Writers Chat, hosted by Jean Wise, Johnnie Alexander, Brandy Brow, and Melissa Stroh, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!
“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”
Featuring…
How to Research for Fiction with Johnnie Alexander and M.N. Stroh
Writers Chat very own novelists, Johnnie Alexander and M.N. (Melissa) Stroh, share a wealth of information on research for fiction. They discuss common pitfalls to avoid and other helpful resources—like personality tests for your characters and drawing maps or street layout so you don’t mix up locations in your story. Johnnie and Melissa offer helpful tips on where to start research for your novel and templates to imbue your characters and story world with the needed realism to engage readers. For more information and resources, check out this week’s replay.
Watch the September 20th replay.
Johnnie Alexander is a wannabe vagabond with a heart for making memories. Whether at home or on the road, she creates characters you want to meet and imagines stories you won’t forget.
A bestselling, award-winning novelist, Johnnie has written over twenty-five novels, novellas, and short stories in multiple genres. She is on the executive boards of Serious Writer, Inc. and Mid-South Christian Writers Conference, and she co-hosts Writers Chat, a weekly online show.A fan of classic movies, stacks of books, and road trips, Johnnie shares a life of quiet adventure with Griff, her happy-go-lucky collie, and Rugby, her raccoon-treeing papillon. Connect with her at JohnnieAlexander.com and other social media sites via https://linktr.ee/johnniealexndr.
M.N. Strohis fueled by her love of storytelling and history. She writes Christian Historical Fiction with an edge, to inspire the downtrodden and outcasts through adventure-laden escapes leading them back to their First Love, as showcased in her debut series, Tale of the Clans. M.N. serves as Director of Communications for Serious Writer Inc. affiliate, Writers Chat, director of Serious Writer Book Club, a member of ACFW, and Historical Society’s Interviews Admin Team. Connect with her at mnstroh.com and on social media.
Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: http://zoom.us/j/4074198133
“Many books for children feature children. Your writing will be more natural if you are aware of the rhythms and patterns that youngsters adopt when they interact with each other. Children often say the first things that come to mind. They repeat phrases – and rework their sentences as they speak. Try writing short, staccato sentences or long rambling ones just to get a feel for pacing. Reflecting on your childhood memories can also help draw out an authentic voice.”
Author Alan Dapré A former TV scriptwriter who now spends his time writing zany story books, usually about a Tartan Cat.
When I came across Dapré’s quote while doing some research on the Internet one afternoon, I loved it! I actually said out loud, “Yes!” You see, to write for children, we need to be where they are and listen to how they talk. We need to watch how they move and interact with the world around them.
This was much easier to do when my daughters were at home because we were “that house”—the house where all of the neighborhood kiddos gathered. I never had to work at being around children. Today, as an empty nester, I find myself having to work a little harder when I want to interact with my readers.
If you find yourself in that same situation, or if you write for the picture book market and you only have teens in your house, you’ll also have to get a little more creative to observe and interact with your readers. So, here are four tips to help you in that quest.
Volunteer: Offer to babysit for your friend’s children or take your turn in the nursery at church. Work with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, or other children’s groups. Be a coach. (I was a cheerleading coach for a stint, and out of that experience, I was inspired to write my YA devotional, “Get Your Spirit On! Devotions for Cheerleaders” (SonRise Devotions, 2018). You could also volunteer to read to children in your public library. Those are all win/win scenarios. You get to feel good about volunteering, and you will get quality time with your readership.
Strategically Observe: You will want to observe children at play. Watch how they interact. Listen to how they talk—their pacing, their word choice, their voice inflection. Observe how they move and engage with one another. Good places to do this? Go to the park. (Walk your dog there so you don’t look like a creeper—ha!) Hang out in the toy section at Wal-Mart. Go to the zoo and do double duty. You can observe kids and animals and take notes for future books.
Research: fill in the gaps with online research. When you can’t be with kiddos in real time, watch YouTube videos of kids just being kids. And while you’re at it, find out what kids are reading, watching, and listening to, and then do the same! Get in their world so that you’ll understand it and them better.
Remember: think back to when you were a kid. When you just can’t find a way to be around little ones, you can still make this work. All you have to do is…remember. Slang words and clothing fads may come and go, but the raw emotion of a story never goes out of style. Use your own childhood experiences or those of your children and draw from them. Tap into memories of your proudest, saddest, most embarrassing, or disappointing moments. Feelings are universal and timeless. Childhood memories may be the story buds for numerous future articles and books. The key is to remember with all of your senses—what you saw, how it felt, how it smelled, etc. Become that child again!
Yes, this will take some time, but it’ll be time well-spent. Get to know your audience and watch your writing become more raw, more real, and more relevant.
Michelle Medlock Adams is a best-selling author and an award-winning journalist, earning top honors from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Hoosier State Press Association. Author of over 100 books with more than 4 million books sold, Michelle is also a New York Times Bestselling ghostwriter and has won more than 70 industry awards for her own journalistic endeavors, including the prestigious Golden Scroll for Best Children’s Book in 2020, 2019 and 2018 for “How Much Does God Love You?” “Dinosaur Devotions” and “My First Day of School”. And, over the past three years, she has added several first-place honors from the Christian Market Book Awards, the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, and the Illumination Awards in multiple categories.
Since graduating with a journalism degree from Indiana University, Michelle has written more than 1,500 articles for newspapers, magazines, and websites; and served as an adjunct professor at Taylor University. Today, she is President of Platinum Literary Services, Chairman of the Board of Advisors for Serious Writer, Inc.; and a much sought-after speaker at writers conferences and women’s retreats all over the United States. When not working on her own assignments, Michelle ghostwrites articles, blog posts, and books for celebrities, politicians, and some of today’s most effective and popular ministers.
Michelle is celebrating the recent release of her books, Cuddle-up Prayers; I Love You Bigger Than the Sky and Writing & Selling Children’s Books in the Christian Market: From Board Books to YA coauthored with her agent Cyle Young.
Michelle is married to her high school sweetheart, Jeff, and they have two daughters, Abby and Allyson, two sons-in-law, two granddaughters and two grandsons. She and Jeff share their home in Southern Indiana with a miniature dachshund, a rescue Greyhound/Lab mix, and two cats. When not writing or teaching writing, Michelle enjoys bass fishing, cheering on Indiana University sports teams and the Chicago Cubbies, and all things leopard print.
The first thing a beginning writers often hear is “write what you know.” Good advice! But once you have exhausted what you know, how do you find other things to write about? Is it possible to write about things you don’t know?
Of course it is. You just have to know how to locate information that can make you a temporary expert!
1. Research. These days we have research at our fingertips. Start with an online search on a topic you would like to write about. Read the information but don’t stop there. Locate the sources in the bibliography of the article and go to some of them. The closer you can get to the original source of your information, the more accurate it will be.
2. Interview others who are experts on your topic. There are websites that can connect you with experts in every field. Local directories can give you contact information of those experts in your area. Social media is now a quick way to find people who are knowledgeable on a certain topic. If you still can’t find enough for your article, try colleges or local educators. Often they can give you the information you need or know someone who is knowledgeable in that area.
3. Look in your newspaper. People who write articles for newspapers and magazines have already done research and if they have already written about the topic you want to write about, they can be a gold mine of information.
4. Spend some time learning about the subject. For instance, Barbara Ehrenreich wanted to write about the welfare system in our country. She got a job and tried to live off of her meager salary as she researched that system.
At one point I wrote a soccer handbook. I had no idea how to begin or even what the rules for soccer were. My sons friends who played on the high school soccer team stopped by almost every afternoon to see what questions I had about the game. Those young men made it possible for me to complete my assignment and do it well.
Perhaps you are writing about a character in your novel and you are not familiar with the occupation of one of your characters. Ask to shadow someone for several days who has the same job. You would be surprised what you can learn in just a few sessions with someone who is knowledgeable.
As you can see there are lots of ways to write about something you don’t know about. So maybe we should rephrase our subject. If you are a beginning writer, write what you know and write what you can learn.
