Finding myself at an intersection with a historical fiction short I'm working on, I consulted The Observation Deck- A Writers' Tool by Naomi Epel for a bit of inspiration. The card I drew said 'switch instruments'; in the book, it details how sometimes writing with a different instrument (pencil vs. pen, pen vs. computer, crayon vs. pencil, etc...) can not only help you get back in flow but can also help you relate to your character- how do they write? With 18th to early 20th century Europe in mind, I'm breaking out my old calligraphy set; I didn't realize how such a minor thing could help slip back into the character's mindset, even as I'm constantly bombarded with the modern world. I wanted to share that and suggest that no matter what time period you're writing in, even if it is an ancient era, try their method of written/drawn/carved communication. When one sits down to transcribe something, there is an intimacy to it; great for gaining a better understanding your character's motivations and what they want to leave a record of. I'd love to hear about other perspectives/tools on or about keeping 'in the moment' of a historical piece.
The Power of the Pen/Quill
- Thread starter Lit Chick5
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I've never written with a quill!
I think it would take too long. When I type, I can write as fast as I can think. When I write by hand, I can't get it all down and I lose the thread.
I think it would take too long. When I type, I can write as fast as I can think. When I write by hand, I can't get it all down and I lose the thread.
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Although an interesting concept I don't think I could whip up a hunk of clay and start writing in cuneiform text. Simply learning the symbols would be impossible. 
I do, however, always write my first draft in pencil. I think it must be the connection to the page that does it for me. My own technique for staying in the period is to research until I feel as if I am there. No matter when I think of scene possibilities (and I'm always thinking of them, especially when there are lulls in conversation) the scenes are complete because I know the world so well.
I do, however, always write my first draft in pencil. I think it must be the connection to the page that does it for me. My own technique for staying in the period is to research until I feel as if I am there. No matter when I think of scene possibilities (and I'm always thinking of them, especially when there are lulls in conversation) the scenes are complete because I know the world so well.
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I do all my story outlines by hand, pen or pencil. First drafts I did typing before computers, and now by computer. I think faster than I can write by hand, and the slowing process helps.
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Part of my learning process in writing my first novel was understanding how to write anywhere, on whatever material I had (notebook, hotel stationery, postcards...) with whatever writing utensil I had on me. I like the idea of a quill, and will certainly try it, but I also think learning to write where you are with what you have is important. Even if what you end up writing is dreck.
Lit Chick5 do you make your own ink? I have tried writing with a quill and really enjoyed the feel of having to write slowly and think about each letter and each word. I write my journal using a fountain pen. Weirdest pen I have ever used had a glass nib - it is (I still have it somewhere) a sort of spiral of glass that ends in a point which has a very small hole in it. I wonder what sort of character would use such a pen.
I definitely had the glass nib pens- it was immensely difficult and turned out messy; oh my! But I do have calligraphy pens (modernized) and they now have calligraphy markers. Thank you Shakesbear- love the journaling notion. To fellow AW'ers on this post, in 'switching instruments', I meant to say I still utilize typing/pen&paper to do the bulk of the writing, the story itself; but just writing a letter in the character's way, making their careful brush strokes, choosing words, etc... it makes one think about the way monks used to transcribe huge records with their steady hand- like the Book of Kells. It says something about what each word meant. Interesting thought. One of the most beautiful forms of writing I've seen is Chinese calligraphy- the brushes, water, jet-black grinding stones and the formation of each 'character' is amazing; serene and spiritual. An artist I knew swtiched mediums for a time and found that the patience required for Chinese artforms fed her other work and trained her hand for careful detail.
Following that...
I'd love to hear about other perspectives/tools on or about keeping 'in the moment' of a historical piece.
It's not easy to slip into a pre 20thC mindset when we have tax funded, government health, education and pension plans. Nor is it easy to understand the vital necessity of providing enough food each year for the family group and thus the heavy dependence on good weather in the form of rain and sun at the right growing times.
