How do we write about music? This is a form of what the ancient Greeks called ekphrasis: the description of one art in another. Not all of us are musicians, but nearly everyone likes one kind of music or another. It brings something wonderful to our lives, punctuates our memories, stirs our emotions. And when I think back upon some of the most life-changing books I’ve read (Homer’s Odyssey and the Sirens’ song, anyone?), the magic of music played a … Read More »

This has no specific connection to historical fiction, but it might be worth thinking about anyway in this month of NaNoWriMo, when we’re all pushing ourselves to write as if the devil were at our heels. Is it possible to be too productive? I think it is, and I may have broken that sound barrier lately… to my detriment. A Case of Logorrhea We all know the cardinal rule of writing: butt in chair and fingers on keyboard. This sort … Read More »

Among all the problems of authenticity the conscientious writer of historical fiction must face is the one I call the Problem of the Plucky Heroine. By this, I mean a character who is out of character for his or (more frequently) her times. Whose values are strangely modern. Who is, in short, an anachronism, probably designed to attract the modern reader. Is this really a problem, or is it a legitimate way to engage readers who want to read about … Read More »

Good historical fiction is doubly hard to write. Not only are there the usual problems of writing good “fiction”: well plotted, richly detailed, stuffed with fascinating characters. But “historical” demands that whole additional burden of research, so that the end result is a convincing representation of a past time and often distant place. Why should we even bother? Now Feels Pretty Good In the first place, we and our readers find it entertaining, like a good History Channel program. It’s … Read More »

While a novel set in the past is fiction and has a right to present imaginary events and personages, it is not (normally) fantasy, and thus certain standards of authenticity must be observed. Otherwise, it moves into the category of alternative history. Different readers will obviously bring differing standards of expectations to this issue, but it seems worthwhile for us writers to consider what our own standards are. Because authenticity makes historical fiction a doubly demanding genre: a historical novel … Read More »

We’re all concerned about making our historical novels authentic. We research costumes, tools, and architecture. Yet all that effort can dissipate when the characters open their mouths, if their speech isn’t equally time-appropriate. But how can it be, when they are speaking Chinese or Medieval French or simply American English of the eighteenth century—rendered in “Modern”? Like Us Yet Not As we all know, dialogue can make or break a novel. It reveals the characters and their relationships; it can … Read More »