LindaGilden is an award-winning writer, speaker, editor, certified writing and speaking coach, and personality consultant. Her passion is helping others discover the joy of writing. Linda recently released Articles, Articles, Articles! and is the author of over a thousand magazine articles. As director of the Carolina Christian Writers Conference, Linda helps many writers take the next step in reaching their writing goals. Linda’s favorite activity (other than eating folded potato chips) is floating in a pool with a good book surrounded by splashing grandchildren—a great source of writing material! www.lindagilden.com
If you’re a historical fiction writer who is under quarantine or lockdown, whether voluntary or government mandated, now would be a great time to delve into the historical period for your next novel or maybe you need another historical tidbit for your current story. Either way, getting your head out of the news for a while and going back in time may be just what you need to help you focus on something more fun and interesting than the current state of the world.
“How much research should I do for a historical novel and why is it so important? After all, it’s historical fiction, right? So, can’t I just make up what I don’t know?”
No, you can’t—not if you want to gain and keep readers. Many people who read historical fiction do so because they enjoy history. Many are history buffs. Some people want to learn something from historical fiction, and they may just do some research after reading your book to see if you had your historical facts straight. You’re bound to have at least one reader who will be ready and willing to contact you and point out where you missed the mark.
As a writer somewhere between plotting and pantsing, I will say that I am careful to research anything that has to do with the time period of my setting. For instance, my current WIP, (work in progress), is set in 1860s United States, in the west, and my protagonist needs to carry a rifle and a handgun for his job, so I Googled rifles and handguns from that time period to be sure I didn’t give my character a gun that hadn’t been created yet.
When I took that chapter to a critique group that I was part of at the time, two of the men in the group challenged me on the rifle and handgun I chose to use. I was able to give them the information of the site where I found the facts and inform them of what I learned about my chosen weapons. My choice of weapons weren’t the only historical items the men in the group challenged me on, which is why I want to know my facts.
I also have read book reviews of other historical writers’ works and have found at least one review, that I can recall, that challenged the author’s historical facts. This reader gave the writer a lower star rating because the reader was certain the author had the facts wrong.
Readers who are history buffs will know their history and expect you to know yours. They will not hesitate to let you know if they believe you have gotten something wrong, and they may write a scathing review of your work. They may also decide not to read another one of your books. We work hard to gain our readers, therefore, we need to do our best to keep them by making sure we get our historical facts straight.
Kelly F. Barr lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is married and has three sons. She writes historical romance. She has also been a blogger for ten years, and every Friday, you can find her Flash Fiction stories posted for your reading pleasure. She loves her family, including the family dog, books, walks, and chai lattes.
If
you’ve queried in the past five years, you’re familiar with the plea for
diverse books. Publishers and readers alike are searching for stories that
reflect the world in all its colours, orientations, beliefs, and abilities. We are
searching for connections. We want to be seen.
But
not all diversity will be as obvious to spot on the cover of a book.
Diversity
goes deep—down to the core of who we are and how the neurons in our brains
allow us to think. But, as a society, we are less likely to recognize or celebrate
this deeper neurodiversity.
Each
of us process and react to the world differently. Our life experiences also play a role,
leaving unique internal scars and mended pathways. For a growing majority of
teens today, this internal milieu feels like a battlefield and it comes out as
mental illness.
Right
now, more than ever, these differences in neurological wiring and life
experiences will affect how teens react to fear, anxiety, grief, and confusion.
And if they can’t find themselves in the stories that they’re reading, we risk
letting them feel alone in their experiences. Which we all know is false.
As
YA Authors, mental health themes need be high in our considerations for
diversity. But how can we do this authentically?
Write
#OwnVoice
– Mental health stories written from lived experiences offers a genuine and raw
lens. If you’ve lived it and feel comfortable communicating the everyday
struggles, along with the big plot turns of life, do it.
Write Deep – Don’t include mental health as an afterthought. A person is more than one aspect of their diversity. Our characters need to be seen this way as well. Ask deep questions of your characters. Know their wounds and back stories. Empathize with them before starting to write.
Write
Educated
– If you haven’t experienced the themes present in your story, spend time
researching what they are and how they present. Look to respected resources
(i.e. The DSM-V) rather than arbitrary blog posts.
Write Relationally – Even with the best research, there is something powerful about speaking with a person who has experienced mental illness first-hand. If you will listen and come with empathy and encouragement, odds are you will find someone who will share. Please be considerate though. Never approach someone who is in crisis and stick with friends and family.
With
my novel, FADE TO WHITE, I wrote from both personal experience, research, and over
10 years of relational conversations with teens. Some of those conversations
were painful to hear, but there was also mutual healing and hope gained through
sharing our stories.
Mental
illness is a hidden disease, despite its ever growing prevalence. By considerately
sharing diverse mental health experiences, we are giving young people a chance
to be seen. A chance to be recognized as broken but not lost. A chance to be
represented within the diverse and unsettling world we now live in.
Tara K. Ross lives with her husband, two daughters, and rescued fur-baby in a field of cookie-cutter homes near Toronto, Canada. She works as a school speech-language pathologist and mentors with local youth programs. When Tara is not writing or reading all things YA, you can find her rock climbing the Ontario escarpment, planning her family’s next jungle trek, or podcasting at www.tarakross.com.
I’ve
always loved books about far flung places. It’s a wonderful way to expand
horizons. I decided to talk with YA author Felicia Bridges about her
experiences and ask her advice about writing about other cultures and
countries.
Felicia believes life is a great adventure written by the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Her adventures as an Army BRAT included living in eight states and two foreign countries by age fifteen. Along with a strong foundation of faith, this nomadic childhood created a passion for missions and travel which leads her writing to exotic places. Felicia has a degree in Psychology, but her experience as a short-term missionary, HR Manager, mother of four, and pastor’s wife provide her most unusual tales.
DJS: I’ve always found studying and learning about different
countries and cultures fascinating. When learning about and researching other
cultures for fiction writing, what do you feel are the most important things to
keep in mind?
FB: Bearing in mind that while customs which are unfamiliar to us
may seem odd, they usually have a logical basis. It’s critical to keep digging
until we can portray another culture authentically in a way that helps broaden
our readers’ understanding.
DJS: What was the most interesting or surprising thing you
discovered as you were delving into your research for your books?
FB: There have been so many surprising and amazing discoveries,
it’s impossible to pick one. One of my favorite discoveries was in researching
Czech folklore. They have such a rich history and I would spend hours one the
internet reading one story after another. The most surprising discovery was the
legendary story of Campbell Bridges that I wove into KenyaQuest. This real-life
Indiana Jones figure lived a fascinating life and I was honored that his widow
and son worked with me to ensure I portrayed that accurately. In BoliviaKnight,
the most amazing discovery was the Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt
flat. This amazing place forms a giant mirror during the rainy season providing
stunning pictures of the sky reflected on the salt. This place tops my bucket
list of places I’d love to visit!
DJS: It’s so important to respect other cultures. How can an
author make sure to stay authentic when writing about a segment of society they
are not a part of?
FB: In today’s world it is absolutely critical to be respectful in
our depiction of other cultures. Failure to recognize and eschew stereotypes
can literally ruin your career with a single tweet. I’ve spent the past ten
years pursuing a greater understanding of my own biases and privilege, and a
deeper understanding of the perspectives of marginalized people groups. Since
my series necessitates portraying people from different cultures, I’ve tried to
be intentional about researching the culture and avoiding stereotypes. We also
need to communicate well that authors of fiction are working from our research
plus imagination.
DJS: I’d love to take research trips. Who wouldn’t? It sounds like
fun! Unfortunately, that’s not always possible. What advice would you give to
someone who wants to learn about other countries or cultures, but their
resources are limited?
FB: We are so privileged to live and write in a time where we can
virtually visit anywhere on the planet. Although nothing can compare to
actually walking in the places that you are writing about, I’ve learned so much
from building relationships with missionaries, from using technological tools
like Google Earth ™ and the internet to search out answers for any question
that arises. For the relatively small cost of internet service, we can zoom in
to street level in Prague, read a firsthand account of an expedition in the
Amazon, or see glorious pictures of the cultural festivals in Papua New Guinea.
I would advise them to research all they can online and save all they can to be
able to travel to their favorite places.
These are all great points and
suggestions! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.
Felicia’s series debut, The International Mission Force, features
the exploits of teenage missionaries around the globe and begins with CzechMate, which
is set in Czechia. BoliviaKnight and KenyaQuest carry readers to
Bolivia and Kenya. The next book in the seires, IslandGambit, is set
in Papua New Guinea and due to release in 2020.
Donna Jo Stone writes YA contemporary novels about tough issues but always ends the stories with a note of hope. She blogs at donnajostone.com.
How do mystery, suspense, and thriller writers produce an authentic novel and achieve believability?
