Potential…

There are a few aspects in which my chosen subject matter could appeal, as a piece of creative non-fiction, to both the potential audience and publishers in the contemporary market. For instance, the sheer mystery behind Richard Cabell, his death, his wife's supposed death, and the various stories of hounds around his grave is enough to entice anyone into reading a story with quite a bit of potential. Also, the way in which my subject matter is veering towards how Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired by such events, could create an interesting change for readers, particularly to read about such an infamous figure and learning new things about him. Also, the structure I intend to write in, such as, the investigative narrative approach as well as the non-linear structure; this could both appeal to readers as opposed to the tedium of a regular narrative and typical chronological telling of the story. Summerscale utilises both of these techniques in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher effectively and successfully.

This could have potential, not just for the audience, but for publishers in the contemporary market because of such a seemingly untouched subject matter. Revealing information on Arthur Conan Doyle's inspiration, that few people know about, could potentially fill a gap in the publishing, and non-fiction, market. Not to mention the fact that, if readers receive this story well, publishers would definitely be interested as their main goal is to sell. Hopefully, I will manage to construct a compelling opening with equally compelling scenes to follow as part of of the building blocks to writing creative non-fiction, a subject discussed and practiced in Week 3 of our Telling True Stories lectures.

Practical Problems...

I am facing various problems and issues when it comes to dramatizing and fictionalising the life of Richard Cabell; these include the lack of direct information I receive when researching his man. There are so many different versions of his life and the 'death' of his wife, however, I cannot seem to find any more information, such as, his wife's name, how he became squire, any factual records of his existence. The problem I face with this is that I am not sure if it is ethical for me to write about this man if I am not sure what information is true or just plain myth, which is something previously discussed in a seminar during Week 8 on ethics and a writer's responsibility; it is therefore my responsibility to only write about the truth. This, however, leads me to information about how Cabell's various stories inspired Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, which I feel would be a better subject matter since there is a lot more information on this event.


Another problem I face is the fact that I only have other people's views and opinions - and also images online - to go by when describing the moors of Dartmoor, Buckfastleigh. Lee Gutkind suggests to choose somewhere/something right on your doorstep, however, Devon is a little out of my reach to research and immerse myself in. However, researching the opinions of people who have been to these moors may prove helpful in describing the place and its supposed eerie qualities, with the aid of photographs provided on various blogs.

Investigative Narration…

I am considering developing an investigative narrative to help create an engaging read, since there are so many unanswered questions about Richard Cabell's life and I can only write about the aspects I do know. Therefore, the narrative can lead the reader through me trying to find out as much as I can about this man's life, in effect, following me on my journey to discovering more about this man. I will include my own thoughts and feelings about the man, asking rhetorical and non-rhetorical questions, probably that readers will have too. I am also considering writing in a non-linear structure, since my research is steering more towards that of Arthur Conan Doyle and the influence Richard Cabell's stories had on his own writing, I may begin with Doyle visiting Dartmoor and then perhaps flashback to the 1600s during the time of Cabell and his evil influences on the village. Hopefully, this will be a more effective structure to entice readers than it being a chronological order of events, which can become tedious. This was discussed during Week 10 of lectures in which we discussed the various structures, such as, chronological, convoluted and manipulated time, which influenced me to choose the non-linear structure.

There is also the element of imagery that I can include to aid the realism of such a story, reminding the reader that this was indeed a real person. I can include images of his tomb, the markings inside and out, images of the moor and surrounding area; this would not only help me immerse myself into this man's life, but help the reader to do the same thing, which even more effective. Similarly, Kate Summerscale included an array of photographs in The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher of the family members, the manor house/scene of the murder, blueprints of the house and even the family tree. As a reader myself this really helped me feel as though I was a part of the investigation as more things were discovered.

Satanists and Paw-prints…

Within a week, I have attempted to take on the advice of Lee Gutkind when he says there are three ways to research a potential idea, "Begin with library research, then interview the most important people, then allow yourself a personal experience by immersing yourself in the place or experience about which you are writing." With this in mind, what I have learned about Richard Cabell and the area of Buckfastleigh is that at Cabell's tomb itself, there is the belief that Satanists would perform rituals and other manners of worship at the tomb, as well as Buckfastleigh Holy Trinity Church having been burned down, with images of pentagrams carved into the walls, with Cabell's tomb just a few yards away. I have also learned that Arthur Conan Doyle had visited these exact moors in 1901 when researching the tale of Dartmoor's ethereal "hound" after hearing it from his friend, Bertrum Fletcher Robinson.

