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Editor’s Notes: Rewriting History

Oct 21, 2014 | Editor's Notes, Writing

BY MERILYN OBLAD

ACCURACY IN HISTORICAL FICTION
PART ONE: RESEARCH

Writing historical fiction can be a tricky thing. Whether it’s a romance, steampunk, fantasy, paranormal, or what have you, if you have elements of real history in your WIPs, you probably know what I’m talking about. Small details, false assumptions about the way things were, time-specific colloquialisms, and even the order of words can rise up and trip the unwary writer.

I don’t know about you, but I can tell you that I don’t particularly care for historical blunders. When I see something that doesn’t fit, an anachronism (which can be any object or saying that is not specific to the time it’s placed in, not just old-fashioned objects set in the future), it throws me off.

Sadly, there aren’t many quick and easy ways to fix anachronisms. Well, if you’re very lucky, you’ll have someone on your editing team who knows what’s what, or you may have a historian friend who’s willing to be a beta reader for you who can point things out to you. Those are easy enough, I suppose. But by and large, you really need to put in the work yourself in order to avoid the pitfalls of modernity in historical settings. And what do I mean by that? Research!

Research is vital to any novel , but is absolutely necessary for historical novels. Historical novels fall into two categories: total submersion or backdrop. The total submersion stories feature characters who are true to their time and may interact with actual historical figures. The emphasis is placed as much on the setting as it is on the plot, because historical events influence the plot drastically. This means the author needs to pay attention to EVERYTHING from correct slang to everyday tasks to common perceptions and philosophies. The reader, in turn, gets a full experience of what life was like during the time of the setting.

Backdrop historical novels are more plot-centric, with essentially timeless characters. So, if the author were to change the time and place, the story would remain more or less the same. Less attention needs to be paid to the vagaries of everyday life in these novels, but small details are still important in order to give the story an air of historical believability.

If you’re going for the total submersion approach, here are some things to keep in mind as you go about your research. It’s easy to get things wrong, so these suggestions will help you make sure your information is sound, allowing you to create as realistic a story as possible.

• Start with an internet search, but don’t depend on Wikipedia. Unless you know about a particular time or subject enough to be able to sift the gold from the dross that shows up on Wikipedia, then going there is largely a waste of time. The only reason to visit Wikipedia is to make use of the reference list at the bottom of every article. Books and articles listed there are a good way to start your own bibliography of research. So when you hit ‘search’ on Google, visit the sites that are connected to universities and colleges or other scholarly institutions.

• Build a sound bibliography of research. Look in the back of tried and true textbooks for a decent bibliography. If you need primary sources as part of your research (stuff people wrote at or near the time of your setting), some of the general textbooks have supplemental books that are solely primary sources. Another place to find a decent bibliography of books you can trust to give you good information is in the syllabi of history classes. Most university professors post their syllabi online, so it’s a simple thing to check a course schedule for a pertinent class, then search for the syllabus. Also, the more specific your topic, the more you’ll need to search upper-division or graduate-level courses for a reasonable syllabus. If all else fails, search a university’s history department for faculty that are experts in the field you’re researching and email them asking for a recommended reading list. The bigger the university, the more likely you’ll find experts on obscure information.

• Go to the library and ask a librarian for help. Better still, visit a university library. That way, you have the resources handy to cross-reference your information.

• Verify an author’s credentials. Check out the bio on any author, see what other books they wrote, and make sure there’s a Ph.D. in a relevant subject listed after their name, along with the institution that awarded the degree. If Dr. Jane Smith wrote a comprehensive guide to social mores in Regency Era England, then she ought to have authored books and/or articles in the same subject, and she better have a graduate degree in 19th century English social history or something like that. If her degree is in biology and her other works are about the human genome, then you know you have an amateur on your hands. Which means that her information might be enthusiastic, but wrong. Or that the information might be right, but the conclusions are sketchy. Or she might be ignoring key aspects to her argument without even realizing it, which could throw off your story. I don’t mean to be an intellectual snob, because amateurs offer very real insight at times, but someone with a graduate degree in the subject you’re studying knows more about the background information, the methodology, and current trends in research than the average amateur and can guide you around any potholes on the road of research.

• Check out the publisher. Scholarly works ought to be published by university presses. Such books are more likely to have undergone peer-review. Which brings me to my next point . . .

• Check out what the peer reviews say. Other scholars can offer insight you may not be equipped to see, such as identifying the primary sources an author uses and if those sources are used laterally or if the whole book is based on one source. That’s bad, by the way. A good history needs to be based on more than one source. Anyway, if the peer review says a book is good, then you know you can trust it.

• Rely on primary sources for things like how people spoke. Read up on the literature of the time of your setting because that’s the single best source for getting a feel for the rhythm of the language.

Congratulations, you’re now a research wizard! Go forth and conquer your local library. And don’t forget to tune in next month for my second installment of how to maintain historical accuracy. Fair warning: I’m likely to go off on historical tangents that may or may not be relevant. I’m rubbing my hands together gleefully at the prospect!

MeriLyn Oblad lays down the grammar and content law from her home in Southern Utah, with an MA in History from Brigham Young University. (Don’t be fudging the facts with this girl!) Her latest project, Legends and Lore: an Anthology of Mythic Proportions, will be released tomorrow, November 22, 2014,  at a tremendous launch party, which you can attend here.