Consider the seven “R’s”.
Ready an
organizational system for the material you gather, whether it be an online file
or old-school file folders. Utilize whatever makes sense to you.
Restrain from spending too much time on research.We’re fiction
writers, not Ph.D. candidates working on dissertations.
Restrict your focus. Is your setting real or
fictional? Is it set in the city or country, suburban or rural, present-day or
historical? Determine key locations and the world beyond.
Readers bring no preconceptions to a fictional site. The author
breathes life into the narrative by creating everything. Customs,
history, climate, natural surroundings, people, food, the hobbies and jobs of the
characters, maps, and even language must emerge from your imagination.
If your setting is a real place and
you’ve failed to do the work, an agent, editor, or a reader who knows the area
may label your book as implausible. Or worse, toss it onto the rejection pile.
“Stories set in real locations, then, demand detailed local knowledge and/or meticulous research of the setting.”
Harvey Chapman
Read magazines, journals,
and books on your subject and in your genre. Learn the occupations of your
characters. Dig into past events, the natural surroundings, and the latest news
from the area. Make your backdrop as familiar as your own living room. Make the
details as accurate as an FBI manual.
Utilize the resources of libraries,
colleges and universities, museums, or law enforcement. Maps give us direction
and perspective, and the placement of landmarks, roads, stores, houses,
schools, and cemeteries. Data from contracts, marriage and birth licenses, and
census records add authenticity.
Record observations. Watch others who are similar to your characters to
see how they talk and behave. Visit places that serve the same food your
characters would eat and places they might frequent.
Often a visual image will spark ideas. Watch videos on YouTube,
catch documentaries, or even cruise Pinterest for ideas, inspiration, and
information.
Road trip.
The journey may be as close as the local library, or as far away as a
long-distance car ride or flight. If you’ve never been to your novel’s
location, consider discovering the area with a hands-on approach.
Notice details as you travel. These can contribute
to your characters’ motives and choices.
Once there, talk to the locals. Discover
the area’s activities, customs, traditions, where people shop, eat, go to
school, and even select where your characters might live.
Walk the area and feel the ambiance. Use your senses. Find out what things taste like, smell
like, feel like, sound like.
Research for my latest WIP required an
eleven-hour road trip. Even though I was familiar with the area, I hadn’t
visited in years. The lonely two-lane highway leading to my destination was now
bustling with oil-field trucks, pump-jacks, new refineries and hotels, and
clouds of grey haze. But fortunately, my ideal locale was as I remembered––
craggy mountains graced by long stretches of prickly pear cactus and mesquite
scrub, remote and raw. Perfect for a mystery or suspense.
Once there, I bee-lined to the local
diner and feasted on the house special, green chili burgers and thick-cut fries.
I chatted with the owner and her employee. (Yes, just one.) They shared how the
clear night sky bursts into sparkles of light, where one gets mail and
supplies, and how chili cook-offs and cow patty throwing contests are a
‘thing.’ Of course, Elizabeth and Debbie will find a place in my book’s
acknowledgments!
Roadblocks. No one likes a data dump. Weave your discoveries into
the novel and never let it rise above the plot, characters, and setting. A bit of true-life
flavor goes a long way
Don’t use fact-finding as a means to delay writing.
Complete your searches ahead of time. If you need to add a detail
later make a note, but keep the writing flowing.
Let research inform the story, not smother it. Do the work. It may be the difference between a book contract and a rejection letter.
“Though we invent tales that didn’t really happen, we drape them over a framework of real-life facts.”
PJ Gover encourages her readers to live the thrill…one story at a time,
whether through her devotionals or thrillers. She has received ten writing
awards including first place in American Christian Fiction Writer’s First
Impressions contest, the North Carolina Christian Writers, and the
Write-to-Publish contest. Her one-year devotional book, Celebrate Thee Date, can be found at 4homestore .
A ranch in Texas
serves as home base where she is currently working on a suspense novel. Offer her Mexican food or anything gluten-free and you’ll
have a friend for life. Jim Hart of Hartline Literary Agency represents PJ.
Writers Chat,
hosted by Jean Wise, Johnnie Alexander, and Bethany Jett, is the show where we
talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!
“Because
talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”
Researching and Writing
Children’s Nonfiction with Wendy Hinote Lanier
Wendy is an author, CLASS certified speaker, and a former
elementary science teacher. She draws from her experience with children and a
wealth of knowledge as she shares with us tips on how to research and write
nonfiction for children. If you write children’s nonfiction, or would like to,
this is the episode for you.
Wendy Hinote Lanier is an author, speaker, CLASS certified speaker, former elementary science teacher. She has written fiction and nonfiction books for children. Wendy has also written for both online and print magazines such as Clubhouse Magazine and Highlights for Children.
The Writer as Speaker with Stephanie Jones
Stephanie is an inspirational speaker and author of The Giving Challenge. She shares advice
for writers who want speaking opportunities to promote their books. If you want
to build platform for your book through speaking, check out this week’s episode
of Writers Chat.
Stephanie L. Jones is an inspirational speaker, philanthropist, life coach, and award winning author of The Giving Challenge. She’s been a private investigator, a police officer, a professional organizer, and a senior manager for a Fortune 100 company. Stephanie is living out big dreams and when not working, she enjoys fishing and kayaking with her husband.
JOIN US!
Writers Chat
is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on
Zoom. Here’s the permanent
Zoom room link.
Participants
mute their audio and video during the filming then we open up the room for
anyone who wishes to participate with our guests. The “After Party” is
fifteen-minutes of off-the-record sharing and conversation.
Additionally,
you can grow your network and add to the conversation by joining our Writers Chat Facebook
Group.
You
don’t need a PhD in history to write historical fiction. Grad school, after
all, trains students to ask and answer
historical questions, not to craft airtight plot-lines and breathe life
into the dead.
Still,
if you’re working on a historical fiction novel, solid research is as
indispensable to your craft as a lifelike protagonist and a compelling voice.
Without it, all you have is some strangely staid fantasy — albeit with a sepia
filter.
To
really ensnare your readers and bring your story to life, you have to dig into
the details of your setting, rendering it faithfully with not a hair out of
place and not a hairstyle out of
time. So, where should you go to find out whether your roguish anti-hero wears
his sandy curls long, or whether your femme fatale keeps her underarms smooth —
to say nothing of the less hairy questions you’ll encounter as you research
your novel?
You can start with Wikipedia, do some poking around on Google, and take your library card out for a spin. But if you want to build your story on a solid historical foundation, consider looking beyond all that — at peer-review journal articles.
Written
and evaluated by expert researchers, journal articles are more trustworthy than
(most) websites. But they’re also shorter and more focused than books — better
for addressing the targeted questions you’ll want answered, in the fine-grained
detail you’ll need. Think of it this way: if you’re trying to figure out what a
medieval abbot might eat for supper or how a Roman house should be laid out,
would you rather find out in 300 pages, or 30?
With
that in mind, here are some of the best places to find scholarly articles
online — giving you access to top-shelf research without having to leave your
desk. Over the past few years, these websites have bailed me out of more
historical conundrums than I can count. Of course, I wasn’t working on a novel
but a dissertation, as a PhD candidate in Chinese history at UC Berkeley. Still,
they’ll serve you well as you dig into researching your book — you won’t need a
costly subscription or a university affiliation to take advantage of them.
1. JSTOR
Since
its launch in the mid-90s, this sprawling database of academic journals has
been a lifeline for academic writers at all levels, from tenured professors to
freshmen tackling their first college papers. But you might not realize that
much of its content is free to use, making it a perfect place to get into the
weeds of novel research. You can download plenty of open access articles
without even making an account. And if you sign up for a free one, you’ll be
able to read six per month from its vault of subscription access content.
2. Academia.edu
Known
as a LinkedIn for academics, this social networking site is also a treasure
trove of PDFs, all uploaded by scholars who wanted to make their research
available for free. To get access, sign up for an account using your Google or
Facebook login. From there, you’ll be able to search for keywords related to
your novel. When you click through to promising papers, more reading suggestions
will appear right in the sidebar.
3. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
This community-curated directory of free-to-read research lets you run targeted searches and browse by subject. With its 13,000-plus journals and more than 4 million articles at your fingertips, you just might stumble on some serendipitous tidbits that will really enrich your story. Just be sure not to get too lost in the research — after all, you have a novel to write!
I hope these sites will help you craft an excellent historical story.
