Research and Writing Process

[Sandra]

Hi Robin,
For me, it’s happened serendipitously. For example, I received email praise from a reader who was an academic and happened to live nearby. We met for coffee several years ago. At the time I was thinking of moving out of the Wars of the Roses into Eastern Rome, and turned out she was an expert in the era and belonged to the Byzantine church in Houston (I didn’t even know there was one!). Another time, a family member turned out to be related by marriage to a well-known expert in the field, and another time, a friend knew a famous expert in the fields and introduced me to him in California.

Sandra

[Karleen]

Robin wrote: "Many authors of historical novels include in their acknowledgments people who helped the author with the historical accuracy of some particular aspect of the novel - the dress, food, religious prac..."

I do enough research that I'm an expert. The facts are there. It's the why that is the story. I do acknowledge people who've helped. Writing fiction is making up a story. Several authors have mentioned the hidden story. I call it the why. Unless someone left a memoir, and we do lie in our memories, we don't know why. Why? Why? Why?Now Face to Face: A Novel

[Karleen]

Jess wrote: "I have never written a novel, but have often entertained the notion. Since my tastes have run to historical fiction for the last several years, I feel that would be my natural choice of genre. It h..."

I thought my first novel was going to be set in the Regency period. But I couldn't find a story to tell. As I was doing research (I'm an amateur historian, so I just always read books about history), I came across the South Sea Bubble, first great depression set in England. I thought....now there's a backdrop to a story. The story wasn't the South Sea Bubble. It was a woman's coming of age story....for women, particularly in history, that involves love. The South Sea Bubble was simply something that gave me a time frame and an event to impact lives. The story was coming of age......If you can't let the research illuminate, not overwhelm, but illuminate the story, you will drone on and on. Through a Glass Darkly

[Karleen]

Karleen wrote: "Jess wrote: "I have never written a novel, but have often entertained the notion. Since my tastes have run to historical fiction for the last several years, I feel that would be my natural choice o..."

PS.....Regency is early 1800's.....South Sea Bubble is 1720. So that became the date.....Through a Glass Darkly

[Karleen]

Ivy wrote: "Tara wrote: "how important or necessary is travel when writing historical fiction? and how much liberty do you feel you can take when writing about a real person vs a completely fictional one?"

I ..."

I try, usually, to make the actual historical characters side characters, not main ones. The main ones in three of my novels have been fiction, which gives me enormous freedom to tell a character story. However, I do research, read bios, of the actual historical characters. I'm good at character analysis in real life. I use that facility in fiction and feel very, very comfortable with the actual historical character I create. I have fun with it, taking the research seriously, but not so seriously that it muddies the story.
That being said, the last novel had a real character as the main character. In fact, nearly all the characters existed. What a challenge to step off the research and create a living, breathing person. An icon, Louis XIV. It was hard to do. I felt timid. But then I found what I thought he would be worrying about, yearning over, and once I had that, I let myself go to become the icon of the 17th century, but only for four critical months of his life. I love what I created. Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV

[Darlene]

Seeing as the travel budget is $0 from writing income, what's the best way to visualize what a bygone era looked like? How do you find good primary resources about culture, clothing, customs, lifestyle, etc.?

[Anne]

Darlene wrote: "Seeing as the travel budget is $0 from writing income, what's the best way to visualize what a bygone era looked like? How do you find good primary resources about culture, clothing, customs, life..."

not sure where you live, Darlene, but I have picked up several books of paintings/tapestries/illustrations etc. in big-city art museums. They are full of costume details, tools, farming implements, pots, dogs etc. A great resource for the medievalist is Ian Mortimer's "Time Travellers Guide to Medieval England." Love it! He has just published another: "...Guide to Elizabethan England." Lots of museums like the Cloisters in New York, Memling Museum in Bruges have websites with much of their artwork viewable. Can't help you much in other periods, sorry.

[David]

Patrick wrote: "I imagine with any work of historical fiction there's a fair amount of research involved. How much research do you do for your books? And when do you know when it's time to stop researching and sta..."

Hi, Patrick. My answer is probably as complex as the research. Firstly, I need to know enough about the period to set the events, and have enough odd and wondrous detail to set the stage. Once I have the events, people, and general mode of life under my belt, then I dive in. I like stories that surprise me when I'm writing them, so I try not to plot too heavily. I know major events, I know where I'm going, but the individual moments are organic to the writing.

Secondly, and more importantly, research is the key whenever I'm stuck. Don't know what happens next? Go back to the research. Learning about Italian death doors provided me a lovely (and portentous) scene in Falconer. The origin of the phrase "deadline" was useful for one scene in Fortune's Fool. The use of carriages, the habits of copyists, the popular meals - all of these are grist for the mill and help drive the story onwards.

Thirdly, and most important of all - the wise and wonderful editor Michael Denneny once told me, in regards to my first draft of The Master Of Verona, that I had "confused what an author needs to know to write a book with what the reader needs to know to read it - which is much less." Once the book is written, I go back and pare away the excessive descriptions of things I found useful and nifty in the moment, but that can drag a reader down. Three paragraphs on horse armament is, perhaps, excessive.

[David]

Tara wrote: "how important or necessary is travel when writing historical fiction? and how much liberty do you feel you can take when writing about a real person vs a completely fictional one?"

Travel, while not essential, can only help. Not for the character arc or the heart of the story - that comes from you - but for the authentic quirks of terrain and sky and smell and taste that local experience gives.

