That Surprising, Tiny Detail That Leads to Great Things (Or, Where Did Nikola Tesla Go Drinking in Prague?)
Have you ever wanted to write something and have someone reading it say, “Wow, I love this book because I felt like I was really there!”? How do we accomplish this as writers? Detail, detail, detail! And when those details are connected to fact or research and grounded in reality, as in memoir or literary biography, that moment of connection is thrilling.
Even a tiny little detail, especially when it’s unexpected, can lead to great things. In my research on the life of Nikola Tesla, I unexpectedly came across a document confirming that in 1880, when Tesla was a young student at Charles University in Prague, he used to hang out at the Narodni Kavarna (the People's Cafe) on Vodickova St. (You might not know this about Nikola Tesla, but he was funny, charming, very sociable, and at this point, just at the beginning of his incredible life and career. He hung out at the cafe to drink with his friends and talk about science, literature, and politics. He also loved to play billiards.) I took that little detail and, as part of a longer research trip, I traveled to Prague myself. That café still exists today. I sat down and ordered a drink. I took it all in, including the historic photographs on the wall. It was the beginning of an amazing odyssey into Tesla’s life in Prague.
I felt, quite literally, like a fly on the wall, taking in all I could about a person who lived long ago. The stories and information are there, if one is willing to dive in, and the fun part of research is being a sleuth! But where does one begin sleuthing? First, keep in mind the difference between primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are materials that are eyewitness accounts or as close to the original source as possible. This can include things like interviews, speeches, court cases, government documents, FBI files, newspapers, video or audio recordings, memoirs, autobiographies, personal journals and diaries, letters, blogs, and so on. Nikola Tesla wrote lots of letters, articles, an autobiography, and many, many newspaper op-eds. Court documents and FBI files have been helpful to me, too.
Secondary sources, also crucial, are interpretations and analysis based on primary sources. For example, an autobiography or memoir is a primary source while a biography is a secondary source. Secondary sources can include journal articles, magazines, reports, encyclopedias, dictionaries, documentaries, and again, newspapers. (A book, newspaper, or magazine article may fall into either category.) But there’s a caveat. Consider the source! Some secondary sources are great, some not. (Part of the reason Tesla’s story has been so distorted is due to a very poor “biography” published right after his death. Later historians picked up and repeated the falsehoods.) Take everything with a grain of salt: Who is writing this, and why? What is their source? And verify. My own personal rule is to have at least two sources of verification for an important fact or detail.
In Prague, I visited Charles University and the beautiful Clementinum Library, where Tesla studied. I checked out the street where he lived and found his apartment building, and strolled through the old Botanical Gardens where he liked to walk. I took notes and photographs and generally sleuthed around to my heart’s content. And it turned into a great chapter.
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And for more on Nikola Tesla, look for my forthcoming book, Friend and Faithful Stranger: Nikola Tesla in the Gilded Age. I’ll keep you posted!
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