Lucia Tang is a writer for Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the book industry’s best editors, designers, and marketers. To work on the site’s free historical character name generators, she draws on her knowledge of Chinese, Latin, and Old Irish — learned as a PhD candidate in history at UC Berkeley. You can read more of her work on the Reedsy Discovery blog, or follow her on Twitter at @lqtang.
Those of us who write Historical Fiction are drawn to re-imagining the past and reconstructing times gone by. History interests us. But the details need to be believable to be successful at blending fact and fiction. We need to research how people talked, what they wore, what they ate, and how they lived. The rules for writing the historical fiction genre include three elements and six characteristics that must be present.
The three elements:
·
Fictional events, but real people.
·
Real events, but fictional people.
·
Real events and real people, but the plot, scenes, and dialogue are
fictional.
The six characteristics:
Setting: The time period must be real in history and the place must be authentic. Getting this right is imperative.
Characters: All or some of your characters may be fictional, but they must all behave in realistic ways for the time period.
Plot: The plot may be based on real events, or may be based on fictional events, but has to make sense in the time period you are writing about.
Descriptions: Characters, places, and events must be distinct. Weave historic information into your work so your reader will learn something they may be unfamiliar with about the time period.
Dialogue: Reflects the thoughts and knowledge of the people in the time period you are writing about.
Conflict: Again, the conflict or drama must reflect and be realist to the time period.
I mentioned time period a lot and readers have favorites. According to topten.com, these are the top ten historical time periods people like to read about (plus one of my favorite novels from each era):
Middle
Ages (Pillars of the Earth by Ken
Follett)
Ancient
Greece/Rome (Mistress of Rome by Kate
Quinn)
Golden
Age of Piracy (Treasure Island by
Robert Louis Stevenson)
The
Roaring 20’s (The Great Gatsby by F.
Scott Fitzgerald)
World
War I (Overseas by Beatriz Williams)
World
War II (The Nightingale by Kristin
Hannah)
19th
Century Britain (Alias Grace by
Margaret Atwood)
Renaissance
(Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel)
Ancient
Egypt (Antony and Cleopatra by
Colleen McCullough)
Wild
West (Lonesome Dove by Larry
McMurtry)
My first novel, The Story of Hagar, is set in Ancient
Egypt. The second, More Than a Handmaid,
is in Ancient Canaan. My current WIP, Reggie,
takes place in depression era Alabama. I’m also outlining a novel drawn from 17th
century Alabama and France. It’s like spinning the wheel of a time machine and I love it!
What time period is your favorite?
Blessings,
KD Holmberg
KD Holmberg is an author, blogger, and freelance writer. She is a member of ACFW, Word Weavers International, and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. A retired flight attendant, she has traveled and lived all over the globe. She and her husband, Keith, love to golf and live in South Carolina. You can find more about her: Facebook @authorkdholmberg, twitter @kdeniseholmberg, and website authorkdholmberg.com/
When writing historical fiction it is important to
be sure your historical facts are accurate, not only so that your writing is
credible, but also because there will be readers out there who will know if
they aren’t. Therefore, it is important to do some research for your historical
fiction novel.
Of course, the internet is a source for researching
history. However, you have to be careful to be sure the website you choose to
use is trustworthy and is providing accurate historical information. I know
many people use Wikipedia, including me. However, use Wikipedia with caution
because Wikipedia allows anyone to edit and change information on their site.
Don’t use Wikipedia exclusively.
As I was researching history for my current WIP, I found a valuable website—the website for the state where my story takes place. That website had a wealth of historical information about the state and the specific town my main characters were to live in.
The most valuable research resource I found was a museum. I googled “things to do in St. Joseph, Missouri”, the town where my story is set, and I found a museum that was dedicated to the work my male protagonist would be doing. I contacted the museum and explained that I was writing a novel. I told the person on the other end of the phone what I was writing about and asked if they had any information they could send to me.
The woman on the phone responded very positively and sent me a brochure, information sheets, and even some copies of photos. They didn’t even charge a fee for the information or ask that I reimburse them for postage. I can’t guarantee that all museums would be so generous, but I can tell you that the information I received from that museum is where most of my historical information came from.
One other resource you may not have considered are
old newspapers. You can usually google “newspapers from” and add the year and
place of your story, and you can find some old newspapers that can offer
information you might not find anywhere else.
I’m sure you’re also well aware that books are another great resource, but I have to tell you that some friends and I visited a large bookstore that sold a lot of used books. I found a book that was all about my male protagonist’s job. The book was in excellent condition, I was thrilled to get a great deal on it, and it is now part of my library.
I also suggest that, when you publish your book,
you list or give credit to your historical resources somewhere in your book in
order to show your credibility and your appreciation for those resources.
Kelly F. Barr
lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is married and has three sons. She
writes historical romance. She has also been a blogger for ten years, and every
Friday, you can find her Flash Fiction stories posted for your reading
pleasure. She loves her family, including the family dog, books, walks, and
chai lattes.
So, you’re a writer. And you’d like to write fantasy and science fiction. You have a great idea for a story set in a world of dragons, sea monsters, and wizards. Or on a space ship orbiting a distant planet. This all feels so exciting, and you can’t wait to get started. Except.
Except you know very well that dragons, sea monsters, and wizards aren’t real. And that man-made space shuttles haven’t yet found a way to orbit planets at the other end of the galaxy. Also, you’re quite aware that many authors have already established fictional worlds of their own in these settings, and you don’t want to rely too heavily on what’s come before – you want to create your own take and leave your mark on these genres.
How do you go about all of this?
Here are some tips, from a self-published fantasy author who has faced all of this herself.
Do your research. Huh? For stuff that doesn’t exist yet, or may never have existed at all? Yup, that’s right. As we’ve already noted, there are numerous published titles in the fantasy and sci-fi markets, which have created a sort of baseline for the genres. So, find out just what has come before your work – but don’t feel obligated to adhere to any of it. Genre novels run the risk of becoming clichéd, and readers can get tired of hackneyed plot devices and cardboard character archetypes. This brings me straight to my next point…
Be original. Once you’ve figured out what all the tropes (or common elements) of recent sci-fi and fantasy are, attempt to break them. For example, we’ve all read several tales of nasty aliens trying to wipe out humanity by nefarious means. Why not write a novel about kind aliens who want to help us reverse pollution to the environment and cure disease?
Before I started writing my fantasy series, The Order of the Twelve Tribes, I dug and dug through literature on mythology, fairytales, Tolkien and CS Lewis and JK Rowling, hoping to find a “hook” that would make future readers sit up and take notice. In the end, I went with a snippet of Celtic Christian folklore I stumbled across, connecting the origin of fairies to Fallen Angels after the War in Heaven. And one of the main praises from my subsequent reviews has been the originality of the premise.
Where necessary, find out how things really work. Yes, you are building a fictional world, but it still needs to make sense. If you have a magic system, determine early on how it operates. Can your characters acquire it, or do they have to be born with the ability? Does it come from an outside power source or influence (such as the One Ring in Middle Earth)?
Are your characters in a galaxy far, far away, but still human? Then what requirements would their planet/space ship need in order for the survival of their carbon-based life forms? If a race of dragons – or aliens – has remained undiscovered for x number of centuries by your protagonists, how did that happen? Was there a lack of funds for space travel in your home setting? Were the dragons suspected of being extinct, and they used this to their advantage, hiding deep in remote wilderness?
Readers will appreciate that you fleshed out the details.
Self-published author and blogger Daley Downing is also a stay at home parent, autistic adult, ballet teacher, and cat lover. She spends her days writing the YA fantasy series “The Order of the Twelve Tribes,” and wrangling special needs children.
Last month we looked at an overview of writing nonfiction for kids. This month we focus in on writing nonfiction magazine articles for kids. Most children’s magazines buy MORE nonfiction articles than fiction.
Here are some helpful tidbits for crafting and selling your nonfiction to children’s magazines (online and print).
Research way more than you think you need. Use print sources and primary sources (interviews with people) primarily. For facts be sure you have three reliable, verifiable sources for each fact you include.
Keep track of your sources. A variety of website and software packages include bibliography builders. Pick one and use it to keep track of the following information:
Title and author (and illustrator) even on websites
Publishing company or magazine title
Publishing date or magazine date, volume and issue
City of publication for books
Page numbers for all printed material. Photocopy or download the actual pages you use.
