Book Outline--Model

 

History Book Brainstorming Guide

Before diving into the chapters in the editor, defining your title and primary timeline will anchor the entire project. Use this guide to focus your scope.

1. Defining Your Topic and Thesis

• My Specific Historical Focus (What era/region/event are you covering?):

  • Pocahontas County, West Virginia: A complete history from early settlement through the industrial boom, the Civil War, and the modern shift toward tourism and preservation.

• Target Audience (Academic, general reader, young adult?):

  • Suggestion: General Reader / Local History Enthusiasts

• Core Thesis (What is the main argument or new perspective you want to present?):

  • Suggestion: Pocahontas County's identity is defined by a constant tension between the extraction of its vast natural resource wealth (timber, coal) and the fierce dedication of its residents to environmental preservation, creating cycles of boom, bust, and renewal.

2. Title Brainstorming

A great history book title should be engaging, informative, and memorable. Titles often use a two-part structure (Main Title: Subtitle).

Title Type	Example 1 (Ancient Rome Focus)	Example 2 (The Cold War Focus)	Your Draft Titles
Academic/Direct	The Roman Republic: Law, Expansion, and Collapse, 509–44 BCE	The Iron Curtain's Shadow: Resource Control and the German Question, 1945–1961	Pocahontas County: A History of Appalachian Land, Lumber, and Legacy
Dramatic/Evocative	Rubicon's Edge: The End of Liberty and the Birth of Empire	Children of the Nuclear Dawn: Fear, Ideology, and the Berlin Wall	The Highest Peaks and Deepest Cuts: Two Centuries in Pocahontas County
Metaphorical/Punchy	The Marble and the Mire	The Long Chill	The Mountain and the Mill: Life on the Roof of the World

3. Initial Timeline Draft

A timeline ensures you have clear chronological boundaries. You can use major events or political milestones to structure your chapters.

Chapter 1: The First Frontier	Pre-1821	Native American presence (Shawnee, Cherokee), early hunters, first permanent settlements, and the formidable geography.
Chapter 2: Conflict and Creation	1821–1870	County formation (1821), life in the antebellum period, Civil War campaigns (Battle of Cheat Mountain, Battle of Greenbrier River).
Chapter 3: The Kingdom of Timber	1870–1920	Arrival of the railroads, the industrial logging boom, boom towns (Cass), environmental impact, and labor.
Chapter 4: Bust and the Green Tide	1920–1950	Decline of the timber industry, the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the creation of the Monongahela National Forest.
Chapter 5: The High-Tech Highlands	1950–Present	Establishment of the Green Bank Observatory (The Quiet Zone), the rise of tourism (Snowshoe, Cass Scenic Railroad), and modern preservation efforts.
Conclusion	Future Focus	Summarizing the county's unique identity shaped by its geography and its future role in Appalachian economy and culture.