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There are opposing schools of thought on how writers should select topics. The old chestnut is to write what you know about. Personal, autobiographical experience is a deep well of source material for many writers.
Others rely on imagination for inspiration. The science fiction genre is a prime example.
Still others espouse a totally different approach: select a subject you want to know more about. In this case, research becomes inevitable.
I've written several plays and screenplays on historical figures. It requires devoting yourself to a protracted immersion in the lives of these individuals and the world they inhabited. Obviously, you seek dramatic potential-the turning points of their lives. What they struggled to achieve. The people blocking their path.
It's best to avoid writing too early. You're collecting raw material for your story. Take notes on the aspects of character or situation you think will prove useful. If a line or two of dialogue comes to you-stash it away in a notebook. If a scene comes to mind, write it down in your notebook.
Take time away from your research allowing the unconscious mind space to ruminate on what you've collected. Let your imagination take flight. After all, you're writing a dramatic work of fiction-not a history book.
Over time, the characters will begin to live in your bones. Again, hold off from writing too early. As the superb naturalist writer, Rachel Carson observed: the writer's "initial task is to come to know his subject intimately, to understand its every aspect, to let it fill his mind. Then, at some turning point, the subject takes command and the true act of creation begins."
When writing about historical figures-allow time for the subject to take command. Eventually, you'll then find the characters are flesh and blood. They take command. Now it's time to write.
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