As for liberty with real historical figures, that's an excellent question. I've been both lauded and reviled for what I've done with Cangrande della Scala. Here's my rule - as long as you're not contradicting history, everything's fair game. The great thing is to play with motive - the actions are set by history (at least some of the time), but the motives behind those actions are open to play.

Here's a great example, if everyone will excuse my theatrical background. Until the 1590s, Brutus was reviled for his act of killing Caesar. Dante put him at the bottom of Hell, forever being masticated by one of Lucifer's three mouths, alongside Judas and Cassius. Then along comes Shakespeare who, with a single play, rehabilitates Brutus into a man of honor, a man whose great tragic flaw is his adherence to that honor. Shakespeare changed no fact - Brutus still stabbed Caesar on the Ides of March - but the "why" Shakespeare invented has forever changed the way we view Brutus.

[Alma]

Darlene wrote: "Seeing as the travel budget is $0 from writing income, what's the best way to visualize what a bygone era looked like? How do you find good primary resources about culture, clothing, customs, life..."

I love museums, too. I pick up postcards in the gift shop of paintings or costumes that are particularly inspirational. I'll pick up the museum catalog/book of a big exhibit if there is one, though these can be pricey, too.

Don't overlook Pinterest! There are some period costume fanatics on Pinterest, and their pins take you back to the online source so you can do more research. I'll repin the inspiration pieces to my Pinterest board so I don't lose them.

Movies. Some are very well done. You can check out historical societies websites: some will tell you which movies are most historically accurate.

[C.W.]

Kate wrote: "Hi Christopher! Here's a question that popped into my head since I know you're working on Lucrezia Borgia, and I think the other ladies here have had a similar dilemma:

Let's say you're writing a..."

Hi Kate,
I think it depends on the story you want to tell. For non-fiction accounts, the "truth" is paramount (though there can be several truths, depending on who's recording it at the time). But historical fiction is a different animal. While I do consider it my obligation to find out as many facts as I can, and stay true to what is known, if 2 out of 3 experts disagree, at the end of the day how I interpret the facts is, indeed, going to be my personal slant. I'm a novelist; this is what I do. In some cases, if nothing is known for certain, I consider it a bonanza, because it frees me to make my own informed decision.

[Sandra]

Jess wrote: "I have never written a novel, but have often entertained the notion. Since my tastes have run to historical fiction for the last several years, I feel that would be my natural choice of genre. It h..."

(Re-post since I don't see my reply here)

Hi Jess,
I love the research too, like Therese. I started writing historical fiction because I became enamored of a politically maligned historical figure and had to give his side of the story. In other words, I became a participant of the Wars of the Roses on the Yorkist side. As far as resources go, university libraries, museums, documentaries, and trips to the places associated with my story are vital resources. Tips? I would suggest you begin with what’s in your heart. If you don’t, your book might not have "soul."

Sandra

[Sandra]

Patrick wrote: "I imagine with any work of historical fiction there's a fair amount of research involved. How much research do you do for your books? And when do you know when it's time to stop researching and sta..."

Hi Patrick,
Short answer: tons! I love research. I don’t when to quit. My husband says I’d have three Ph.D.s by now if I’d concentrated on studying this hard, and this long. That’s probably true for other authors too. Evenutally the characters start talking in my head and I run for a write it down. One thing leads to another, and then I’m glued to my desk.

Sandra

[Sandra]

Lilian wrote: "Jess wrote: "I have never written a novel, but have often entertained the notion. Since my tastes have run to historical fiction for the last several years, I feel that would be my natural choice o..."

(This is a Re-post because i don't see my reply to you anywhere)

Hi Jess,

Like Therese, I love the research too. I started writing historical fiction because I became enamored of a politically maligned historical figure and felt I had to give his side of the story. In other words, I became a participant of the Wars of the Roses on the Yorkist side. As far as resources go, university libraries, museums, documentaries, and trips to the places associated with my story were vital resources. Tips? If I have one it's to begin with what’s in your heart. If you don’t, your book won’t have soul.

Sandra

[Lilian]

C.W. wrote: "Ash wrote: "I would think writing historical fiction would be the hardest and most daunting task because of the research involved. I mean you would want to be as accurate as you need to be but then..."

Isabella grew up in the town of Arevalo, in the province of Avila, Spain, as a pious and a deeply religious Catholic girl before she became queen. She was then called back to court by her brother, Henry IV, the regning king, to a monarchy rife with corruption and his queen accused of having fostered a bastard. She made a vow early on that if she became queen she would rid Spain of all corruption and bring God back to Spain. As queen, Isabella was pressured to bring back the Inquisition to unify Spain under the banner of Catholicism. Torquemada, her childhood confessor, urged her to investigate the New Christians guilty of heresy and reverting back to Judaizing. Another strong reason for expelling the Jews from Spain was to pay homage to the Pope in Rome who would bestow the title of Catholic Monarchs on her and Ferdinand. The other compelling reason for establishing the Inquisition was to benefit from the Jews' properties confiscated by the church and through the monarchy as punishment for offending God. When approximately two hundred thousand Jews left Spain rather than convert, they couldn't sell their properties and lands. Their houses, lands, vineyards, and various business were sold for a pittance to buy food for their voyage. They were not allowed to take gold or silver with them and left as paupers from a land they lived in for two millenia. Jews had lived in Iberia, or Spain, after the second temple was sacked in Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Romans then ruled Iberia and allowed the Jews to live in peace until Spain was conquered first by the Moors and then the Visigoths. From the two hundred thousands Jews who converted to remain in their homes and eventually intermarried with Catholics, there are found today in 50% of Spaniards and Portuguese to carry the Jewish marker in their genes. In a way, an ironic twist to forcible conversion.