Events › Character Development in Both Fiction and Non-fiction: A Research Question Workshop

This workshop is presented by Writer-in-Resident Tom Holm.

I will give the participants an idea of the differences and similarities in doing research for both fiction and non-fiction. I will ask the participants to write or tell a story about an experience they’ve had in life. Then how they can draw out the ideas in a storyline by using their research into time and place. Also, how to use their research and experience to create a space for character development. I will tell a couple of stories and then ask the participants to “fill in” details or character attributes that would develop the story further.

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Tom Holm is Professor Emeritus of American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona. His latest academic book, Code Talkers and Warriors: Native Americans in World War II was released in 2007. The University of Texas Press published his 2005 book The Great Confusion in Indian Affairs: Indians and Whites in the Progressive Era. In 1996, his book on Native American veterans of the Vietnam War, Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls was a finalist for the Victor Turner Prize in Ethnology. His works of fiction include The Osage Rose (2008), its sequel, Anadarko (2015), and the third Hoolie Smith mystery novel, Panther Creek: A Pawnee Country Mystery (2024)

Tom is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Muscogee Creek descendant. Between 2004 and 2009, he served the Cherokee Nation as a member of the Sequoyah Commission, a group of Cherokee scholars, and was named a member of the American Indian Graduate Center’s Council of 100 elders, scholars, and leaders. A deep interest in veterans’ affairs led to his membership on the first Native American advisory committee to the Veterans’ Administration. He is a Vietnam veteran and with Ina, his wife of fifty-five years, has two sons and four grandchildren and resides in Tucson Arizona.

The Writer in Residence Program is made possible by the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Find out more about the Writer-in-Residence program