For online sources the URL
For primary sources their names and date of the interview
Organize your research. If you can outline your article before you write it. If not, be sure you can outline it logically after it is written.
Be able to sum your article up in one sentence.
Remember the rule of threes.
Use great writing: strong verbs and nouns, clear sentences, keep words and sentence length age-appropriate, write tight, avoid passive voice.
Use visuals if you are a photographer or illustrator. If not, recommend the inclusion of visuals at specific places in your article.
Use humor when appropriate
Try to use a child-character in your article.
Research the publishers (books and magazines) well before submitting. Follow their guidelines exactly.
Magazines buy a variety of nonfiction articles. Here are a few ideas to get your brain tumbling.
Step-by-step How-to articles. Be sure the tools, materials and instructions are age-appropriate. Follow magazine guidelines exactly.
Sports articles. Interviews with sports figures, or profiles on them are always needed. Also informational articles should be about unusual sports. Introduce kids to sports they don’t commonly read about or participate in.
Articles about the arts. Focus, again, on famous people or people who have accomplished exciting or unusual things. If your subject is a kid that’s a big plus. Focus your articles on unusual productions, musical instruments, how-to articles for visual arts or literature.
How-to articles are great for sports, the arts, cooking, crafts, science experiments, gardening, pet care. The list is endless. Be sure to organize the article well with headings that clearly show the steps.
Facts or informational pieces. RESEARCH well. Write in a kid-friendly style. Engage and inspire your readers to dig deeper into the subject. Supply them with other sources (books, websites, magazines) they can check out for themselves.
Remember: nonfiction is BIG! It takes lots of research and plenty of patience to get the articles done right. But selling nonfiction magazine articles is a giant step toward publication and a readership of hundreds of thousands of kids. They’re eating this stuff up.
Go for it!
EXTRA: For more handy info about writing nonfiction for children read Cyle Young’s article here.
Jean Hall lives in Louisville, Kentucky. She is represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary. Her premier picture book series Four Seasons was recently signed by Little Lamb Books. Jean is a member of the SCBWI, Word Weavers International, and the Kentucky Christian Writers. Visit Jean at jeanmatthewhall.com, on Facebook at Jean Matthew Hall, and on Twitter as @Jean_Hall.
I enjoy digging into the past, following bunny trails of history, and learning about cultures long interred and nearly forgotten. And then weaving a plausible story using the events and people of another time period.
It takes a lot of excavating (sometimes years) to discover enough buried remains of the past to write authentic prose, avoid historical mistakes, and gain the trust of your readers. Then you live with the fact that, inevitably, there will be mistakes. And what you create will be neither true nor false, but only a probability of what may or may not have happened.
You can’t depend on what you think you already know.
I write Biblical historical and my first novel is set in Ancient Egypt during the Abrahamic era. I started writing with my own memory of events (from Sunday School) having a large influence over my story and discovered several mistakes early.
Abraham and Sarah were called Abram and Sarai at this time.
Pictures of Abraham riding a camel through the desert are historically inaccurate–the camel had not yet been domesticated.
Although Pharaoh’s army pursued Moses into the Red Sea on chariots, during Abraham’s day, the ancient Egyptians had no such vehicle.
Wear the hat of an investigative reporter.
I took a step back and spent nearly the next five years exploring the Middle Bronze Age, Ancient Egypt, and Ancient Mesopotamia. And I realized I had to find research material beyond the internet because (surprise) it had a lot of false and flawed information.
[bctt tweet=”Like a reporter, historical novelists have to check facts and verify sources. #writetips #writerslife” username=””]
Going “old school” and visiting libraries or buying and borrowing reference books often provide my most reliable resources.
I recently wrote a heart-wrenching chapter about the death of a beloved man named Mamre. Going back through my research, I realized I killed the poor fellow off too soon. I put him in an early grave before (according to history) he went to war and became a hero.
My WIP is from Genesis, so any student of the Bible would have caught my mistake and lost confidence in me as a writer. I was glad I took the time to fact-check.
You dig up a lot of gold nuggets, but only cash a few in.
One of the most difficult things to do when writing historical fiction is to not use all of your research. You spend countless hours exploring a specific time period, and you want to share all of that information, but most of it should never make its way into your novel.
The work you do is to give yourself a sense of time and space. Take your reader on an adventure in another age, but do so without overwriting. You have to know what to leave in and what to leave out. Remember that you are writing a novel–not an encyclopedia.
Questions to ask yourself if you are wondering if historical fiction is for you:
Does reading about the past interest you?
Does the prospect of a long process sound worthwhile to you?
Are you willing to find research material beyond the internet?
After all your hard work, are you willing to let most of it go?
Do you see yourself reimagining history?
Can you visualize combining past events or people with fiction?
If you answered yes to all of the above–good news–this genre is for you!
KD Holmberg is an author, blogger, and freelance writer. She is a member of ACFW, Word Weavers International, and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. A retired flight attendant, she has traveled and lived all over the globe. She and her husband, Keith, love to golf and live in South Carolina. You can find more about her: Facebook @authorkdholmberg, twitter @kdeniseholmberg, and kdeniseholmberg.blogspot.com
Writing is a funny art because agents and editors (freelance and publishing house) tell us to write, write, write . . . and to make sure that our manuscript is edited well. “Edited well?” What if we don’t like the word editing because it’s too daunting? What if our minds turn to jelly or we seize up when an agent or mentor tells us to edit our manuscript?
Well. Editing doesn’t have to be so intimidating, daunting, or scary because it’s really another piece of the writing process. Before sending our manuscript to a freelance editor or mentor (or even critique group), we need to make sure that our manuscript is fluid. Simply, we edit to make sure our manuscript is ready for the public eye. How do we think like an editor when we aren’t one? I’ll give you some more tips on how to think like an editor. Ready?
Three More Rules for Thinking Like an Editor
4. Is the point of view clear in my story?
Who is doing the “seeing,” or telling the story, anyway? As a contest judge and having read over 100 books this year, an issue I see a lot is a wobbly point of view. And, granted, it’s so easy to overlook, especially since there are so many points of view we can use in our manuscripts. There’s first person, second person, third person, third person omniscient, omniscient, and—are you confused? Take heart. I was too before I really sat down with someone and they talked me through the differences, and then did some googling to make sure I really understood.
Best rule of thumb here: whichever character you choose to tell the story, that character must experience the story unfolding in those scenes. What does this mean? This means that that character you choose must see, hear, touch, taste, and smell, as well as perceive what’s going on in the current situation. If Mabel is your protagonist, you cannot describe Jacob tying his shoe when he’s behind Mabel because she cannot see what’s behind her. Now, she might be able to hear noises, and you can describe those. If there are too many people “talking,” the story gets muddled, and our readers won’t know who to root for.
5. Is my manuscript well researched?
Ew. Please don’t throw rotten tomatoes at me! While I realize not everyone enjoys research, it’s important for our books to be well researched. Why? Because if we use the word “bulbous” in our 1577 medieval fantasy manuscript or refer to saddle shoes in our 1929 novel, our knowledgeable readers may snap the book shut, and their investment in our story comes to an abrupt end. Or, if we have our character walking through a door before he’s opened it shows that we haven’t researched the sequence of the action. These may seem like unimportant details, however, small as they are, these details add credibility to yourself as an author—and makes you think like an editor. And it truly is the difference between the Victrola and an MP3.
6. Is the manuscript tightly written?
If you’re anything like me, I’m imagining a 300- or 500-page manuscript stuffed into a miniature straight jacket. Well . . . not quite. But that’s the idea. By “tightly written,” this means that every detail, dialogue, and plot thread in your manuscript connects to the overarching theme and overall message of your story.
For instance, if Sassy had not gone with Chance and Shadow (Disney’s Homeward Bound), that sarcastic element would not have made poor Chance’s misadventures humorous or empathetic; or if Shadow had had an elderly woman’s voice, he might not have been endearing to viewers. (I am not downgrading male or female voiceovers here.) The tired, old man voice fits Shadow’s personality, as well as the storyline.
Now let’s apply it to a sentence or two of writing. In these sentences, our character’s goal is to get from the house to the barn to play with the new baby goats that are a few weeks old.
Original:
Helen set the cup down on the table and scooted her chair back. She put on her jacket and headed out to the barn, where the tiny bleats sent a pitter patter through her chest.
Tight rewrite (keeping only necessary details for our character’s goal in this scene):
Helen set her cup on the table and scooted her chair back. As she shrugged into her jacket, she ran to the barn. Tiny bleats sent a pitter patter through her.
