Researching history

One of my big bugs is locations and assuming too much knowledge on the part of the reader. As a bad example - take New York and Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem, etc. Without looking at a map, I couldn't tell you whether you could see the Statue of Liberty from a point on any one of them. I also couldn't tell you whether some of the boroughs above are on Manhattan. Help the reader figure this out.

Second, when I'm writing I use Google maps a lot for seeing where things are and what's around them and also for seeing the lay of the land - what's wooded, where there are rivers, what's elevated, etc. And now, Google has some historic maps available. These help immensely when writing.

But, the cardinal rule of historical research is check your facts, write them down, and when you're doing an edit read, check them again. It's so easy to make a bad assumption such as that an imported fruit tree that's common in the location today was always available in the area or that there were always English sparrows in the states. Question everything.

And last - a little colorful dialogue (or foreign language, or dialect) goes a long way. And if you try to phonetically spell rolled r's and lisps, you can get in trouble very fast.

My two cents. Puma

What Puma said. If there are younger writers there, maybe stress that Google does not count as a primary source.

Perhaps Richard's Wikipedia story would go over well?

Yep - that's a classic.

This is probably not confined to historical writing, and is related to Puma's comment.
My betas have told me that they can't stand accents in writing. (I can't either, but I wanted to check to see if it was just my pet peeve)
For example, JK Rowling's character Fleur, who is French, would say things like "But zis ees so wonderful, ees eet not?" Ugh.
So if writers are tackling multiple nationalities, I think it's enough for the characters to throw in a native word or two. ("This is wondeful news, non?" "Bad luck, mein Herr. The House wins again")

Also (and this has been a discussion on another board) it will immediately undermine any historical story if the author uses modern character names. But - and I suspect this applies especially to Regency Romance - authors seem determined to call their MCs names which were unheard of before 1950 (sometimes before 1990!).

Another thing that has stumped me is the question: what do characters do for a living? Not every lower class woman is a seamstress or a prostitute; not every mddle class man is a barrister or a bank clerk. And adding in an interesting, lesser known trade or profession (say, hod carrier or match-maker) will add depth to the novel in a way that a thousand egg-and-milk women can't.
My only suggested solution is that, whenever the writer is reading a book from her era, she makes a note of all the professions and trades mentioned. She can research them later and decide if they're right for her characters.
Think of it as being a careers counsellor for your MCs

Well, that's all I can think of... Hope it helps!

So true about imposing modern names in other eras, it does my head in and some people won't be told and then scratch their little heads when their queries fall on stony ground.

To me, the devil's in the detail. In all other aspects of life, I'm utterly feckless, but in writing, I'm anal in extremis. I want to know what pots they cooked with, whether there really was a local bus service between this village and that. If I mention a date, I want to make sure that the moon is in the right phase, and what time the sun sets. Because my stories are more about the people and how they deal with the period they live in and the events, I want to make everything as real as possible. Having the right small details can really add to a scene and add realism.

firedrake said:

To me, the devil's in the detail. In all other aspects of life, I'm utterly feckless, but in writing, I'm anal in extremis. I want to know what pots they cooked with, whether there really was a local bus service between this village and that. If I mention a date, I want to make sure that the moon is in the right phase, and what time the sun sets. Because my stories are more about the people and how they deal with the period they live in and the events, I want to make everything as real as possible. Having the right small details can really add to a scene and add realism.

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firedrake, you just reminded me of one of my more anal habits:
because I write in Victorian London, I have subscribed to the London Times archives and I read through the paper on the various days which my novel takes place. I'm not religious about this - usually just the front page so I know what my characters will be talking about, and then the classified ads for a giggle.

I think everyone should try to do this if it's at all possible. Imagine if you're writing a hist novel set in New York in April 1912, and all your characters carry on their day to day lives, buying groceries and shouting at their children, and oops! No one mentions that a luxury liner which was supposed to pull into the harbour any moment now, is actually at the bottom of the cold Atlantic Ocean.

