Jennifer Cody Epstein's Blog, page 5
January 27, 2014
Rules to Rewrite History By
Last week I was lucky enough to guest post on the terrific writing blog WriterUnboxed, and decided to throw together a short list of the things I’ve learned about writing historical fiction over the last decade. Somewhat to my surprise, I’ve gotten a lot of great responses, and so thought I’d repost it here for general consumption:
10 Rules for Rewriting History
A decade into writing historical fiction, I’ve learned some interesting things—not the least of which is that I happen to love writing historical fiction. As someone who’d always struggled in history class (all those names and dates to memorize) I’d never imagined that my first novel would be HF. I’d imagined instead a more conventional debut: contemporary. Semi-autobiographical. Coming-of-age-centered.
Fast-forward to 1999, when I was well into said s.a.c.o.a. debut and finding it flimsy and (frankly) not all that interesting. On a visit to the Guggenheim, I was drawn to a wistful self-portrait by an artist named Pan Yuliang. I loved the work. But it was the story of the artist–a Chinese former prostitute and concubine—that really blew me away. My husband suggested I make this my first novel. I told him he was crazy. A few weeks later, though, there I was, signing up for classes in Chinese history and oil painting and hesitantly attempting a prologue.
So what changed my mind? Well, history, for one thing. As study material it’s a drag, but as novel fodder it’s fascinating. It also gives my narratives a heft and a ballast that has been lacking in my more contemporary attempts. Maybe best of all, it’s an ideal (if dangerously seductive) antidote to writers’ block: when the words don’t come, you can always read or take some notes and still feel that you are moving forward. Though as I’ve learned, the line between “research” and “procrastination” can be dangerously blurry.
Still, I’ve now published two novels of historical fiction, and am just starting on my third. Here are some “rules of thumb” that have helped me in the process:
1. History rides shotgun. Remember that what you’re writing is a novel—not a history book. This means history should be used only to heighten and deepen your narrative, and not the other way around. Be careful not to get hijacked by some fascinating event that doesn’t fit naturally into your storyline, because no matter how hard you try—or how many pages you write (in my case, sometimes, hundreds—with Painter I spent months on historical tangents that ultimately proved irrelevant) it simply won’t work in the end. If it doesn’t relate to your plot, it shouldn’t be in there.
2. Write right away—or at least, feel like you could if you had to. Many historical novelists put off writing until they feel that they’ve “researched enough.” If your story is strong enough, though, you should be able to write it (or much of it) immediately–albeit with lots of blanks and “[TK]s” and what I like to call “tent stakes.” For instance: in my most recent novel, The Gods of Heavenly Punishment, I have a scene where a bomber pilot takes off from an aircraft carrier for the first time. Since I had no idea how to fly a B-25, I initially used terms like “gas pedal [TK]” and “steering stick [TK]” as temporary placeholders. Sure, my dad–a Navy pilot in the 1950’s–laughed his ass off over that draft. But I found was able to nail all the important things—how my pilot felt when the flag fell, his anxious banter with his co-pilot, his fears about flying into a foreign country—without worrying about the technology.
3. Research like hell. That said, you do have to research—and the more you do the more authentic your book will feel. I probably read about twenty books for each novel, and countless online pages and papers. Organizing all that info can be tricky, but I’ve found one technique that works well: index carding. After I read and highlight my factoids I type them up as notes, which I then divide, cut out and glue onto index cards. These I organize by topic: a list of oil paint colors popular in the ‘20’s would go under “Painting (Craft Of),” a detail about singsong girls under “Brothel Stuff.” When I’m getting ready to write a new section, I simply take out stacks of cards from related subjects, leaf through and line them up, and figure out what I can insert where.
4. The 30 Percent Rule: It’s one of the depressing realities of researching: the vast majority of it probably won’t make your book. In my experience, between unused index cards and final-final edits I only use about 30% of what I’ve learned. Resign yourself to this likelihood. Try to think of it as paint: an artist may have dozens of hues and tones on her palette, but in the end she only uses what her painting really needs. On the bright side, just having all that info in your arsenal will probably make you feel more smart and capable and historical novelist-y. Plus, you’ll have lots of potential party-conversation topics.
