The Penniless YA Writer's Guide to Researching Time Periods

Cheap research ideas:

Walking around different neighbourhoods in Google Maps - obviously a lot can change since the Belle Epoque but many of the street names will be similar.

Does your library have an inter-library loan programme? If so, you might be able to pay a nominal amount per items but you could get access to maps, etc, maybe?

Do you live within striking distance of a big city? If so, go to the university libraries and see if you can sign up for a guest membership, even if you can't check things out, you could do a research binge for a few weekends.

Fiction and film set/written/filmed in that time, as you discussed. A Conspiracy of Alchemists is a recent YA fantasy set then, I think.

However, don't let research completely stop you, either. You've probably done enough you can start and do a first draft. As the draft coalesces, make a note of what things you need to fact check. You don't need to know everything, and you don't need to stick in loads of facts to show you've done your research (I used to do that).

And, even if you can save a $100 or $200 a month, maybe you could go to Paris as a reward when you finish the draft. In my opinion, it'd be money well-spent because there would be so much detail you'd soak up, and so much art in the museums etc that would inspire you. Plus it'd be a good motivator!

If you live near a public university, you can use their libraries for free. Often they'll have better (and free!) access to better online resources like JSTOR that you'd otherwise have to pay for. Plus asking a real live research librarian is invaluable.

There's this information network called: "The Interwebs". It's mostly made up of porn, but every once and a while you'll find information scattered about. I think you've used it before.

In all seriousness, I'd rather question how much research you'll need. Most cases, the majority of the research goes down the drain when you start writing. Maybe you should start writing and when a question pops up and you don't know how to answer it (like what did woman find fashionable for jewelry at that time) you research that. That's what I do (my experience as a fantasy writing with world building taught me this).

There's bound to be some literature from that era floating around. Probably a good group of classics, but I'm not a prolific reader so I wouldn't know. I'd think you'll find a lot of useful info that you could use in your writing in that time period's writing (though don't get stuck in the style as times have changed).

I'm writing YA historical (Tudor).

First, books. I have bought quite a few, but thanks to Amazon marketplace most were pretty cheap. There are a few that I had to get as birthday presents though, because they were £30 and I desperately wanted them. Some of them end up providing just a few details, but others I go back to again and again. I write with big heaps piled up around me. Don't be afraid to read a book and then not use it. It's just the way it goes. It doesn't mean it wasn't worth doing. However, most of the research, I find, is to answer specific questions. I read a few upfront before I started writing (about a month's solid reading before putting pen to paper) but the vast majority is what you do as you go along.
If you have an e-reader you'd be surprised what you can get for free - classic novels are the most obvious thing, but you might be able to find recipe books from your period, for instance.

I think the more precise you try to be in your writing, the more questions you throw up that you will have to answer and that's what makes it come alive. The heroine sees a bird - but what sort of bird did you get in the parks of Paris in your period? She undresses - what exactly was she wearing, including underwear, and how was it fastened? How many dresses did she have?
She steps in something messy in the street - what was it? What does the street smell of in different places?
It's easy to fudge a lack of research by vague writing, but if you raise the bar for your writing you will find that your research also improves to keep up with it.

The internet is fabulous because it is full of geeky sites about anything and everything. This week I have been watching a Youtube video of how to deliver a lamb and listening to birdsong recordings of a merlin's warning cry. The other week I was looking at medieval books of hours in the British Library website and making lists of all the activities in the illustrations for different months of the year, to see what sort of things are going on in the background. I've found Facebook groups on costume very useful indeed because re-enactors not only discuss how to make things in painstaking detail, they are also constantly posting photos of themselves dressed up which is very inspirational when you're thinking about how your characters might have looked. I would imagine for you, there are history of transport geeks out there who would be useful. Antique dealers' websites might be good too - I bet there are lots of things on the market now that your characters would have used or seen. Looking online at art of the period is really useful, and free, and you develop a different approach to it - as with my books of hours, you can end up looking hard at what is going on in the background, or what sort of accessories people are holding, rather than appreciating the picture as you were supposed to! Garden history websites have been useful too - when I mention a plant I have to check it was around then, and there are big lists out there of what was introduced when. This will be less of an issue for you as more things will be ok, but you might find a lot out there about the history of parks, which will help. And the history of shopping, since you're in Paris. Think thematically. Can you speak French? I'm sure a lot of the best sources will be French language.

I'm also finding that a certain proportion of my books aren't history books at all - I've got the River Cottage Year on my desk to remind me about what food is in season at the different times, and various nature books to get the right birds and plants in my landscape.

I hope some of this is useful. Good luck.

ITunes has ITunes U, containing lecture series and classes from universities around the world, many of them free. Probably good for general information of a time period, a way to get a feel for it, but specifics might be lost. I'm going to listen to a couple of lectures this weekend to see how good they are.

I always think first hand sources are NECESSARY when it comes to writing -- find an expert online (who wrote those web sources?) and start a dialogue where you can ask them specific questions.

Last month I met a teenage boy on an airplane who came from a tiny town in Upstate New York (my setting) + I literally spent the five hour plane ride asking him questions (with occasional breaks to play poker). He probably thought I was nuts (it was his first time out of New York/on a plane--so, so cute!), but it really helped breathe life into my setting + I like to think it was fate ; )

Just thought of an even more important one. Diaries and correspondence, to get a sense of how people talked and thought.

Ughhhh I feel ya! I have all my stories set in places I've already been or in imaginary fantasylands.

Have you already read a lot of novels from that era? (Of course, the issue with that is if the novelist wrote inaccuracies you might end up repeating them!)

You might also want to peruse more unlikely sources like French cookbooks, books about French imperialism for example in Saigon, music of the era, fashion books and famous designers and perfumers of the era, famous operas, theatre, books and other entertainment in that era, even minority perspectives, for example I bet you can find some Jewish experience stuff!

Good luck!

I would take something like this source:

http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/ConspectusH/id/319

And then I would read about all of the things done during that time (parks, expanding the Louvre, style Metro) and Google those individual things. Also, look to authors and other artists of the era and place. You would likely find personal accounts, journals, etc in that. Basically take a spider web methodology to your research. Pick the fashion, for example and then research out from there.

Plenty of methods to get the books, etc you need. First, your library should have an interlibrary exchange program. Also, many of the libraries have digitized and if you have the ability to access those programs, you can view a lot of the material via those.

Basically, I would pick a few topics though - fashion, architecture, politics, etc and research that time period within that context. If you do this, you are more likely to find more information and it can lead to personal journals and letters (a very good source of information for the culture during that time).

For me, reading work written during the time period I'm studying always helps me get the feel of a time/place. I wish I could help out more with recommendations, but the only Belle Epoque writer I'm familiar with is Guy Maupassant.

Not sure if this was mentioned, but look for scholarly papers online or non-fiction books and try to get interviews with those professors. What possessor doesn't want to talk to someone actually interested in their favorite time period. You might even ask them to read a draft and comment on your presentation of the time period once you have an established relationship. That last part is very important.

Do keep a list of questions as you write.

lauralam said:

Cheap research ideas:

Walking around different neighbourhoods in Google Maps

Click to expand...

Mind=Blown. I've long avoided using real place settings, especially close-quarter ones like cities, because I'm always afraid of tripping up on directional facts (I get lost even with a GPS). And setting books in places I've never been before has always seemed impossible. WHY HAVE I NEVER THOUGHT OF USING GOOGLE MAPS BEFORE?? #brilliant

I have Google Maps open constantly when I write these days! I'm writing something set in Paris and, while I have been there, it was a long time ago and I need really specific street-to-street information now.