This isn't Fawlty Towers - you must mention the war.

steampunkette said:

firedrake, you just reminded me of one of my more anal habits:
because I write in Victorian London, I have subscribed to the London Times archives and I read through the paper on the various days which my novel takes place. I'm not religious about this - usually just the front page so I know what my characters will be talking about, and then the classified ads for a giggle.

I think everyone should try to do this if it's at all possible. Imagine if you're writing a hist novel set in New York in April 1912, and all your characters carry on their day to day lives, buying groceries and shouting at their children, and oops! No one mentions that a luxury liner which was supposed to pull into the harbour any moment now, is actually at the bottom of the cold Atlantic Ocean.

This isn't Fawlty Towers - you must mention the war.

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Brilliant!. I found a great website when I was research Kestrel, NE Diary. For each year of WW2, it lists things like the top 10 films, songs and prices of various grocery items.

One of the most invaluable resources for Victorian/Edwardian domestic life is 'Mrs.Beeton's Guide to Household Management'. I once had a 1912 edition but it is all online now too.

firedrake said:

One of the most invaluable resources for Victorian/Edwardian domestic life is 'Mrs.Beeton's Guide to Household Management'. I once had a 1912 edition but it is all online now too.

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Did you have a bona fide 1912 edition? Brilliant.
Mrs Beeton is a mine of information. Godey's Lady's Book is also great, albeit only applying to the USA in that era.

So as not to appear too digressive, Perks, I suppose the advice would be "read newspapers and magazines of the era".

Over the past decade or so there has been much more interest among professional historians in material culture generally -- the things people wore, the items they used in daily life. So if you have access, a university library is also an excellent resource. At several I know you can get a pass for a day if you ask.

I have...

frequently had to do such a workshop or talk, Perks!

Here are 12 random points which always seem to surprise or delight the listeners.

1.
Start research with secondary sources in the children's section of a library. Children are not expected to know anything so the historical books explain all the little details. Look for 'A Day in the life...' series, but also look at every book they have on your period.

Use the internet to come up with the titles of the books you'd like to read and order them through the library.

2.
Don't just read history books. Again start with the children's section in the library but look at books on antiques, geography, art, gardens, costume, cooking, medical, architecture, design and engineering, social sciences, agriculture, and check out the biography section.

3.
Books before internet.
Enthusiasts' websites may be fun but are not to be relied upon.
Repeat that one twenty times loudly!

4.
Once you have a feeling for the era in general terms it is time to sharpen focus and get specific.
Track down the easy to find primary sources like diaries, letters and writings of the era. Or the archaeological reports and findings if it's early history. Keep looking at the paintings and read the novels, study the pots and weapons. Think about who and why?
This is where the quality websites put together by universities, educational institutes, museums and govt organisations come in. They often have original materials and expert comment and further sources. Remember the Boolean research tools.

5.
Spend time researching the geographical area. What is the country like? What grows in there? What would happen each month as far as farming and gardening?


6.
Research the religious life of the area. What would occur on religious festival or feast days?

7.
Research the trade and manufacturing in the area. Who does what?

8.
Research transport - river, road and sea?

9.
Pick the trades for the characters and research what they'd do each day. Do a day in the life of the MCs and see what little historical details can be included which will give the reader the flavour of the era.

10.
Research a time line and use time and date.com to print off monthly calendars so that you know when the moon is full and what day it is on the 5th of the month.

11.
Research the weather to avoid plotting a cold winter when it wasn't.

12.
Pull together a monthly outline showing what happens in the era and location. Compare it with the plot line. Is it possible to use any of the religious, agricultural or trade events to enhance the plot and give a taste of the era?

And the rule for the historical novel is: remember the iceberg.
The writer needs to research and know all 8 eighths of the history, but the reader needs only to read 1/8th of that research, used by the writer to add artistic verisimilitude.

Perks said:

tips on how to get it right when writing historical fiction.

