Historical period piece writing, any advice?

[filthytrancendence]

I don't know if you've seen "Bram Stoker's Dracula" with Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Gary Oldman et al

That movie is so much better than it has any right to be. When I found out Francis Ford Coppola made a dracula movie, and it had Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, and Gary Oldman in it, I immediately dropped what I was doing and found a way to watch it, then immediately proceeded to be eternally baffled as to why this film is not far more popular than it is.

I never even heard of it until I was browsing IMDB one day and saw it on one of those people's filmography, and that was only like 3 years ago.

 

[DeMont]

That movie is so much better than it has any right to be. When I found out Francis Ford Coppola made a dracula movie, and it had Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, and Gary Oldman in it, I immediately dropped what I was doing and found a way to watch it, then immediately proceeded to be eternally baffled as to why this film is not far more popular than it is.

I never even heard of it until I was browsing IMDB one day and saw it on one of those people's filmography, and that was only like 3 years ago.

@filthytrancendence, I am going to go out on a pretty sturdy limb here and suggest that the reason it did not receive wider audience acclaim, despite having a stellar cast, is that viewers had become so jaded with the idea of Vampires in general the wider thinking was along the lines of "Ho Hum, another Dracula thing...!"

If we go back and look at the history of Vampires in the movies and television we find an incredibly long list of entries. That's all I can think.
Deepest respects,
D.

(P.S. The viewing public isn't always a "discerning" creature.)

 

[Noor]

Do forget about hairpins!

 

[Bramblethorn]

That movie is so much better than it has any right to be. When I found out Francis Ford Coppola made a dracula movie, and it had Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, and Gary Oldman in it, I immediately dropped what I was doing and found a way to watch it, then immediately proceeded to be eternally baffled as to why this film is not far more popular than it is.

I never even heard of it until I was browsing IMDB one day and saw it on one of those people's filmography, and that was only like 3 years ago.

It topped the box office when it came out, made a lot of money, got mostly good reviews, and won three Oscars. If it's obscure today that's only because we've been swamped by other vampire movies since then.

 

[Wonderer67]

@Wonderer67 then it shall be my pleasure to produce this work secure in the knowledge that at least one reader may find it of interest. As for historical erotica, I don't know if you've seen "Bram Stoker's Dracula" with Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Gary Oldman et al but I assure you there will be a good deal of "historical" erotica.
Deepest respects,
D.

That was an excellent movie and very well done.

As far as historical fiction, I really love Allan Furst, who writes historical espionage set in pre-ww2 Europe. There’s is a fair amount of sex… but it is really the visited bitty gritty details of the mission.

 

[StillStunned]

@Wonderer67 then it shall be my pleasure to produce this work secure in the knowledge that at least one reader may find it of interest. As for historical erotica, I don't know if you've seen "Bram Stoker's Dracula" with Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Gary Oldman et al but I assure you there will be a good deal of "historical" erotica.
Deepest respects,
D.

If this is what you're looking for, you might want to take a look at The Countesses of Tannensdal. It's my very best attempt to write a Gothic horror/Ruritanian romance, which involved turning some established tropes on their head.

 

[Voboy]

That movie is so much better than it has any right to be. When I found out Francis Ford Coppola made a dracula movie, and it had Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, and Gary Oldman in it, I immediately dropped what I was doing and found a way to watch it, then immediately proceeded to be eternally baffled as to why this film is not far more popular than it is.

I never even heard of it until I was browsing IMDB one day and saw it on one of those people's filmography, and that was only like 3 years ago.

I saw it in the theatres. Everyone my age loved it, and it was wildly successful.

It topped the box office when it came out, made a lot of money, got mostly good reviews, and won three Oscars. If it's obscure today that's only because we've been swamped by other vampire movies since then.

This.

It was an unconventional movie. Those don't always age well.

 

[filthytrancendence]

Everyone my age loved it, and it was wildly successful.

Generational blind spots sure are interesting.

I suppose that's part of what parents can be good for, though neither of mine were much into film, so that was a bust. I'd like to think my kids got a bit of a leg up there.

 

[Yogma]

I once set out to write a historical story. I spent weeks researching many of the different aspects, including clothing, customs, attitudes of the time to the erotic genre I was planning on and even the law of that time regarding certain sexual practices. By the end of it I had to devise a new filing system so that I could cross reference the many different notes I had.

Then I decided not to write the story after all.

 

[DeMont]

Two bits of advice - #1 give your characters values and attitudes of the time. If your story reads as people today cosplaying living in a Victorian mansion, I think it won't go over well. #2 Similarly, your conflicts should be something appropriate for the time. If your main conflict is that your two main characters have a strong disagreement on climate change, it's not going to go over well.

@8letters,
Thank you for that. Just as a side note to this discussion on advice for writing historical period pieces I was actually struck by another idea which I have "penned" the introduction for. The first, and main questions I asked related to a tale set in Victorian England ca. 1899, the second "brilliant" idea came to me to set a tale in Wales, in the region of Mt. Snowdon, set in, or around, 1933.

I'll see which works out for the best. Either way, burning up net-time with research alright...!
Deepest respects,
D.