5. Talk to real people. For both of my books, I’ve found that some of my most vivid information comes from people, not pages—and that interviewing and observing subjects related to your story will add real-life nuance that text alone won’t. For instance, since Pan Yuliang learned much of her craft in an atelier at the Paris Beaux Artes, I needed to know how one worked. I did do some bookish research—but what really brought it to life was observing a class at the Art Students League of New York, which is run in essentially the same fashion. Similarly, since The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is set against the Tokyo firebombing, I needed a sense of what that experience was like. A trip to Tokyo and interviews with three women who’d lived through the bombing added incredible (if horrific) depth to that scene.
6. Watch out for big-shots. One of the coolest things about HF is the writer’s omnipotence: you can put anyone/thing anywhere you want them. Don’t abuse it. Just because the Fitzgeralds were in Paris during the period about which you are writing doesn’t mean you write about them, no matter how much you loved Gatsby. If their paths and your characters’ would naturally cross, go ahead (but don’t overdo it!). If not, leave them out. Otherwise it will read like literary groupie-ism and lessen your story’s credibility. On the other hand, including relevant smaller historical details will heighten your book’s credibility. What kind of hairs were Chinese paintbrushes made with in the early part of the century? What kinds of shoes did people wear? What were the big movies everyone was going to see, and how did Chinese movie theaters differ from Western ones? One of my favorite discoveries with Painter—unearthed from a crumbling travel guide from 1932–was that Chinese commentators would simultaneously “translate” foreign films to audiences like a sportscaster would discuss a game, saying things like “Oh no! The woman is tied up on the train tracks! What is the hero going to do?” (Pure gold!)
7. Vet vernacular. One of the hardest tasks a historical writer faces is finding language that fits his time, place and characters. On the other hand, one of the surest ways to lose a reader is to have your Plymouth-bound pilgrim say “gnarly.” Ok, so most of you probably wouldn’t do that. But I’ve been surprised by how even seasoned writers can slip up, even if just subtly. Right now, for example, I’m reading a novel by a well-known author set during World War II, and the thing that’s stayed with me is that a German soldier refers to wood as “bourbon-colored.” As a bourbon lover, I appreciate the thought. But I just can’t stop wondering why a Bavarian soldier in the ‘40’s would fall back on Southern single-malt as a descriptive. In short, we are all the products of our respective eras and locales, and these things will inevitably creep into your narrative, so vet your language very carefully after you write it. Read it out loud to yourself, slowly. Have others familiar with your place/era read it too. I also suggest reading as many books written during (not just about) your time period as you can, taking note of idiom and tone. Lastly, when in doubt strip your character’s language down to its most straightforward and uninflected form.
8. Make a timeline. It may be all those history tests I failed, but one of the hardest things for me is keeping historical dates straight. Consequently, I find making timelines essential. With Painter, I superimposed four on a posterboard: one for Chinese history from 1899 to 1937, one for world history over the same period, one for art history and one for my character’s trajectory. That way, when I was writing about Pan Yuliang’s life at, say, age twenty, I could look up and quickly see what major world and domestic events (like the Treaty of Versailles and China’s May 4th Movement), and art trends (like the beginning of abstract painting) might have been in headlines and people’s discussions.
9. Check your facts. Sounds obvious, I know. But it’s incredibly important to get stuff right–with each mistake, you lose a little more of your reader’s faith. In the best cases, these readers will politely inform you of your screw-up (I recently got a helpful one-pager from a well-schooled smoker about 1940’s cigarettes, and why Winston wasn’t one of them). In the worst, they’ll gleefully point them out on Amazon or Goodreads reviews and stick you with a one-star rating. (Boo!) It’s inevitable, of course, that some mistakes will slip through the net—historical fiction is particularly vulnerable in this area. But a technique I learned in journalism can be helpful: namely, going over every single fact in your manuscript with a pencil, double-checking it, and checking it off only if it’s accurate (ideally by at least two sources). It also helps if, while writing, you insert source footnotes as you go each so you later know where you found everything. And if you’re really in uncertain territory—as I often found myself in both my novels—it’s well worth it to hire an expert to read through.