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For me, the single most valuable component for creating believable historical fiction was to immerse myself in my period. I collected as much research material as I could lay my hands on then read it and reread it until I began to think in the period. I got to the point where I knew exactly where my characters lived, how they dressed, what their days would consist of, what their world looked like, what they ate, etc. without consulting any of my material again except for very specific details. Doing this made it easy to write the story without having to slow down and check source materials.

1. READ READ READ READ READ

2. Remember that EVERY writer of history has an agenda for writing that history. See if you can learn what that writer's agenda was so you can filter the facts given and get a little closer to what actually happened.

3. Have a minimum standard of three (3) legitimate references/translations on any subject. Each author/translator will have different agendas (else they wouldn't have done the work to produce the new volume). Comparing three different sources again allows you to filter out agenda and bias to get closer to the truth.

4. Wikipedia is NOT a last-stop research tool. It is a first-stop research tool, at best.

5. I second the recommendation of starting research with children's books.

6. When writing Historical Fiction: Be aware of what the popular culture viewpoint of your era & location is before you start to write. This is scope where reader's expectation will fall and it's good to know where you're going to deviate from it and how you're going to "justify the corrections" to them in the scope of your story.

Please impart the importance of using primary resources, and keeping in mind that a lot of them aren't necessarily set in type--things like houses, tools, clothing etc.

Also here's a good discussion about how to ask questions on academic listserves/mailing lists.

http://littleprofessor.typepad.com/the_little_professor/2007/10/how-to-ask-ques.html

Adding another - consult with "experts" in the field - which can also mean people living in the locations you're writing about. If you look at a site like AW and all the countries and cities represented by the members, there's usually someone not too far away from your historic location who can give you first hand information. And that can be very valuable. Puma

Perks said:

Most definitely going to use Richard's story. How could I not?

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Please, do make me famous--send all those juicy agents to saintmarksbody.com!

I don't have anything to add-- I'm new to historical fiction-- but I just wanted to say that this thread is INCREDIBLY helpful. I'm going to use a lot of these ideas.

Btw, in addition to researching my time period through primary and secondary sources, I'm also trying to read novels (for pleasure) set in other time periods but about my story's region... and I'm trying to read novels set in similar situations (a royal court/harem) but in different cultures and times. I figure this might help me both understand other books in similar genres and also give richness to my sense of my own story. I'll have to try children's books next!

My story is set in 490-464 BC, and unfortunately those calendar sites (such as "timeanddate.com") don't take negative numbers. Any suggestions? Come to think of it, though, I already know the moon cycles based on the Hebrew calendar at the time!

Also, I'm dying to know... what is Richard's Wikipedia story??

Find a decent map contemporary to the era you are writing about. Shorelines, rivers, roads, city plans, buildings, and landscapes change. So do flora and fauna.

mayamolly said:

Also, I'm dying to know... what is Richard's Wikipedia story??

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It's here- and BTW as of yesterday no one has updated the page in question!

http://saintmarksbody.com/buono/?p=63

Try...

trawling through the Research by Era sticky Perks. I used my own and collected and still add everyone else's favourite experts/sites/orgs/ and you will find the Brit museum url and the like there.

Just copy and paste the lot then you can sort out what you want.

If you're talking of medieval Europe, you might consider SCA (the Society for Creative Anachronism). They're US based, and very intent on getting it right within their chosen century. Many, many resources including personal names.

You really cannot have a female character named Britney--or something equally ridiculous -- in 14th century Shropshire. Why do folks try this? I've ranted on this one before, so it's an old tale. There are name web sites, arranged by century, with what names were popular and which were not yet used or had fallen out of favor.

Etymonline.com will give you dates words came into general usage, what language they arose from, and the like. Of course, the further back you want to go, the less reliable it is, but it's a good general guide.

Another source you might consider if you're writing in early medieval England is Regia Anglorum. These are medieval re-enactors who are building early homestead-type houses in the U.K., using only the tools and techniques the contemps would have had.

Can you guess, now, in what era my writing heart lives?