I have also seen many images of what the Dartmoor moors, the moors that inspired that of Arthur Conan Doyle, look like today, including an image of a paw-print in the mud. This really helps me imagine the atmosphere of such a legendary place that holds so many ghost stories, but also, helps me immerse myself in what I imagine it looks like from the images and descriptions from other people, using various methods of immersion, discussed in Week 6 of our Telling True Stories seminars.

Richard Cabell - Evil Squire of Buckfastleigh

I have chosen to research the man who inspired Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Hound of the Baskervilles', Richard Cabell. Having died 5th July, 1677, there are various versions of this man's life and how he gained his evil reputation. For example, some of the versions suggest that he was an evil man and keen huntsman who sold his soul to the devil, or that he killed his wife, though other versions say that his wife outlived him by 14 years at least. Another version of the tale says that Richard Cabell beat his wife and accused her of infidelity, and chased her over the moor, catching her and stabbing her to death in a fit of rage, which is a version closely related to Doyle's Hugo Baskerville. It is said that her faithful hound tore out his throat in revenge, and that both fell to their deaths. Another version tells how on the night of his burial a pack of phantom hounds bayed across the moor and sat howling at his tomb. Some say he leads the hounds on hunts across the moors, sometimes with a headless horse and coach.

With so many different versions of Cabell's life it may be difficult for me to reconstruct the past with a certain degree of accuracy, however there are other elements of writing I can attempt to help reconstruct this man's life. In week 4 of our Telling True Stories lectures, we discussed effective ways in which to reconstruct the past, such as, recreating the atmosphere/experience, Dialogue, Emotion, Accuracy, having credibility, consistency and corroboration when using information from a source, and, of course, when quoting, every quote must have a source as it would not be true otherwise. This is something Kate Summerscale does extremely well in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, which is shown by her extensive bibliography of sources. Some of these will be difficult, others I will be excited to research and discover which ways I can tell the story of Richard Cabell.

Love, Mythology or Evil?

I have three central concepts for which I want to research and eventually convey through a nonfiction piece. Firstly, I am considering telling the story of famous illustrator and author, Howard Pyle, but I wanted to particularly research the time of his life when he was writing The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903). I believe this would have great potential as an intriguing true story since, not only do the majority of people find British mythology fascinating, especially that of the Arthurian legend, but many would also be fascinated by the initial ideas of these stories and how they came to be in the writer's mind. Perhaps even, what life and cultural events occured that had further inspired him at the time. I personally would love to research the background of this man and this story since it's origin is right on my doorstep, even though Pyle is an American, the mythology is English. Just as Lee Gutkind says in his book, The Art of Creative Nonfiction: Writing and Selling the Literature of Reality, "In searching for a topic for a book, article, or essay, begin in the most obvious places. Look around you, where you live…"

The second concept I am considering researching is in the form of recorded dialogue between a married couple, Phyllis and Werner, which can be found online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b060brhw. Within this love story can be found great conflict since Werner is German, introducing cultural conflict as the two first met during the second World War. There is much research that could be uncovered about these two, how they met, their surroundings and how the war affected or contributed to their relationship. In addition, a story such as this usually excites the general public, however, with this being a true - and successful - story with, what we would consider, a 'happliy ever after', the effect of their love would be emphasised to the readers, giving this idea a lot of potential. Also, the amount of research that could be done on this particular story would further highlight the reality, for example, using actual dialogue that has occured in real life would contribute to this effect. Kate Summerscale does this successfully in, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, e.g., "he once told Dickens, 'I couldn't do better than have a drop of brandy-and-water to keep my courage up.'"

Last of all, I want to research and explore the life of Richard Cabell, the man who's life inspired the legendary story 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', by Arthur Conan Doyle. This would make such an interesting and chilling story since, not only was this man supposedly an evil squire who murdered his wife, but this man was a real person and real people had called him evil. There is much research that can be done since this is a popular legend in Dartmoor with many versions that I could explore, leaving a lot of potential for this story to chill and excite readers with it's sense of Gothic and, also, reality.