Did you catch the smaller details that were left out because they did not propel this scene forward?
Keep in mind that every author and editor has their own style, preferences, and idiosyncrasies for what they like in a story. The bottom line is to make sure your writing shows what is the most important for the story’s that on your heart. And if you write like an editor, you will have a much stronger story that creates a fabulous reading experience for your readers.
Please join in the discussion! I’d love to hear from you!
Take a few minutes and ruminate. What are some other ways you can think like an editor?
Tisha Martin is a writer and editor, and she lives to encourage authors and editors to bridge their relationships and work together for the publishing industry cause, where readers will treasure books for always. With a bachelor’s in Professional Writing, a master’s in English Education, and an editing certificate from the PEN Institute, she has equal passions for writing and editing. Active in ACFW and The PEN, she appreciates both communities. She is the former Assistant Director of PENCON, a conference for professional editors. She’s also a judge for Writer’s Digest. When she’s not editing, Tisha blogs about writing, editing, theater, horses, and American home front history at www.tishamartin.com. She looks forward to the conversation with you!
In the publishing world nonfiction is a hot item at this time. For both children’s magazines and books (especially picture books) nonfiction has more publishing options than fiction. So, if you love research, writing nonfiction might be the way to go.
Current children’s magazines are always looking for great nonfiction pieces. But they must be well researched, well documented and well written. If you are an illustrator or photographer offering visuals with your magazine articles is a huge plus.
Whether for books or magazines however, there is one critical rule to always obey:
Present only verifiable facts. Do not add any made-up conversations or situations to your nonfiction manuscripts. Adding such imaginary bits transform your manuscript from nonfiction to informational writing, or to historical or bibliographic fiction.
TIPS
Many of the techniques we use in great fiction also make for great nonfiction. Here are a few tips:
Start with a blast—jump into the article with a true anecdote, amazing facts or questions.
Add humor—even heavy topics can become appealing by adding a little humor.
Surprise!—adding elements of surprise will keep our readers tuned in until the finish.
Zero in on the unusual—especially with familiar topics we need to keep researching deeper and deeper until we find something unique, brand new, curious or little-known about the subject of our article or book.
Use dynamic language—strong verbs and nouns, and a strong voice can make nonfiction just as riveting as fiction.
REMEMBER
Document all sources you use with complete bibliographic information. Photocopy the actual pages you use from magazines and books. Print out information you get from websites.
Avoid online information and encyclopedias, if possible. Emphasize facts you get from books on your subject.
Use the most recent research available.
Stick to verifiable FACTS.
No anthropomorphism.
If your research is boring to you, your article or book is going to bore readers. Choose subjects you find interesting.
DIG DEEPER
For tons of great information about writing nonfiction for kids check out these sources.
Jean Hall lives in Louisville, Kentucky. She is represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary. Her premier picture book series Four Seasons was recently signed by Little Lamb Books. Jean is a member of the SCBWI, Word Weavers International, and the Kentucky Christian Writers. Visit Jean at jeanmatthewhall.com, on Facebook at Jean Matthew Hall, and on Twitter as @Jean_Hall.
This month’s guests are both best-selling, award-winning authors who are renowned for their diligent research and compelling stories.
Jill Eileen Smith was inspired to write Biblical fiction after reading Two from Galilee by Marjorie Holmes. In our interview, Jill shares her long journey to publication and the challenges of researching Biblical history.
Her latest novel, A Passionate Hope, tells the story of Hannah. Jill’s depth of characterization is superb–she even had me feeling sorry for Peninnah!
Sarah Sundin writes about the Drama, Daring, and Romance of World War II. Two of her novels were named to Booklist’s 101 Best Romances of the Last Ten Years.
While Sarah and I chatted, her Labrador retriever decided to be part of the show. You can see Daisy’s tail wagging as she passes behind Sarah’s chair on her way to the kitchen . . . to get into the trash!
The next Novelists Unwind Giveaway will be announced on Saturday, August 4, 2018 at novelistsunwind.com. Be sure to enter for your chance to win The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin (courtesy of Revell).
Meet Johnnie
Johnnie Alexander creates characters you want to meet and imagines stories you won’t forget. Her award-winning debut novel, Where Treasure Hides (Tyndale), made the CBA bestseller list. She writes contemporaries, historicals, and cozy mysteries, serves on the executive boards of Serious Writer, Inc. and the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference, co-hosts an online show called Writers Chat, and interviews inspirational authors for Novelists Unwind. She also teaches at writers conferences and for Serious Writer Academy. Connect with her at johnnie-alexander.com and other social media sites via linktr.ee/johnniealexndr.
School is out, and summer reading programs are gearing up in public libraries everywhere. Summer months are the perfect time for audience research.
An editor at SkyHorse publishing once told me she reads thousands of manuscripts about growing up in the seventies and eighties. She said they were fun to read, but they are not what she is looking for. What she wants are manuscripts that are relevant for kids growing up in this decade. Kids do not understand nostalgia. They are creatures of the here and now, and need stories about their world – not the one we writers wish they had.
If you are writing for kids, you need to read kids’ books. If you write kid characters, you need to understand how kids speak to each other, how they think and behave.
I can hear you asking now: How do I do this without being creepy?
As I mentioned earlier, it’s summer. Public libraries and brick-and-mortar bookstores have summer reading programs and plenty of supervised activities from June until school starts. This gives you a fantastic opportunity to:
1) Find age or grade-specific reading lists. Read everything on them. Pay attention to how the authors write for their reader. What is working and why does it work?
2) Introduce yourself to the kids’ librarian or manager at your local bookstore. Ask them what your target audience is reading. Find out what he or she thinks will be popular and why. Find out what the “regular” customers are reading. Are there any under-rated books flying under the radar that they recommend?
3) Listen. Aside from eavesdropping in the aisles, you can ask your librarian for permission to take a poll at any of their summer reading or writing classes. You can ask for permission to read sample chapters and get feedback from the kids. You can ask things like, ‘Does this sound like something one of your friends might say?’ or ‘how do you think this character would solve the problem?”
What did I miss? How do you research your middle grade readers?
Kell McKinney earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and an M.S. in documentary studies from the University of North Texas. She’s a part-time copywriter, double-time mom and wife, and spends every free minute writing and/or hunting for her car keys. Connect with her on Twitter @Kell_McK or kellmckinney.com.
Recently, I was asked by a fellow writer to work with him on a project. Admittedly, I was pretty unfamiliar with the subject matter of the assignment. But, I was excited about the opportunity to work with another writer and possibly learn something new.
However, it wasn’t long before that excitement turned into dread. After spending hours sitting in my creative workspace staring at a monitor bursting with information, I was unable to parlay the information into a cognitive summarization which would motivate others to care about what I obviously didn’t.
Once I realized this, I began to feel bad about having to back out of my commitment. Until I remembered a lesson I learned years ago when I first became disabled. It’s a truth that not many people are able to admit and it has become a principal I live via my personal and creative lives.
It is okay to say you are not able to do something, for whatever reason (physical, mentally, financially and emotionally). Sure, the world and my faith tell me to never give up and I can do anything.
But, over the years I’ve come to learn this is a fictional lie and I can’t accept it, I’m at peace with that. You see everything about me, including what I don’t know and can’t do is what makes me Martin Thomas Johnson.
If I spent my life doing what everybody else can and wants to do, then I’m not being authentic to myself and who I’m meant to be. Speaker and author Mike Foster says it best, “Embrace it all. Every flaw and imperfection. Every wound and broken place. Everything belongs in the story of you.” Do what you are able to and don’t worry about what you are not.
Able?
Webster’s defines able as, “Having the power, skill, money, etc. that is needed to do something.” Being disabled has taught me to understand better what I am able to do. I don’t like putting on façades.
This vulnerability and transparency has drastically shaped my writing style. It’s given me my writing voice and a connection to my audience. I learned quickly after my accident that I was different from who I used to be.
I remember falling off of the toilet after lying to the nurse about being able to walk. To say I was humbled would be an understatement. It was devastating for 22-year-old man to be unable to do basic things for himself. It wasn’t until a month later when I entered a rehabilitation hospital to relearn basic functions (smiling, eating, and walking) that I realized I wasn’t alone in being broken, suffering.