10. Free your mind (and the rest will follow). It may seem strange, but another hard part of fictionalizing history is just allowing yourself to fictionalize. In fact, the most common question I get from students and readers is just that–essentially: when is it o.k. to make sh** up? The answer varies from writer to writer, of course. But in my case it’s pretty simple: if it can’t be easily proven that something didn’t happen, you can write as though it did. For instance, when researching The Painter from Shanghai I found very little information on Pan’s romantic life in Paris. But I needed romance (and let’s face it, sex) to propel my story forward. So I invented a handsome Communist Party member—a former art classmate from Shanghai–who also happened to also be studying in France when she was. Or at least, I thought I invented him. Then the Chinese researcher I’d hired asked me curiously how I’d found out about Pan’s lover. When I told her I’d made him up, she blinked in surprise. According to a Chinese source she’d found online, Pan had had an affair with a Chinese communist and former art student—and is moreover buried with this same man in Montparnasse. Turns out, sometimes history is even stranger than fiction.
Happy writing!
January 21, 2014
The Paperback is Out! (And the Blogsphere Loves It!)
Last week was a whirlwind of readings, signings and release parties in celebration of the paperback release of Gods (how much do we love the new cover?!). If you missed the physical events never fear–I’ve also been lucky enough to go online to tour, via the ever-wonderful TLC Book Tours and HFVBT. The latter hooked Gods up to some of the best book blogs out there–many of which are hosting giveaways, so check them out! And don’t forget to enter on my site for the Book Club giveaway in paperback, just over to the right of this post. Next drawing will be….sometime. Sometime soon. In the meantime, here’s the list of stops to check out online, from both this week and last week:
On HFVBT:
Monday, January 6
Feature & Giveaway at Passages to the Past
Tuesday, January 7
Review & Giveaway at Found Between the CoversWednesday, January 8
Review at Lit NerdThursday, January 9
Review at From L.A. to LA
Friday, January 10
Review & Giveaway at Drey’s Library
Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection
Giveaway at Bibliophilic Book Blog
Monday, January 13
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at The Maiden’s Court
Wednesday, January 15
Review at Cozy Up with a Good Read
Thursday, January 16
Review at The Lit Bitch
Friday, January 17
Review at Doing Dewey
Review at Reading the Ages
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict
Monday, January 20
Review at bookramblings
Review at Carpe Librum
Interview & Giveaway at Doing Dewey
Tuesday, January 21
Review at Too Fond Beth
Review at Books in the Burbs
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews
On TLC Book Tours:
Monday, January 13th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Monday, January 13th: Now is Gone – giveaway
Tuesday, January 14th: A Bookish Way of Life
Tuesday, January 14th: Kritter’s Ramblings
Wednesday, January 15th: Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Friday, January 17th: The Best Books Ever
Sunday, January 19th: Writer Unboxed - author guest post
Tuesday, January 21st: Bookish Ardour
Wednesday, January 22nd: Bookfoolery
Thursday, January 23rd: She Treads Softly
Friday, January 24th: A Reader of Fictions
Monday, January 27th: Bloggin’ Bout Books
Tuesday, January 28th: Books are the New Black
Wednesday, January 29th: Book-a-licous Mama
Thursday, January 30th: Kahakai Kitchen
Monday, February 3rd: The Feminist Texican [Reads]
Tuesday, February 4th: Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World
Wednesday, February 5th: Bibliotica
Thursday, February 6th: Lavish Bookshelf
Happy surfing!
