Writing Historical narratives

[Voboy]

How do people figure out the everyday language of a particular era? I'm reading a story set in the 1890's Arizona, and the language and narrative style are clearly not current. It reads very easily, though. Is the author making it up? "He's funnin' you." Has he read a lot of other authors' possibly made up stories from that era? Has he read a bunch of dime novels from that era?

Note: If you've seen this post, even if you have nothing to say about it, could you reply "Saw it?" I'm trying to get a feel for how much audience one may lose by posting to an old thread.

Much of this can be researched, in the ways you've suggested.

The rest can be extrapolated. It's worthwhile for us to remember that most of those who were alive at the time of our historical pieces are unlikely to be around any longer to nitpick our inconsistencies, unfortunately. As long as our dialogue sounds "right" and avoids anachronism, I think it's fine.

My more distant pieces (Roman, middle ages, etc) I tend to write in a very modern dialect, reasoning that if my characters are speaking Latin or Anglo-Saxon or Norman, they're speaking in a way that sounds comfortably colloquial to each other, so that's how I write it. When language barriers arise, I simulate that. It's not that tough.

 

[sijopunk]

I normally write in first person, and it's always flowed very very naturally for me.

Historical pieces generally sound MUCH better in the third person, to me. That's a major change I make when I write them; I feel it lends a more distant tone.

I spent October through February trying to use a more distant third person writing (for the Jasmine Tea story from the original post), and I kept hating it. Four drafts scrapped so far.

This week I'm trying something totally different, which is to use my natural first-person writing as sort of a "Gonzo Journalism." So a highly unreliable narrator going through a chaotic moment in Joseon history, inspired by Raoul Duke's "coverage" of the Mint 400.

 

[Voboy]

I spent October through February trying to use a more distant third person writing (for the Jasmine Tea story from the original post), and I kept hating it. Four drafts scrapped so far.

This week I'm trying something totally different, which is to use my natural first-person writing as sort of a "Gonzo Journalism." So a highly unreliable narrator going through a chaotic moment in Joseon history, inspired by Raoul Duke's "coverage" of the Mint 400.

Wonderful! I'm glad it's coming together for you. That sounds like a good way to tackle it.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Thoughts on the thee, thy, thine, thou thing? I'm using them in my current story and I'm wondering if it won't get tiresome.

 

[redgarters]

Depends on how far back in time you're going - Roman or medieval is very difficult

I suggest going with the same approach as Lindsey Davis. Just let your characters speak plain English and blend in the correct latin terms for things.

 

[Voboy]

Thoughts on the thee, thy, thine, thou thing? I'm using them in my current story and I'm wondering if it won't get tiresome.

I can maybe think of times I'd use them, but VERY sparingly. I'd use them only for their intended purpose: talking to one's spouse or child, because I'm a pedant; I think that'd confuse many modern readers, though, who don't realize that's the familiar form, not the formal form.

Like any other dialect, it's easy to overuse stuff and get the reader lost.