Editor’s Notes: A Voice of Reason

Oct 16, 2014 | Editor's Notes, Writing

BY PENNY FREEMAN

If you follow The X Blog at all, you may have noticed that our editors write about voice a lot. A lot. Why? Because finding your own voice as an author is critical. And, as an editor, respecting that voice is equally important. However, getting to that point where the voice is to be respected, rather than cultivated, is the tricky part.

So, what exactly is voice? A lot of things, actually. Here are a few ingredients that are thrown into that concoction we call ‘voice.’

1. Your characters’ vocabulary. The words you put in their mouths.
2. Your vocabulary. The words that you, as the writer, employ in your narrative.
3. Your grammar. How do you follow the rules? How do you break (or employ) them with purpose?
4. Your content. What do you write about? Do you develop rich, complex worlds or focus on keeping the action moving? Is your work character– or plot-driven? Do you get down in the trenches to really explore your character’s soul? Or do you analyze the action from a distance, carefully staying above the fray? Are you a ‘just the facts, ma’am’ sort of writer, or are you always asking why?
5. Your genre. Stephen King, John Grisham, Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, Nora Ephron, Danielle Steel, J. K. Rowling. You see these names on the cover and you instantly know what type of story is inside. Perhaps, if you have read that author extensively, you can hear their voice in your head without cracking the book.
6. Your ethos. What do you believe in? What drives you? How does that influence infuse your writing? These authors leave no doubt as to their personal philosophies: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkein, Ayn Rand. Whom else can you name off the top of your head?

That’s a fairly hefty list of ingredients, so let’s start with the easiest: character vocabulary and linguistic style.

A character’s ‘voice’ gives them history. Often times, allowing your reader to ‘hear’ them speak introduces your character, far better than a lengthy narrative. You can reveal their gender, their heritage, their level of education, their social strata, their attitudes about life, even the era in which they lived simply by putting the right words in their mouths. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Message to communicate: I’ve had a bad day. I can’t come.

Voice 1: Dear Sirs, I regret to inform you that, due to circumstances beyond my control, I am compelled to cancel our scheduled appointment. Please accept my most sincere apologies for this inconvenience. I hope you can recalendar our consultation. Please contact me at your earliest convenience, and I will adjust my schedule to accommodate yours.

Voice 2: Gah! I’ve had the most horrendous day! Everything has gone wrong and I’m about to explode. I’m stuck here at the garage while they fix a blowout, I’m already an hour late getting Jeff, and the kids are screaming for dinner. I spent 30 freaking minutes waiting for the tow truck!! OnStar my eye. I soooo need our night out, but I just can’t swing it. Please don’t hate me. We will do it, I swear.

Voice 3: Dude! Totally gnarly day and I’m slammed. Tonight’s tanked. Gotta catch some z’s. Call me back, bro, and we’ll hook up. We gotta hang!

In #1, your can see the executive sitting behind a huge desk, talking into a Dictaphone, her jacket probably thrown across an etegere, or the secretary stationed just outside the door, clacking away at the keyboard, well-trained in making his boss look good. #2 blares soccer mom, minivan, 2.5 kids, and a Labra-doodle. She’s probably texting on her smart phone. With #3, you can almost smell the board wax, Coppertone, and rubber wetsuits, and hear the beep from the answering machine. But the actual text mentioned none of these things.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, in a writing context, a quote is a snapshot of a character.

But, be careful. When developing a character’s voice, ask yourself these questions:

• Would my character use these words? If you’re writing a street urchin growing up in the alleys of Whitechapel, he’s not going to have the vocabulary of Little Lord Fontleroy. Likewise, the Duke of Buckingham isn’t going to talk like a fishwife. Even when writing science fiction and fantasy, be consistent, and allow differences in speech patterns to give both your characters and your world history.

• Will these words (or grammar) get in the way of the story? Will the ‘voice’ resonate with the reader and draw them deeper into the story? Or will they have to stop and reread a sentence or paragraph to try and understand your meaning? Be authentic—to a point. Be cognizant of when exacting is too much. Just, think how, maddening, it would, be, if someone, wrote the way, William Shatner, talks, in real life.

• Am I accurate or insulting? Am I propogating a stereotype? People from different geographical regions talk differently, but learn about the area and its people you’re portraying before you put words in their mouths. Citizens of the South don’t all sound like rednecks, any more than all inner-city mavens speak gangsta, and just because a character uses either of these accents doesn’t mean they’re stupid. If you want to make someone sound intellectually challenged, do it with what they talk about, the questions they ask, how they express themselves, not their accent. Likewise, not all highly intelligent, well-educated people speak like a walking thesaurus from Nob Hill, and just because you’re from the Upper East Side doesn’t mean you can carry on a coherent conversation. Demonstrating your awareness of these nuances adds richness and texture to your writing that the reader will savor.

In my next post, we’ll discuss writing in the vernacular, some of the do’s, some of the don’ts, but most especially how to let your reader ‘hear’ the characters’ voice without you, the writer, getting in the way.

In the meantime, in the comments below, write ‘I have to cancel’ in a specific voice. How many characters can you create just by choosing the right constellation of words?

Editor-in-chief Penny Freeman lives, writes, edits, and markets from her home in southeast Texas. She currently supervises several editorial projects, including our most recent invitation-only anthology contest, Mechanized Masterpieces 2: An American Anthology. Her next release, Legends and Lore: An Anthology of Mythic Proportions, is slated for release October 22, 2014.