September 10, 2013
Oprah.com (on The Gods of Heavenly Punishment)
“The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is a page-turner thanks to its high-stakes adventure, torrid love affairs and characters so real they seem to follow you around. And in the end, this gripping novel asks us not just to consider a lost chapter of a famous war but also to explore what it means to be lucky—and what it means to be loved.”
Oprah.com (March “Book of the Week” Pick)
“The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is a page-turner thanks to its high-stakes adventure, torrid love affairs and characters so real they seem to follow you around. And in the end, this gripping novel asks us not just to consider a lost chapter of a famous war but also to explore what it means to be lucky—and what it means to be loved.”
September 9, 2013
Join “Gods” For A September Blog Tour!
So summer is over….which means (at least in the Cody-Epstein family) the end of six weeks of blissfully non-work-related activities, spanning from Upstate NY swimming holes and rolling meadows to sprawling sandy beaches in Connecticut and the Hamptons.
Sigh.
For better or worse, though, it’s time to hit the books again–and what better way to do that then with an autumnal online book tour? So over the next two weeks, I will have the pleasure of being hosted by some of my favorite book blogs in the business. Join us for reviews, interviews, free book excerpts, guest posts and (best of all) giveaways. In other words, it’s the….
For better or worse, though, it’s time to hit the books again–and what better way to do that then with an autumnal online book tour? So over the next two weeks, I will have the pleasure of being hosted by some of my favorite book blogs in the business. Join us for reviews, interviews, free book excerpts, guest posts and (best of all) giveaways. In other words, it’s the….
The Gods of Heavenly Punishment September Blog Tour Schedule:
Monday, September 9th:
Languageofmankind.com (review and giveaway)
2readornot2read.com (excerpt)
Tuesday, September 10th:
www.ManofLaBook.com (guest post and giveaway)
Wednesday, September 11th:
www.Paulita-ponderings.blogspot.com (review and interview)
Thursday, September 12th:
www.RiversIhaveknown.com (review, interview and giveaway)
Friday, September 13th:
www.ChristyEnglish.com (review and guest post)
Monday, September 16th:
www.Anovelreview.com (review)
www.Shelfpleasure.com (guest post)
Tuesday, September 17th:
www.Livingreadgirl.blogspot.com (review)
www.Katysozaeva.blogspot.com (excerpt)
Wednesday, September 18th:
www.AgelessPages.com (review)
www.Readingsalon.com (review)
Thursday, September 19th:
www.Readingsalon.com (review)
Friday, September 20th:
www.Vvb32reads.blogspot.com (review and interview)
Here’s hopin’ to see you on one or more of the stops–in the meantime, Happy Fall!
August 8, 2013
Gather Togather to Discuss “Gods”–Live Book Group Chat 8/20!
Has your book group read (or is planning to read) The Gods of Heavenly Punishment? Don’t have a book group, but still want to talk about the book? Interested in the book even if you haven’t read it yet, and wondering what others are saying about it? Join me and groupsourcing super site Togather.com August 20 for an intimate yet electronically-expansive chat about the ideas behind, characters in, writing of and (basically) anything-at-all-you-want-to-know about the novel O Magazine calls “miraculously constructed”, Vogue proclaims “highly anticipated,” Shelf-Awareness.com calls “stunning” and the Historical Novel Society raves is “magnificently portrayed….superb.”
Between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. I’ll be online live, fielding questions, pondering comments and offering up a free signed copy! To reserve your spot in the discussion sign up on the Gods “Featured Read” page at Togather:
(And while we’re at it: check out the gorgeous new cover for the paperback edition of The Gods of Heavenly Punishment–out January 14th!)
July 25, 2013
Music to Bomb To
Last month, I had the honor of being featured on Largehearted Boy, David Gutowski’s inspired music blog. The quest: to come up with a playlist for The Gods of Heavenly Punishment. No easy task–but after much ruminating and iTunes-searching and all-around musical procrastination I managed to compile one. Here is the result:
The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is a novel about many things—war and reconciliation, violence and romance, destruction and redemption. Set before, during and after America’s 1945 firebombing of Tokyo, it was an intense and sometimes draining project to write. But like my central heroine—the pensive and piano-loving Yoshi Kobayashi–I found a lot of solace and encouragement in music. In fact, most of the works below were on one playlist or another for me during the time I worked on the novel, and some are in addition contemplated by one of the six Japanese and American characters through whose eyes we see war unfurl and then subside. All, however, speak to key moments of the book’s multi-layered narrative—the sensual and the violent, the dark as well as the light.
