Historical accuracy is paramount. Without this, your novel
is doomed and so are you.
A friend of mine read a novel from a well known author and
found a glaring historical inaccuracy, which should never have been written by
the author in the first place. It certainly should have been picked up by the
editor, but it wasn’t. My friend has never bought another book from this author
because she says, I can’t trust her
anymore.
You should always write about an era that you are interested
in. I am not into Vikings or Regency, so it would be tedious trying to do the research
required for this, and I wouldn’t have the passion about it, and I am sure this
would show in my writing.
Research options are many and varied now. The internet (use
with caution unless you are certain that the person who posted knows what they
are talking about).
Library reference books are a great place to start.
MuseumsCemeteries (as long as you aren’t scared of spiders and snakes).
Quizzing elderly relatives (depending, of course, on which era you are writing about). 2nd
Reading family diaries and/or letters.
Actually visiting places where your story takes place or somewhere similar is a must, if possible.
I visited an old jail (now a tourist attraction) for my
novel, Daring Masquerade, because my heroine was jailed for being a spy. I wanted
to see what it was like. The walls were solid bluestone and cold, even on a
warm day. The cell was small, and I swear there was a spooky aura about the
place. I took a notebook with me and jotted down these feeling as they came to
me.
Depending on what you are writing, for your settings I think
it is imperative to name some towns or cities near to where your stories are
going to be played out.
You must know the area, either by having visited it, or
careful research. You need to know what grows there, the terrain, climate etc.
I always set most of my stories in Australia
In my novel, Wild Oats, set in 1916, I said the heroine
lived at Dixon ’s Siding (made up name) i.e. They
left the farm at Dixon’s Siding, and after riding for an hour (I am talking horseback
here,) reached Wangaratta, which is a major town in the area.
I purposely did not say that
A little quiz, to show you what I mean.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE STATEMENTS? From my novel, Lauren's Dilemma
1.30a.m., 25th April 1915.
Danny shivered in the chilly air as he waited on the deck of the troopship. In the darkness he couldn’t see land, even though someone said it was less than three miles away. When his turn came, he climbed down the rope ladder and found himself in an open boat. Excitement surged through him. He had traveled halfway around the world for this moment and was keen to give a good account of himself.
A. The soldiers landed at 0130 hours, not
1.30a.m. No soldier would say 1.30a.m. The army always uses the 24 hour clock
My work in progress is set in 1854
On arrival at the homestead, Melanie unsaddled the mare and
let her loose in the stockyards James had constructed from split logs. Surprising
how neglected a house became after being left empty for a few daysWithin 5 minutes she had dusted the kitchen and was sitting down having a cup of hot milky tea?
Where did she get the milk? Not from the refrigerator. She would have had
to milk the cow first. The water would have to be boiled on a wood stove? She
would have had to light the stove, maybe even cut the wood. (No microwaves in
those days).
In my novel, Daring Masquerade set in 1916, the heroine, desperate to find
out what has happened to her husband who is missing in action, rings up a
family friend who is a Colonel in the army. She punches in the telephone number
and anxiously waits for him to pick up the phone.
No, she lives in the country, so she would have contacted
the operator, dialled the exchange etc. And she certainly didn’t use a mobile
phone. And, on her wedding night, her nightgown was exquisite, a soft, white
polyester, lavishly trimmed with lace.
No polyester in those days, it would have been cotton, silk
or even satin.
Know the area you are writing about
This is an extreme example, but it does happen.
Of course, in England Australia
You must be aware of modern language and slang, and don’t
use it.
A poor, uneducated person wouldn’t speak the same way as a
rich, educated person.
There are lots of traps for the unwary, but historical romance writing is very rewarding and if done correctly, can transport your reader back to another time and place full of daring exploits and handsome, swashbuckling heroes.
My novella, We Never Said I Love You, has just been released
by my publisher, Books We Love, and costs 99 cents on Amazon and Smashwords.
Wounded soldier, Adrian Bancroft, has a whirlwind romance
with his nurse. A foolish misunderstanding leads to a heated argument and he
and Julie part in bitterness.
With the black clouds of war hovering overhead, he returns
to the hospital to sort things out with the woman he loves, but Julie has been
banished because she is pregnant. Amidst the chaos of wartime London
3 comments:
Margaret,
I love this post! and your examples are spot on!! Sometimes it is the simple things that are the most infuriating...of course in the 1800's it would take more than 5 minutes to brew a cup of milky tea.
And while I knew the example about making the telephone call was the problem, I'd stopped at 'punched' remembering the dial we used when I was little. But then with your example I remembered picking up the receiver and the operator came on. You told her who you wanted to talk to and were connected.
The challenge in writing contemporaries can be in the setting. I've fictionalized my home town because there are a couple of scenes I want set in a particular place and the buildings I need don't exist there.
Hi Judith,
There are challenges with all types of writing. I have seen some blatant msitakes in contemporaries too. So you do need to research them to a certain extent. Writing in a setting/country you are not familiar with or haven't researched well can lead to mistakes if you haven't done your homework.
Cheers
Margaret
Margaret, I learned so much from your post! I haven't written a historical, but am planning a Steampunk set in the 1880s American West, so I'm doing a lot of research. This is very timely information for me. Thank you!
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