Researching a historical novel using Kindle Notes and Highlights

When writing a historical novel, I read lots of books, even for my westerns. Almost all are nonfiction, and some are contemporaneous with my novel's period. It takes time to read twenty or thirty books, and my memory of late is not as good as it used to be, so to access this material months later, my notes must be consolidated, annotated, and made searchable on a computer.

Therefore, I read research books as eBooks on a Kindle. Why? First, this compact little device lets me carry an entire library with me wherever I go. In fact, I prefer the smaller, original Kindle because I can easily slip it into my back or front pocket. Any time I need to wait becomes productive time. I can whip out my Kindle and read instead of getting frustrated. I even read while on hold for some unempowered Help Line operator checking with a higher-up. I'm on my seventh Kindle and feel lost if it's not within arm's reach.

The second reason I prefer a Kindle book to the printed variety is the Highlights, Notes, and Bookmarks features. While reading on a Kindle, I can swipe my finger across a sentence, and it's highlighted. I can also type a note and attach it to a particular line in the book. (I still occasionally read nonfiction print books—out-of-print, illustrated, children's books—and manually highlight sections and make notes in the margin.)

When I wrote Tempest at Dawn, I read nearly a hundred print books and made notes the ol' fashioned way. As I finished each book, I transcribed my notes into a Word file so the information would be searchable on a computer. I hated that task. Over 50% of my time was spent researching rather than writing. Maelstrom, the second book in the American Exceptionalism Series, took considerably less research time and, thanks to Kindle, my notes were more readable and accurate.

Until about a year ago, upon request, Amazon sent notes and highlights by email as an ugly file that took time to organize into easily referenced notes. Nowadays, Kindle sends a neat and tidy PDF that requires no work. You can tote an entire library everywhere you go, highlight the good stuff, attach notes, and request your markings anytime, anywhere. Compared with the old days, this makes writing a historical novel faster and less error-prone.

Here is an example from my reading of Team of Rivals by Doris KearnsGoodwin. It starts by telling me I had 489 highlights, 11 bookmarks, and 4 notes. The next 89 pages display the material. If you bookmark a page, it is replicated and readable, so it's a shortcut for highlighting an entire section.

American Exceptionalism

Tempest at Dawn

Maelstrom

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