“Such Great Heights” – Iron and Wine
Four years before Pearl Harbor: we ascend skywards on a Ferris Wheel with aspiring pilot Cam Richards and his tart-tongued date (and future wife) Lacy. They are young, idealistic and a little horny, and inside their swinging cage occurs an exchange of dreams, smeared lipstick and mutual euphoria over having found what each soon realizes is “the one.” This classic Iron and Wine song sums up the mood.
“Devil’s Gonna Get You” – Bessie Smith
While Cam and Lacy make their rickety climb, Czech-American architect Anton Reynolds is hosting a dinner party in Kuruizawa, Japan, with Bessie Smith playing in the background. A former disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright, Anton has spent the last two decades infusing prewar Tokyo’s skyline with modernity, little realizing that he’ll soon help bomb it to smithereens. In the shorter term, however, he encounters a bombshell of a different type—the beautifully morose Hana Kobayashi, wife of his favorite Japanese builder and mother to the then-6-year-old Yoshi. Anton’s attraction to Hana will prove as tragic, as damaging and as inevitable as his role in Tokyo’s Phoenix-like reduction to ash. Or (as Bessie croons): It’s a long, long lane that has no turning, and it’s a fire that keeps on burning…
“Blue Skies” - Irving Berlin
1942: America, still reeling from Japan’s surprise attack on Oahu and conquests in Southeast Asia, is in desperate need of a buck-up. Hope comes in the skybound shape of the Doolittle Raid, a secret mission led by aviation legend Jimmy Doolittle in which 16 B-25 bombers—each weighing over 20 tons—perform the unprecedented feat of taking off from an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific. The planes have just enough fuel to reach Japan and bomb it before crash-landing in enemy-held Chinese territory. Cam Richards is a lead pilot, and the rush he gets after successfully lifting off the pitching deck of the U.S.S. Hornet leaves him humming this Berlin tune, which is also his and Lacy’s favorite song. Little does he know how short-lived his euphoria will prove to be….
“How You Survived the War” - The Weepies
By 1943, Anton Reynolds is back in the United States, where he now is working with the U.S. military. His job: to recreate Japanese-style houses so that high-tech firebombs (destined for Tokyo) can be tested on them for efficacy. Reynolds tells himself that his efforts will help end the war quickly, thus saving both American and Japanese lives. But as he watches the flames devour the building he’s created, he nevertheless keeps seeing Hana Kobayashi’s slim silhouette in his mind’s eye. There is a nostalgia and sadness in that moment that for me echoes in this melodic but haunting Weepies tune: You get back to the wall/And put your hands up/It’s a holdup/You give up like every time before/That is how you survived the war.
“Life in a Northern Town” - Dream Academy
As Anton watches one building burn in Utah, 13-year-old Yoshi Kobayashi watches another rise in Northern China. She’s in Japan-occupied Manchuria visiting her father, who oversees the construction of Japan’s frontier villages there. And she arrives an idealist, convinced—as are most Japanese at the time–of her nation’s calling to lead Asia away from under Western imperialism and into the modern era. What she sees on the Mongolian steppes, however, will shake her sense of country (and of self) to the core. This 1985 ballad–with its pristine, chilly harmonies and profound vibes of lost innocence–capture her experience nicely for me.
“Black Mirror” – Arcade Fire
By 1945 the U.S. military—with Anton Reynold’s reluctant help—has perfected the manufacture of petroleum-packed incendiary bombs and is ready to use them on real targets. Tokyo is first up. So around midnight on March 9th, hundreds of enormous B-29s fly over the capital at extremely low altitude, unleashing 1,700 tons of napalm-packed explosives on a city constructed largely of paper and wood. The result is a firestorm unlike anything seen before or since, through which Yoshi—now 15—races, trying to find safety.
