Choosing an Entry Point

Today, I struggled to tell the story of J. Lewis Spalding, a wartime volunteer officer who served in three regiments, fought in plenty of battles, and went on to serve in the regular army. There are numerous entry points into his story, and I had a terrible time choosing one: His experience as a white officer in a black infantry regiment, his wounding at Darbytown Road near Petersburg in 1864, his transition to the regular army in 1866, his court martial in 1867, or his experience as an Indian Agent.

For two hours in the morning, I started and stopped no less than eight separate introductory paragraphs. Each emphasized a different aspect of his military career. Feeling little sense of accomplishment, somewhat frustrated, and bordering on being late for my regular job, I showered, shaved, dressed, kissed Anne goodbye, patted the pugs, and drove off to the office — putting Spalding’s story completely out of mind.

As I closed in on the office, my mind turned back to Spalding. The proper words in the right order started flowing. Sentences formed. I composed the introductory paragraph within a few minutes, and pulled over to the side of the road to jot it down on a spare piece of notepaper in my briefcase.

It was a productive morning, after all.