However being ill, unemployed, and having seen my pension/superannuation plan collapse to virtually nothing thanks to the recent economic collapse has given me a taste of the stark realities my 17thC and 19thC characters faced. It's like a constant nagging presence sitting on one's shoulder. If you don't get enough veg planted, if the weather ruins the crop, if you don't hatch enough chickens to sell a few, and their eggs, you can't save for your old age...! Argh! No wonder there was such a fuss and panic about going to the workhouse. And a need for a religious belief to give one hope.
I'd love to hear about other perspectives/tools on or about keeping 'in the moment' of a historical piece.
It's not easy to slip into a pre 20thC mindset when we have tax funded, government health, education and pension plans. Nor is it easy to understand the vital necessity of providing enough food each year for the family group and thus the heavy dependence on good weather in the form of rain and sun at the right growing times.
However being ill, unemployed, and having seen my pension/superannuation plan collapse to virtually nothing thanks to the recent economic collapse has given me a taste of the stark realities my 17thC and 19thC characters faced. It's like a constant nagging presence sitting on one's shoulder. If you don't get enough veg planted, if the weather ruins the crop, if you don't hatch enough chickens to sell a few, and their eggs, you can't save for your old age...! Argh! No wonder there was such a fuss and panic about going to the workhouse. And a need for a religious belief to give one hope.
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Put well, PDR. I had asked an author who was writing an American novel in the 19th century time period, whether he was doing so to reflect 'symbolically' current times- he said, 'On a conscious level, I do believe that history tends to mirror itself... On an unconscious level, perhaps I knew that I needed to speak to what's going on today by writing to understand the past. This is how we come to learn how to survive the present- through our history.' It is indeed an uncertain time for everyone~ all of my best wishes, thoughts and prayers to those of us in worry or need. It seems strange to me, but I've experienced some renewed faith in people this last year when strangers have reached out to strangers like the kind-hearted staff of a hotel who was looking after an older gentleman who'd lost his home in a recent flooding. Faith in many respects.
To DonRoc- I loved your point about the penny in Somewhere in Time (a favorite film of mine; exquisite example.)
To DonRoc- I loved your point about the penny in Somewhere in Time (a favorite film of mine; exquisite example.)
As interesting an idea as that it, I have to use a computer for my writing. My hand writing is atrocious and I can barely even read it myself. I write fast as it comes into my head and would never get anything done with a quill or by hand as I'd be too slow and would cross so many things out. Whatever works for anyone else is fair go though, especially if it helps create a wonderful story at the end of it.
Whatever works for anyone else is fair go though, especially if it helps create a wonderful story at the end of it.
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I should pick up my calligraphy pen again. Good thing is that I larp, so I have a reason to journal in character. lol
As for my tool about keeping in the historical moment, I try and spend as many Saturdays up at a living history farm as possible. Granted, it's turn of the 20th Century but there's still that sense of being connected to the land and doing things a different way. Refrigeration was still the root cellar and canning so there's still that sense of urgency about making sure that enough food was stored. There's the smell of the animals and the blacksmith's forge and woodsmoke when the steam engines or sugar shack is fired up.
As for my tool about keeping in the historical moment, I try and spend as many Saturdays up at a living history farm as possible. Granted, it's turn of the 20th Century but there's still that sense of being connected to the land and doing things a different way. Refrigeration was still the root cellar and canning so there's still that sense of urgency about making sure that enough food was stored. There's the smell of the animals and the blacksmith's forge and woodsmoke when the steam engines or sugar shack is fired up.
I have written with a quill. One that I cut myself. And used paper and ink I made myself. It does make a big difference.
The worst thing about a computer is that writers write too fast, and what they write keeps up with their thoughts. This is easy writing, but it usually leads to poor reading.
But it's also about mood, state of mind.
I've found it can help to occasionally write something using the instruments of the time, be it a goose feather quill, a steel nibbed dip pen, a fountain pen, etc. I sometimes also use the lighting of the time, from a candle to a kerosene lamp.
In the long run, it isn't slow at all. Writing right is always faster than writing wrong.
The worst thing about a computer is that writers write too fast, and what they write keeps up with their thoughts. This is easy writing, but it usually leads to poor reading.
But it's also about mood, state of mind.
I've found it can help to occasionally write something using the instruments of the time, be it a goose feather quill, a steel nibbed dip pen, a fountain pen, etc. I sometimes also use the lighting of the time, from a candle to a kerosene lamp.
