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Writing historical fiction - Five Tips
Oct. 20th, 2012 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
faradMary Sharratt, a published writer of historical novels, made a list of five tips for writing historical fiction, which, I think, applies to those of us writing 'the boys'. I like #2 - Inhabit the Mind and Skin of Your Characters, especially this part:
"People in the past had completely different sensibilities than our own. When you write historical fiction, you have to remind the reader, again and again, that they’re not in Kansas anymore."
That's something I have to work hard to do, as I tend to like to gloss over some of the things we find unpleasant today.
It's a good list - I also like this comment: "True history is a lot stranger and quirkier than any fictional fabrication you could make up." When it comes to The Seven, I suspect that is quite the truth!
Five Writing Tips from Mary Sharratt - http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/54242-5-writing-tips-from-mary-sharratt.html (sorry, DW is not letting me do things tonight for some reason, so a manual link).
"People in the past had completely different sensibilities than our own. When you write historical fiction, you have to remind the reader, again and again, that they’re not in Kansas anymore."
That's something I have to work hard to do, as I tend to like to gloss over some of the things we find unpleasant today.
It's a good list - I also like this comment: "True history is a lot stranger and quirkier than any fictional fabrication you could make up." When it comes to The Seven, I suspect that is quite the truth!
Five Writing Tips from Mary Sharratt - http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/54242-5-writing-tips-from-mary-sharratt.html (sorry, DW is not letting me do things tonight for some reason, so a manual link).