ABSTRACT
Creative research and creative writing are two sides of the same coin. Many people confuse creative writing with "Creative Writing," a class offered in high school and college English departments. Philosophers wrestle with definitions, and scientists fret about controls for their experiments, but a historian must dive right in to the sources and dig around. Speculation, estimation, and bridging the narrative are all parts of the historian's toolkit, and they are not unethical if done properly and clearly explained. Slowly, a historian's pencil to the paper forms a book like a brush to the canvas forms a painting. The converse of the lonely curator is the overconfident lecturer who does too much teaching and makes no time for input. There are many historians, however, who believe their own writings are underappreciated masterpieces. Inputs consist chiefly of reading books, attending lectures, listening to podcasts, and hearing the views of friends and colleagues.