Honestly? I had a hard time finding appropriate music for this one. The Clash’s Charlie Don’t Surf came to mind, as did U2′s Sunday Bloody Sunday, but each of those bears a very distinct national stamp. In the end, then, Arcade Fire’s Black Mirror—both cryptic and apocalyptic—came closest for me: I know a time is coming/all words will lose their meaning. Kind of says it all.
“Mulberry” – Yoko Ono
In the wake of the March 9th bombing Tokyo is a graveyard. 16 square miles of city have been turned to ash; 100,000 civilians are left dead. Survivors like Yoshi face the grim task of trying to find their families–or what is left of them—and then finding ways to survive themselves. That sense of utter devastation and surrealness was something I struggled as a writer to understand–and one I think Yoko Ono captured with amazing skill in this performance piece. The title is a reference to the berries she picked for herself and her siblings during the time they were evacuated to the Japanese countryside, when there was little else for anyone to eat. But the song itself (if you can call it that) is more like a gut-level, multi-textured scream—discordant, desolated, unbelieving.
“Gymnopedie N. 3″ – Eric Satie
In the months following Japan’s surrender, Anton Reynold’s son Billy—a tortured 21-year-old with a big secret–returns to Japan for the first time in over a decade, there to be part of MacArthur’s Occupational Forces. Deplaning, he sees “not the burgeoning, erratic skyline of his memory, but a sweeping and charcoal-black plain, one studded with standing buildings, empty but for rubble piles and makeshift shanties.” A few hours later, he sees something even more unsettling in some ways–a beautiful young girl playing Satie at a brothel. This is the piece I always imaged Yoshi to have been performing when Billy finds her—as haunting and lonely as the city she’s been left with.
“Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” – The Flaming Lips
Ok—so major mood change. This song, like many FL compositions (and—let’s face it—their band name) is pretty silly. But it’s also energized, exuberant, rich and determined, and it fills me with inexplicable joy whenever I hear it. It features a Japanese girl named Yoshimi (who might well be nicknamed “Yoshi”—who knows?) who battles impossible odds—in this case enormous, pink killer robots. But given her black belt in karate and all the vitamins she’s taking, she’d probably kick ass against the challenges faced by my Yoshi in the postwar years–including an evil brothel madam, demeaning Occupational Forces officers and potentially abusive husbands. And if she’s sometimes silly in the process, all the better—for as I also try to demonstrate in my novel, in the end humor is a key ingredient to survival.
“We Are All Water” – tUnE-yArDs (as YOKO)
Another Yoko Ono original—performed by the experimental/pop band tUnE-yArDs. Apparently Yoko discovered this group before their first album came out and fell in love with them. For my part, I simply fell in love with this song. Between the tUnE-yArDs’ buoyant and syncopated rendition and Yoko’s inspired lyrics, I also feel like it pretty much sums up the ending of my book, in which the different pathlines of all six of my American and Japanese characters end up intersecting–on a beach, no less:
We’re all water from different rivers
That’s why it’s so easy to meet
We’re all water in this vast, vast ocean
Someday we’ll evaporate together.
[For the full LHB post--and a zillion other cool playlist by cool writers--go here.]
June 26, 2013
David Gutowski, LargeHeartedBoy.com
“…An impressive historical novel that frames World War II through an intensely personal perspective.”
May 10, 2013
Oprah.com
“The Gods of Heavenly Punishment is a page-turner thanks to its high-stakes adventure, torrid love affairs and characters so real they seem to follow you around. And in the end, this gripping novel asks us not just to consider a lost chapter of a famous war but also to explore what it means to be lucky—and what it means to be loved.”
May 1, 2013
Library Journal
“[A] harrowing novel of destruction and creation [that] will appeal to fans of historical fiction.” (Starred review)