I remember watching another patient who was younger than I struggling to get out of his wheelchair so that a nurse could help with his bath. At one point we locked eyes and I could feel his shame and embarrassment. Although he couldn’t even talk, I understood it was taking every ounce of his strength to attempt to do what he was no longer able to. He couldn’t fake it if he wanted to.
Fake?
Just in case there are some reading this who believe you can do enough research and write anything–think again. Research can be fun and informative. But, there are people who know more about what you are researching and even those who don’t can tell when you’re faking it. For fiction it works, but I write mainly nonfiction and someone who knows more about a subject can easily spot my lack of expertise.
Take for example sports; although I am a fitness fanatic, when it comes to more popular sports like football, basketball and baseball, I’m clueless.
I grew up playing sports like soccer, volleyball and tennis and living in the deep South that really makes me different, if I were to try to write about any of the previous sports; people would know immediately that I have no idea what I’m writing about. So I choose to stick with what I know.
In closing I’ll quote Dirty Harry, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Write what you know about. Regardless of how much research or brainstorming you do, you just may not be able.
About Martin Johnson
Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Truamatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
It happened again. Somewhere in the middle of writing the novel, the story got stuck and refused to budge.
Stories sometimes stall on page one hundred or two hundred seventeen or any page in between. Writers leave their computers for the day and come back the next morning, certain that today will be a better day. Today we will get past the hump. Today we will write two thousand words.
Reality sets in. Staring at the last written paragraph sparks no ideas. What happens next? We know the ending but how do the characters get there?
A few minutes on social media ought to get the creative juices flowing again but we are more distracted than ever after a half hour on Facebook and Twitter. Now we are worried about a friend’s health issues, wildfires out of control, and the latest political rants. None of this brings us back into our story.
View this as an opportunity.
Historical writers have a great advantage here. Numerous pages of notes taken during research hold nuggets of inspiration just waiting to be rediscovered.
[bctt tweet=”Historical #writers find inspiration from research notes when story stalls. #HistFic #writing” username=”@Sandra_M_Hart”]
Return to those research notes. Begin reading historical facts that fascinated you as a writer when first discovering them. Inspiration may arise an hour or two after reading the notes.
Studying research notes could also spark questions. Some previously unimportant fact catches your attention. Maybe this is what your story needs, but you wrote incomplete data or that particular resource didn’t give enough information.
That has happened to me several times. At first glance an event or newsworthy item in history had nothing to do with my story but I jot it down because it interested me. When scanning the notes later for inspiration, I realize that information takes my characters down a compelling path. Since I had originally deemed it unimportant, I now need to return to my resource material for further research.
If this happens to you, check out the books again that were most helpful for your story or search for additional books to delve into the topic. Reread website articles. Glean any information available about this new avenue. The story takes shape as the writer digs deeper.
Before the novelist knows it, the story comes to life again. Inspiration is back and the writer can’t wait to return to that blank page. Now rereading the last written scene grounds the author. The next scene isn’t difficult to write.
The previously ignored tidbit is actually the bridge that deepens your story. There was a reason the story stalled. We didn’t know all the information yet or we were ignoring something important and had to figure it out.
God cares about our stories. If you ask Him to give you His story and pray while writing, you will see Him work.
Once you’ve chosen the setting of your book—which we discussed in Part 1 of this series—it’s important to spend time researching the setting so you can portray this location accurately.
Here’s how you can research your setting:
Take a research trip to your setting (if feasible).
Watch YouTube videos. Many times, people will give a “virtual tour” of a certain city. As you watch, pay close attention to the sights and sounds of the place.
Research the location and its history through various online resources. (Keep in mind, however, that some websites, such as Wikipedia, may not provide 100% accurate information and should not considered a reliable source.)
Read books about the location, including memoirs.
Read the online newspaper of the location.
Discover pictures of the place via Pinterest. (Make sure to pin them to your storyboard as well!)
Interview people who have a connection to the location.
Research the city through www.areavibes.com. This website allows you to explore a location and discover its amenities, housing and neighborhoods, population, economics, crime, weather, etc. It will even compare these results with another location as well.
Take advantage of Google Earth and its street view feature.
The same amount of work must be applied to settings that are invented as well. Obviously, you can’t research the setting—but by using the above and below checklists, you can brainstorm specific location details. (If you do this, you might even be able to trick your readers into believing that your setting is an actual place!)
When you research/invent your setting, I recommend recording the info in an online file or notebook. As you do, take note of the following:
What unique elements does the place have that contribute toward its personality? Are there rolling hills? Willow trees that form a canopy over a certain street? Farm animals held behind fences?
How do people speak? What is their dialect and popular slang?
Where is the place located geographically?
What is the climate in every season?
What is the history of the location, and how has it shaped the setting into what it is today?
What is the most popular religion? (For instance, is it located in the Bible belt?)
What are the socioeconomics?
What is the atmosphere? Is it a laid back town in the south, where people are accustomed to a slow-paced lifestyle, or does it take place within the hustle and bustle of NYC?
What are the popular fashion and hairstyles?
Where people shop for food, coffee, groceries, clothes, ice cream, etc.?
What are the significant landmarks and parks?
Where do the teenagers hangout?
What kind of animals can be found in the location? Plants? Insects?
If it’s a small town, what big city is it located near?
What are the popular street names?
As you research, you will collect facts about this location; however, when you write your story, these facts must be filtered through the eyes of your POV character. Everyone is going to have a unique attitude toward a specific location. This attitude is influenced by a number of factors: the person’s personal experiences, memories, personality, worldview, etc. Their perception of this setting is also a great tool to contribute to the book/scene’s particular mood/emotion.
For example, the following excerpt is the first page of my YA novel, PURPLE MOON:
“Why couldn’t you just leave me alone in our apartment for the summer, Mom? I’m sixteen. I’m responsible. Mostly mature.”
Our Camry swerves as we turn into Lakeview Estates. Three-‐‑story homes span the landscaping that stretches for acres then tucks into the bordering lake.
Families visit here every year for summer vacation. The majestic mountain peaks that outline the water of Lake Lure offer a refuge of seclusion to escape the stress of hectic lifestyles. No words describe the beauty of this place.
Yet I shut my eyes and sink further into the seat, trying to wish myself away. Somewhere else. Maybe to the fairy tale land that I used to imagine when I was a kid. I would even welcome the idea of turning around and driving all the way back to Brooklyn.
Anywhere but here. ”
(c)Purple Moon by Tessa Emily Hall – 2013 – Published by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas
Based on that excerpt, what would you say is the attitude that my protagonist, Selena, has toward the setting?
The fact about the setting, which is included in this excerpt, is that Lake Lure is a beautiful tourist location. But it’s clear that Selena is not happy to be there. She portrays this not only through internal monologue, but through her body language as well (sinking into her seat and closing her eyes).
Later, Selena reacts to the thick humidity of Lake Lure by mentioning how she should have brought more summer clothes. Why wasn’t she prepared for the hot weather? Probably because she was accustomed to living in Brooklyn, NY, which is a much cooler climate than Lake Lure, even in the summer.
Do you see how one’s memories, personality, and background all come into play when describing the setting of a novel?
“I wouldn’t have thought a simple sketch of a lake could have so many emotional strings attached to it. But it does. For me, at least.” ~Selena from PURPLE MOON
So ask yourself: How does my protagonist connect to the setting? You can brainstorm this by asking the following questions:
What are her significant memories of certain areas of the location? What are the sights, sounds, smells, etc. that remind her of these memories, and what is her attitude toward them?
Is this her birthplace? If not, when did she move there, and how does it compare with the other places she has lived?
How has this location influenced her personality and worldview?
Where does your character go during her free time?
What street does she live on?
What kind of house does she live in?
Where does her family fall on the socioeconomics scale?
Remember:
The setting of a story should be treated as if it were another character, so make sure to research it beforehand.
Then, when you begin to write, highlight on the specific details that will breathe life into your setting. However, make sure that this is presented through the eyes of your POV (Point of View) character.
Through proper developing and portraying your setting, you will give your readers the opportunity to become transported into the story’s location . . . and they’ll never once have to leave the comfort of their own home. 😉
[bctt tweet=”How to Choose, Develop, & Research a Setting: Part 2 #amwriting #writingtips” username=”tessaemilyhall”]
Do you prefer to invent a location, or choose an already-existing one? What’s your favorite part about researching the setting? Let me know in the comments!
