rarely write a scene about a place where I haven’t myself visited. I want to be able to recreate an image from my memory for my readers and help them to connect with the world of my story…because it is such a powerful tool to help them connect with the characters and the broader story.

Landscape and Writing: Tips for Authors

Landscape is a powerful tool for writers because it can evoke deep emotions. Think about your own life and how it has been defined by landscape. Perhaps the memories of a favorite place or a special event, or even just the feeling that you have when you visit your childhood home. Do you have a landscape painting hanging in your home? Why did choose it?

As a fiction writer, how you write about landscape and connect your readers to that landscape can help to create a world for your reader. After all, your setting is inherently connected to your plot, and the adventures your characters will have all will take place within that landscape. Use it to your advantage! Here are a few thoughts.

Introduce landscape early

Landscape can be a powerful tool during the opening chapters of your writing. These chapters are notoriously tricky because you have to introduce both your characters and your setting, and connect them in a way that is meaningful for readers…all while hooking your audience and laying the foundation for what’s to come. It’s a tall order. However, you can save space by intertwining these descriptions and tying characters to their setting. Here’s one example from White Dove:

The summer wind off the River Shannon blew Nora McMahon’s long auburn hair across her eyes, blocking her view of the horizon, but she did nothing to tame it. It had been wild for sixteen years and would stay wild today. She sat perched atop a boulder in the back field, the largest of the many stones that littered the landscape. The smaller rocks had long since been harvested to reinforce the boundaries that kept the small herd of sheep corralled, but the larger ones remained. They had sat here for perhaps a thousand years and would for a thousand more, witnesses to the story of millennia—and the story of Ireland. 

My goal in this first chapter was to develop the tie between a main character and the world around her. Show how they were inseparable. And to do this, I described both character and landscape with similar features. Of course, your project and your writing will have different goals, but consider how you might use the power of landscape to help define your characters.

Refer to landscape often

Once you’ve laid the initial groundwork, small references to landscape help to remind your reader that the characters and the world they live in are inseparable. Landscape remains a powerful tool for you throughout your story. If you are writing a historical fiction about specific events in history, describing the landscape where events actually took place is imperative to connect your reader to the time. Sprinkle these descriptions into your writing often.

Use writing prompts

Because landscape and the way it connects to plot and characters is so important in fiction, I find it useful to use writing prompts to help draw out these descriptions. It could be something as simple as “What does sunrise look like in the town where your character lives?” Force yourself to write several hundred words about what this looks like, feels like, sounds like, smells like. How it makes your character feel. Does it make them content? Does it evoke another emotion? Make them want to pack up and leave town? How does that help you describe your character, their particular problem? How does it help you to grow and develop them? You won’t use every word you write, but some of those words will make it to your final draft. I used a similar prompt for one of my characters, and this is what made the final draft:

The sun rose peacefully and brilliantly. Its gentle rays brought the green meadows to life and chased the darkness from the shadows of the ancient stone walls. Until the first opaque light broke across the fields, the birds had sung short, solo songs, but now one call could not be distinguished from another. The chorus grew more chaotic as the sun peered over the horizon and pierced the landscape with a magnificent burst of light. 

Notice that there’s no discussion of characters whatsoever in that paragraph, but it set the stage for the world my character lived in.

Recommended Reading

Ethan Allen: His Life and Times. By Willard Sterne Randall. After my discussion above, I have to recommend Randall’s work on Ethan Allen. If you have any connection to Vermont or its history, this book is fantastic for not only providing one of the few works on Ethan Allen’s life, but also showing how the landscape and history of Vermont are so intricately connected. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about the unique and not-so-well-known history of Vermont. If you do pick it up, I recommend doing a mini-series of books about the time to help you to engage with the time period. I read it about the same time I read Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton, and the two biographies include many of the same characters and events, so it was very useful for context to read them together.

Landmarks of Interest

Of course, my recommendation is to visit Vermont! But, if that’s a little too broad for your tastes, I designed a mini-Ethan Allen tour (best done from south to north) that I want to take my kids on and will share with you…

1. Catamount Tavern Once located in Bennington, VT, this old haunt of Ethan Allen burned about 100 years after his death, but the site of the tavern is marked by (as you might guess) a bronze catamount (Vermont speak for mountain lion).
2. Fort Ticonderoga This is a fantastic family field trip. There’s lots to learn about the local history, and can be paired with visits to the many other forts along Lake Champlain and Lake George, NY.
3. Mount Mansfield Mount Mansfield is the highest peak in Vermont. If you are looking for an (all) day hike in the Green Mountains, Mansfield will not disappoint. If you’re bringing the kids, there are some driving and gondola shortcuts to reach the top (wouldn’t recommend the hike with anyone under 10). It’s a challenging hike, but I’ve seen both kids and golden retrievers do it successfully, so it can be done! On a clear day, just as Ethan Allen recorded in his journals, you can see the present day Hero Islands (and well into Canada) from the peak. Some of the best scenery to be had!
4. Ethan Allen Park, Burlington, VT. The Ethan Allen Tower (with stone from a nearby quarry) is located here and offers a great view of the Lake. The park itself is 60 acres of woodland, trails, and picnicking spots.
5. The Hero Islands (by bike!) Vermont’s Hero Islands (currently the towns of South Hero, Grand Isle, North Hero, Isle LaMotte and Alburgh) were gifted to Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys after the Revolutionary War. I’ve biked the islands more than once and it’s a fantastic ride. The scenery is wonderful and there are a few state parks where you can stop and swim along the way. (Not to mention ice cream stands!) It’s one of those routes where the cows will outnumber the people and you’ll share Route 2 with plenty of tractors and other cyclists. The full route is about 32 miles.

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