Yes, I love brackets, too! My early drafts are littered with them, and they have the benefit of being searchable in “find and replace” so I can locate any of those notes to self later. It doesn’t completely eliminate the odd rabbit hole, but it definitely helps!
I was trying to remember where I'd heard of this sort of Hessian character before and then it popped into my head - Sleepy Hollow. I guess for your story you'd have to bear that in mind, and decide whether to make some knowing, playful winky-eye ironic reference to it, or consciously avoid any similarities so as to distance yourself from it and prevent people making negative connections.
Out of curiosity, did your research reveal anything on where else the Hessians had been deployed besides the American colonies? I wonder how it must have seemed to them -- did the MC see the colonies as just another backwater to tramp through, or how it compared to their last outing.
It was apparently pretty common for rulers to essentially rent out their armies to other countries. Apparently George III also asked Catherine the Great, among others, but she said no. So he's probably been to other places in Europe at the very least.
Yes, I love brackets, too! My early drafts are littered with them, and they have the benefit of being searchable in “find and replace” so I can locate any of those notes to self later. It doesn’t completely eliminate the odd rabbit hole, but it definitely helps!
I use the bracketing trick too! This sounds like a super interesting story and I like reading the behind the scenes ideation process.
I was trying to remember where I'd heard of this sort of Hessian character before and then it popped into my head - Sleepy Hollow. I guess for your story you'd have to bear that in mind, and decide whether to make some knowing, playful winky-eye ironic reference to it, or consciously avoid any similarities so as to distance yourself from it and prevent people making negative connections.
I also like your bracketing approach, btw.
I like the bracketing idea.
Out of curiosity, did your research reveal anything on where else the Hessians had been deployed besides the American colonies? I wonder how it must have seemed to them -- did the MC see the colonies as just another backwater to tramp through, or how it compared to their last outing.
It was apparently pretty common for rulers to essentially rent out their armies to other countries. Apparently George III also asked Catherine the Great, among others, but she said no. So he's probably been to other places in Europe at the very least.