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October 30, 2025

Can Historians Be...Imaginative?

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Episode 72 with Joanne Paul Out Now

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Does it make you nervous to hear a historian talk about using imagination in their work? Or do you, like this week's guest Dr. Joanne Paul, think imagination is essential to what we do?

For Episode 72: Joanne Paul Isn't Afraid to Call Herself an Artist, I talked with Joanne about how she rediscovered the artist inside her and the difference between imagination and invention for historians. The latter is largely off-limits, but the former is what enables us to write scenes that bring readers right into the story alongside our historical figures. Plus, she shares how she applies screenwriting tools to her work, along with some of the screenwriting resources she finds most helpful!

I gobbled up Joanne's books The House of Dudley and Thomas More: A Life, and I think you'll get a lot out of this conversation. I did!

(Note: Links to bookshop.org are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, Drafting the Past gets a small cut that helps to keep the show going. Affiliate income so far: $77.40.)


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