Setting is far more than the backdrop of a novel. It’s the environment that breathes life into a story. It can paint hues of emotion, provide necessary backstory, enhance characterization, and serve as a tool to unfold significant plot elements.
When a writer prepares to write a book, they should spend just as much time researching and developing a setting as they do with their characters. In fact, settingshould be treated with much attention as if it were a character in itself.
Think of your favorite book. How would the plot differ if it were set in the snow-capped mountains of Colorado? Or in a dry desert of New Mexico?
When a writer accurately portrays a believable setting for their novel, the reader becomes sucked into the story. This should be done in a way so that the story would not be the same if it were set in another location.
For example: The setting is a crucial element in the movie The Titanic. It would be impossible to set that story in another location; the entire plot would unravel.
Readers fall in love with books that present well-developed settings and story worlds. What would The Chronicles of Narnia be without Narnia? Or Anne of Green Gables without Green Gables?
When choosing a setting, ask yourself:
What is the mood and theme of this story? What kind of location—a small town, big city, etc.—would best portray this?
How will the setting affect the plot of the story?
Will I use a real town or invent one?
What cities—including my hometown— am I familiar with? Out of those, which one am I most passionate about?
How can I weave symbolism into this setting?
How does the setting influence my protagonist? What is his/her attitude toward this location? (This is a great way to unravel backstory — through showing the memories tied to her surroundings.)
I chose Lake Lure, NC for the setting of Purple Moon for the following reasons:
I realized I had yet to read a YA novel that was set in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina.
I knew I wanted to set the story in the south since I am from SC.
I came across a photograph of the mountains outlining a lake. This inspired me to do a Google search of lakes in North Carolina.
After I found a list, I chose Lake Lure because the name reflected a theme in the novel.
Since my protagonist is an artist, the mountains tucked into the lake keeps her inspired and reflects her personality.
If you want your readers to become swept away in your story, it’s crucial that you spend necessary time researching your setting before you begin to write.
It’s important to research your setting for the following reasons:
Believability
Accuracy
So your readers can feel as if they have stepped into the pages of your book. You want to give them the sense that they are living in the story.
To prevent your story from unfolding in front of a “closed curtain”.
In the next post, we’ll discuss how to go about researching your setting and how to filter it through the eyes of your protagonist.
[bctt tweet=”How to Choose, Develop, & Research a Setting: Part 1 via @TessaEmilyHall #write” username=””]
What is your favorite story setting? How does it enhance the plot, theme, mood, and protagonist of the novel?
Let’s face it. Historical authors spend many hours researching – perhaps as much time as on writing the novel. This happened for me on my last novel but that’s unusual. Here are three ways to reap the greatest benefits from research: take detailed notes; jot down seemingly unrelated yet interesting facts; and maintain an accurate bibliography.
It is important to take detailed notes of important information. Stay organized. Create a word document for research notes and save it in the same folder with the manuscript and supporting documents. Begin with listing the source for the book or article. In short, write the bibliography information. This not only helps relocate the book again but it also builds a bibliography.[bctt tweet=”If something fascinates you, chances are good that it will also fascinate readers. #writing #HistNovel “]
Take copious notes on vital facts. Always include the page number where the information is found. It may surprise an author the number of times he or she refers to notes or resource materials while writing a novel.
Authors may search for specific facts at the beginning of their historical research and skim over other interesting information. If something fascinates you, chances are good that it will also fascinate readers.
Even if the information does not appear to fit in the story at the early stages, take note of the facts. Jot down the book or article citing the information along with the page number to find it easily later. The perfect place for the fascinating fact may appear while writing the novel to add authenticity and flavor to the story.
If the fascinating tidbit does not fit the novel, don’t use it. You may use the information in a future book or article. Then you’ll be happy you waited for the right time.
Lastly, remember to maintain a bibliography of all research materials. Even if publishers do not require the document, authors are often requested to speak at book clubs about their novels. It’s helpful to refer back to source material to prepare discussion notes.
Bibliographies can be a time saver when our novels are not accepted right away. My agent recently suggested polishing the cobwebs off a romance I completed five years ago. I’m not only a better writer now, my research skills have improved. Some previous resources bear a second reading. Had I not maintained an accurate bibliography, I would start almost from scratch to refresh myself on the history.
Making the effort to take detailed notes, document fun historical facts, and maintain an accurate bibliography actually saves time later. Good luck!
Map of Chattanooga and Brown's Ferry by Brigadier General Wm. F. Smith, 1863
By Sandra Merville Hart
Maps are hidden treasure for historical writers. If you haven’t used this key source of information to add authenticity to your novel, it’s worth investigating.
A treasure chest full of information can be found on old maps. Authors find railroads, waterways, and roads. How close was the town to a river? Often a little digging leads to showing the size of a city and street names.
One of the first things I look for when researching a new historical novel is an old map. It’s important to find a map dated the year of or before the setting year. Anything later runs the risk of expansion/decline, referencing businesses not there at the time, and the like.
That brings us to another wonderful feature of detailed maps: location of homes and especially businesses. Knowing the name of a mercantile or the street where the post office resides sparks reader interest, especially those familiar with the area. Such details add depth if referenced in a novel.[bctt tweet=”You may find the greatest treasure hidden in plain sight. #Author #History”]
A railroad depot in town offers an exciting setting for a scene, maybe in that sagging middle. Perhaps someone comes to visit the main character at the train station or the protagonist travels from there on a day’s excursion. These tidbits reveal that era’s everyday world.
A careful study of these maps may show where Widow Matthews lived. Maybe the widow goes to church with your characters or makes the best apple pies around. A manufacturing company or mill on the map may employ a character’s family member.
If possible, visit the area during the research phase of the novel. Walking the streets in the oldest part of town or eating at a diner gives a sense of a town. Local museums can hold a wealth of information not commonly known. Ask questions. It’s always fun to find a knowledgeable person on local history. Listen to their story even if it doesn’t directly pertain to the novel; maybe some fact will capture your imagination.
When researching for historical novels, don’t overlook maps. You may find the greatest treasure hidden in plain sight.
Researching for a story or article can be a chore. It’s certainly a lot of work to dig for facts if a novel fits the historical genre, but it also inspires a deeper meaning. Sometimes we grind our teeth in frustration at the delay in beginning chapter one, but please don’t shirk this duty for three reasons: it provides historical background; it enhances the story; and it demonstrates how people lived during that time period.
History happened the way it happened. Events took place in a particular location and year. In the opinion of the author, stories that adhere to historical events add authenticity and build a reader’s trust. Writers must research to discover important details.
Begin by checking out nonfiction books from the library on the subject. If this does not provide enough information, read about the location of the story. There are many interesting Internet sites, but try to utilize reliable sources such as those from the government, colleges, medical facilities, and the like.
[bctt tweet=”Something wonderful happens in the imagination while discovering the history. #Author #Historical”]
Then take copious notes. Make certain to cite the source and the page containing the information so that you can easily return to research notes when, somewhere in the middle of writing Chapter Seven, you need to dig a little deeper to enhance the story.
Also, verify the information found by reading multiple sources. If an appealing fact is only found in one spot, take it with a grain of salt.
An exception to this could be an eyewitness account, a diary, or a journal. If an author lived through or witnessed an event, that person gives vital facts.
Diaries, newspaper articles, and journals provide excellent factual sources as well as hinting at the emotions people experienced. Books written during the period, including novels, give authors a sense of being there.
Secondly, research enhances our stories. When an idea first germinates, the author may know the beginning and ending fairly quickly. That murky middle remains a little fuzzy. Try not to fall in love with any aspects of the story until well into the research because something wonderful happens in the imagination while discovering the history.
Fascinating tidbits and little-known facts are uncovered during weeks — and maybe months — of research. Some discoveries will become part of our story. Readers feel like they are learning about history just by reading our novel.
Be cautious about the facts included. Only use details that fit as a natural part of the story. If they don’t work, remember the information for that next novel or article.
Thirdly, research shows how people of the time period lived. For example, how did they cook? What was on the menu? Find period recipe books. Mentioning names of recipes and a little about the preparation fascinate folks who love to cook.
People in the 1830s did not turn up a thermostat to heat their home. Read as many nonfiction books and novels as necessary to understand daily living habits for people of the period and location. Visiting museums local to the setting of your novel give visual clues to inspire the story.
The article photo shows my stack of opened books. Yes, research can be a messy business. (It always is for me!) Learning the historical background and the way people lived greatly enhances the story for our readers, making it well worth the effort.
