Research Your Way to a Book Readers Can’t Put Down
Historical Research – Let’s Talk Details
All right, y’all. Here are the last few thoughts on historical research. Again, these apply to everything, with a slight emphasis on historical. After this, I’ll leave it open for a couple days for any questions and comments and then we’ll move on to suspense/mystery research. So here goes…
1. While we are not writing textbooks, our books can’t be authentic without capturing some of the emotion, news, and energy of the times. How do you decide what has to be included and what doesn’t? For example, in Canteen Dreams, Pearl Harbor is pivotal to the conflict in the story…but it’s the only actual battle from the early days of US involvement in the war that I include. How do you make those judgment calls?
According to character. Everything in the book has to be according to what interests or happens to the character. Anything else is author intrusion. DiAnn Mills
I make those decisions based on two things: is it essential to the story, and does it interest me personally. Washington’s Lady was the first of my three historicals that required me to tell the story of the woman-of-history and the history around her. I couldn’t tell Martha’s story without telling the story of the Revolutionary War and the birth of this country. It was interesting stuff, to be sure, but how many battles could/should I mention? How much Stamp Act and Constitution information was essential, and how much was too much—or would read too much like a textbook rather than a novel?
One determining factor is tied to the fact that my historical books are written in first person—it’s Martha, Jane, and Nannerl telling their own stories—so they are in every scene. In Martha’s case, information about battles had to be seen through her eyes. That helped pare down the history lesson. There is also the emotion-quotient. For instance, I did not include any of the presidential years in Washington’s Lady, mostly because Martha hated being the wife of the president and never changed her mind about that opinion. If I would have chosen to write eight years’ worth of scenes where Martha was disgruntled, that would have been boring (and annoying.) Instead I summed up those years in a later chapter, after they were over. If there’s no emotional impact of an event on a character, then it probably doesn’t need to be included, or perhaps only in passing. We are all seeing history pass through our eyes, and no one else’s. Make it personal. Nancy Moser
If you can interweave real, true historical detail in a scene and make it seamless and real – then do it. If you can’t, stick with your characters and their story. Don’t just add it in as a filler – that never works. It has to matter to your characters as much as it mattered to the real people who were there living it. Jamie Carie
I tend to shy away from using real historical characters unless it's unavoidable. I don't think it's wrong to do this, I just feel uncomfortable about it unless I've done an exhaustive study of what that person was like so that I can either use their REAL words in dialog. . . or be confident that the words I put in their mouths are words they would have said. It's something I don't take lightly--being fair and respectful of the people who really lived what I am writing. That being said, I do have real historical characters (although not famous ones) appear in my books from time to time. Sometimes it's only a mention--like the newspaperman who really lived in that time frame is mentioned by the banker who is my fictional character. I think a "sprinkling" of actual names lends authenticity to my work and increases the enjoyment of readers who live in the same place where your book is set. When I've had to put a historical figure in a scene or two, I make them as nice as possible so that if I ever meet their descendents I don't have anything to apologize for. That's just me. . . . I'm really do NOT want to offend anyone. And then there's also the possibility of meeting these people someday in heaven. I don't want to have to apologize then, either :-). Steph Whitson
Include only those things that move the story forward--that directly affect a character or cause a result that rebounds into your character's time and place. It's really tempting to "show off" as to how much we know and how hard we've worked to understand the background for our stories. Sometimes I am truly tempted to include some little tidbit that is just so cool to know. But doing that doesn't always serve the reader. Only a small percentage of my historical research actually ends up in the finished book. That doesn't mean that I waste hours of research, however. Research informs every word of what I write, whether it "shows" or not. And then there is that wonderful moment when you realize you've just discovered the NEXT book idea. Steph Whitson
2. Do you sprinkle real historical characters in to your stories? If so, how do you balance portraying them accurately with the needs of your story?
I love doing this. It adds depth and meaning and for some readers a great “ah-ha” moment. The trick is to not put words into their mouths that they wouldn’t say. I work hard over these scenes. Jamie Carie
Yes, I do, but I make sure that what is said is common knowledge and/or said in a good light. DiAnn Mills
Yes, I included General “Black Jack” Pershing and President Woodrow Wilson because obviously they were a huge part of the WWI era. But I had no problem “balancing them accurately” because there was a wealth of information on both of them, so it was really rather easy. Julie Lessman3. Clothes aren’t the same from decade to decade let alone centuries ago. How do you find the information to get those details correct? I’ve relied on excerpts from Sears catalogs. What about you?
Costume collections can be very helpful and some great ones can be seen online. I've been a student of antique quilts for a long time and have taken classes on dating fabrics, and that has proven invaluable for dressing my female characters. I have several books on antique textiles that I can reference for color and pattern. I also peruse newspapers from the place and time for descriptions of "what's new" at the stores then and I visit museums and take copious notes. I am always reading women's diaries and the like, and I've gotten into the habit of pulling out descriptions of garments whenever they arise. Over the years I've compiled a nice file of materials that help me dress my characters. Steph Whitson
I have several books that show what all ages of people wore during certain time periods. I also rely on an old book of dress patterns. DiAnn Mills
I do some research on the clothing of the time, but really, in every girl’s heart, I think we all want that scene where the heroine is wearing a fairy tale dress. I take some liberties here. I want to make some reader’s hearts pound with the feeling of how beautiful he thinks she is. That’s the important part. Jamie Carie
I love portraits of the time, movies, costume textbooks, websites for people who do reenactments. And if I find special mention of a particular item belonging to one of my women in a letter, or in a museum, I like to include it in the book, so those readers in-the-know will find the real-life gem and feel satisfaction in knowing about it, and getting the connection. Nancy Moser
I pretty much surf the Web for an era’s fashion, and sometimes that means gleaning info from various catalogs such as Sears or Godey’s. My favorite fashion site, however, is http://www.fashion-era.com/index.htm. Julie Lessman
4. Transportation. That varies, too. Did you go ride in a buggy? 1920s car? Early plane? How do you get those details right?
