On Writing Appalachian Folklore
Author Leah Weiss shares her experience and top tips for writing compelling Appalachian folklore.
It was happenstance that led me to write my first Appalachian story. It was conjured from the writing prompt I struggle to my feet and grew into a small tale about a forlorn girl named young Sadie Blue, pregnant and in peril. It could have been riddled with typecast pitfalls, but instead, it won the contest and a check for a hundred and fifty dollars.
Then those four pages expanded into the debut novel If the Creek Don’t Rise, a compilation of 10 original voices that wove a complex account about place and its people. Alasdair Lees in The Independent called the novel “a feminist revenge drama, with sadistic, hapless men being served rough and comic justice by women ground down by misogyny.” It has sold more than 200,000 copies and created the trajectory for my writing career.
In the past decade, I’ve written three novels that hold the enduring myths of Appalachia—but I’ve never lived in a holler. Never hunted ginseng or cooked moonshine. Never heard the warning tap of a Tommy-Knocker or saw a haint. Never sat through the night guarding the dead nor sang shape-note hymns with pounding conviction. But I write as though I have.
How do I do that and why is that important?
If you wish to write authentically about Appalachia and its ways, prepare to immerse yourself in this mysterious frontier. Figuratively speaking, you need to slide behind the wheel of a faded pickup with rusted-out wheel-wells and busted muffler, and the lingering odor of wet hounds and hooch. Drive high into the holler to where your pulse pounds when brittle branches scrape the sides like witch’s nails. The rutted trail ends at the laurel hell guarded by a dark wood that hides sins and sinners. Delicate skeletons of creatures lie broken in twisted roots. You are there to unravel enigmasand that requires being immersed in the setting and smells and superstitions. In order to write best about Appalachia, you must swallow the magic whole and be confident in your testimony, otherwise your doubts will weaken your writing.
This is what I believe you need to do to write authentically about the place called Appalachia.
Don’t Use Common Language.
You may be writing about common man, but poetic wonder elevates everything.
- Lingering odor of wet hounds and hooch.
- A laurel hell guarded by a dark wood.
- Delicate skeleton of creatures…
Dive Deep.
Don’t float on the surface. Begin your research for authenticity with an open mind then hunt for little-known surprises. For my third book I reached out to special collections at Appalachian State seeking a librarian who loved witches and mysticism and shadow magic. Over months, Ross Cooper sent me articles and helped me uncover large and small truths that grounded my third book in fresh revelations.
Let Characters Be Flawed.
Let the bad boy turn tender, the midwife brew poison, the good girl push back and the preacher sin—but let the mountain ways flavor everything.
Kill Cleverly.
Don’t resort to traditional weapons of murder when Mother Nature can do the deed more dramatically. I put him in the path of danger and turn my back on Walter, iswhat I done. Go inside the house, close the door, and look out that front door window at the storm that stirs the world into a frenzy. Rainwater drips off me and puddles on the floor at my feet, and I shiver with a chill that rattles my teeth, but I stay put and look.
Don’t Half-Believe.
Shine a legitimate light on local folklore, legends, and cryptids. Understand that half-believing on the page doesn’t work. It will expose you as an amateur.
Check out Leah Weiss' novel here:
Pick Powerful Words.
The words you choose should expose the character for who and what she is. “What’s your skinny ass doin’ in my yard?” is more than a question opening a chapter. It’s an anthem for hardscrabble living.
Read Your Words Aloud.
- “Is she over the danger?” I whisper. “The day will say,” Birdie answers.
- Mamas and mean men shouldn’t mess with growing boys.
- I look up at the sky and gotta decide: am I gonna die today or another day? I pick another day.
Try First Person/Present Tense.
All three of my books are written in the voice that creates intimacy and urgency in real time. When a reader shares the character’s space, the unknown becomes known. The reader becomes part of the conspiracy, the crime, the lie.
Avoid Stereotypes.
Never typecast the enterprising people of Appalachia. It’s the lazy way to write that will not be forgiven by readers or Appalachians.
And Lastly, Don’t Rush.
Let your respect for the craft of writing be evident in every sentence. When you are weary, step away, take a walk, sleep on it, then return to cut away the sludge. Be patient. Don’t stop too soon. Once your words are locked between the covers of a book, there are no second chances to make it better.