In the long run, it isn't slow at all. Writing right is always faster than writing wrong.
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I wouldn't mind writing with the materials of my time period occasionally, but it's kind of hard to convince papyrus to grow in the climate I live in. Also, my vocabulary of hieroglyphs is a bit limited, currently. Still, reading and translating the literature of the time does help with insight into the way my characters might think about something.
I've never tried writing by candle-light, but I do occasionally turn off all the lights and just write by the glow of my computer screen. Not quite the same, but it does sort of close out the rest of the world in the same way as candle-light. I may have to try that now.
I've never tried writing by candle-light, but I do occasionally turn off all the lights and just write by the glow of my computer screen. Not quite the same, but it does sort of close out the rest of the world in the same way as candle-light. I may have to try that now.
Dear James and Dirtsider~ I greatly admire your examples and eloquently stated point-of-views. To find a tangible attachment, once in awhile, to the past is an important method not only, I believe of writing, but also of living. It's the old adage, 'to know where we are going, we must know where we have been'. In an interview, I once asked author Janet Fitch (White Oleander) how she wanted her work perceived by future generations; she replied, "I hope I'm speaking deeply enough to the human condition to be resonant in the future, because the human condition- love, loss, struggle, the search for meaning and identity- does not change over time, only the trappings change."
Most medieval nobility had clerics do their writing. Not sure they carry those at the local stationery store.
I'm really afraid I'm going to spill the ink when I use any kind of dip pen. I like the glass nibs, but I have one with a metal nib that's just so thin that it gets caught on the paper, then flicks back and splatters ink. I don't do either often.
I do prefer to write by hand and type it up later, though. I've found some cheap disposable fountain pens that I really like...
...and sparkly gel pens. Not for the colours they come in, and not because they're sparkly, although that's a plus, but because the opening at the end has to be bigger to let the sparkles out so the ink runs out faster. Then I have an empty pen and it looks like I've accomplished something.
I do prefer to write by hand and type it up later, though. I've found some cheap disposable fountain pens that I really like...
...and sparkly gel pens. Not for the colours they come in, and not because they're sparkly, although that's a plus, but because the opening at the end has to be bigger to let the sparkles out so the ink runs out faster. Then I have an empty pen and it looks like I've accomplished something.
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Let me introduce you to the Pilot Varsity. It's my writing pen of choice and far and away my favorite pen on the market. It's got the superb flow and writing feel of a fountain pen, but it's light, so it doesn't bother as much during marathon writing sessions. And since it's cheap and disposable, you don't have to worry as much about accidentally fouling the nib.
Here they are on Amazon, but you can probably find them cheaper elsewhere if you're inclined.
That's very much like the ones I use but they're just called a Pilot VPen. I've never seen a pack of a dozen like that--I buy them individually in the calligraphy aisle of the university bookstore, which also sells art supplies.
ETA: it seems that the VPen might be the international name for what's sold as the Varsity in the US.
ETA: it seems that the VPen might be the international name for what's sold as the Varsity in the US.
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I've messed around with calligraphy markers, but my main "change the tools" activity is music. I switch from the current-day music (that's sixties through the present, folks) to authentic medieval music interpreted by modern artists and New Age-y medieval like Blackmore's Night. I like Mediaeval Baebes, too. That sort of music always puts me in the mood to go back to the 14th century, which is where my writing lives, lately.
Music is a favorite muse of mine; I'm having some difficulty finding songs appropriate to the the 18th and 19th centuries. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Look into Rev War and Civ War reenactor sites. (That's the US Revolution and Civil Wars.) They have people who have done the research and learned to play period music. There should also be some CD's floating around. IIRC, www.smoke-fire.com has some period music.
Thank you, Dirtsider. I'll keep that in mind. I'm going for a European setting, yet many of our country's early customs come from formerly European citizens so it is a great place to start.
And to Deb- I'll have to check out the New Age-y, Medieval music just for myself because I often love that sort of music. Have you listened to Delerium and Sleepthief?
And to Deb- I'll have to check out the New Age-y, Medieval music just for myself because I often love that sort of music. Have you listened to Delerium and Sleepthief?