I try to stay true to whatever transportation they had at that time. I did intense research in “The Duchess and Dragon” about indentured servant ships, cargo ships and the buggies and carriages of Pennsylvania. If I can take something in the past and make it romantic (a closed carriage with comfy lap robes – that breaks down leaving them to spend the night together – ha!) do it. That’s what I love about historical – today, with cell phones and modern technology; it would be harder to get the characters in a situation like that. Jamie Carie
I hate these details, because I’ve found a lot of discrepancy in them. So I say as little as possible about carriages. The good thing is, since there is so much discrepancy, I probably am not getting it wrong. Nancy Moser
For me, this was a wee bit more difficult because the Model T had just been introduced in 1908, so there was the perception that there weren’t that many around. So much so, that my editor made me replace Patrick O’Connor’s car with the idea that he and his daughter, Faith, rode to work on the trolley instead. Even though by 1916, the annual U.S. auto production had reached one million units. But it was more difficult with the vehicles I used on the warfront because there really weren’t that many autos overseas, so I had to balance the references between motor lorries with starter cranks and mule-drawn wagons. And, no, I may be “old,” but I never rode in either one. Julie Lessman
First hand accounts help tremendously with this. I tend to look for descriptions from people who experienced travel back then. Riding in a buggy is a great idea too, though, because it will illuminate the sounds and the smells more than reading about it would.
I haven't been fortunate enough to know anyone who could provide that experience for me. Renting a horse-drawn carriage that takes one around the city streets here in my home town, for example, wouldn't be something I'd use for research because riding in a well-oiled carriage on a paved city street drawn by well-broken horses is so different from say, 1790 on cobblestones. Steph Whitson
Here’s a great book to help with details: The Firefly Visual Dictionary. DiAnn Mills5. What other tricks do you have to get the details right?
I honestly don't know any tricks. You have to love it because historical research is very hard work. For me, the research part of writing historical novels is more fun than actually writing the book. I can't tell you how many times I've been a little disappointed that I actually had to USE all the material and go write a book because in the midst of researching I found something else I wanted to learn about. Just about every era of human history fascinates me. Steph Whitson
When it’s dark and I’m alone, I close my eyes and imagine a scene. I smell the fish in the Thames, I hear the creaking of the old ship, I see the hull and the deck and the board Drake must walk over to get to it, I see the impoverished men, women and children standing in line next to him. I imagine him climbing down the ladder to the dark hold, feeling the wood of a rickety ladder slide under his fingers, catching a splinter, then he turns and sees his future for the next two months. Then I switch from the five senses to show the external. How he stumbles to his cot; how he leaves his homeland by clinging to his cot without going on deck to wave goodbye because men are hunting him and he can’t risk it.
Then I write the scene. I know what the indentured endured because I have researched it. I know the length of his bed. I know the light in the hold and the toilet conditions. I know the sickness they will all endure. I know the numbers that will die and how one woman after dying in childbirth will have to be pushed through a portal because no one wants to carry the heavy body up to the deck. I know these things because I read about them for months.
You can never do too much research. Look for it in movies, books, internet, locations and the people you talk to about those locations. But above all, pray that God will show you what He saw. He will give you things you can never find in any earthly resource. He will give you the truth. Jamie Carie
Digging deeper and deeper into history. If I’m not absolutely sure about a detail, I might skirt around the issue rather than give out wrong information. DiAnn Mills6. Any other thoughts/tips to share with our fellow writers?
Find the details that interest you. Most likely they will interest the reader. For instance, I found one source that mentioned a locket George Washington wore his entire life—that Martha had given him. That’s cool stuff—also because it speaks beyond the locket to the love the couple shared. And so I created a scene for it. The story becomes real with inclusion of the small stuff. Seek out the small stuff. Nancy Moser
I have found the staff at historical sites, societies, museums, and archives to be a wonderful group of people who, while usually overworked, truly adore history and love helping people answer their questions and solve their mysteries. The book I am working on right now was a gift from such a person. I was in an archive researching another topic when one of the staff pulled me aside and said, "you've got to meet this woman I just learned about. We have boxes of material on her and. . . . " That comment brought me back to the archives one Monday morning to read the material. . . and ended up being my next release. So I'd say befriend your local historians. They can be an invaluable resource and you never know where that could lead. Steph Whitson
It is also helpful if you can get an expert in your time period to read your manuscript looking for obvious errors--not with the writing, but with the details of time and place. Steph Whitson
Consider research a part of characterization. Without it, your character is simply a talking-head or a paper doll who has no motivation. DiAnn Mills
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