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catherineldfBy "real" we mean the kind without fantastic, steampunk, sfnal or whatever elements - the "this could have actually happened in this time and place" kind of historical settings.
A few years back, I wrote an article on historical research for fiction writers so this is something near and dear to the writing brain. Last night, I jettisoned a historical mystery 40 pages in because the author hadn't bothered to do even the most basic research for her setting (1880s Colorado, using the real city of Leadville). When using an historical setting, bear in mind that how your characters express themselves makes a huge difference in keeping your readers actually reading your book. Not to mention engrossed in your story.
Some samples from the book in question: "Let's go shopping." (One female character to another). Okay. In a Colorado boomtown of the time period, that pretty much would have meant the general store. Maybe one other shop. Using this phrase without context sounds like they're going to the mall. It does not make your setting come alive.
"He's stolen my new hunting rifle!" (male character to female character). Not so much on the "hunting" part. Rifles were pretty much rifles, regardless of purpose.
Details of what your characters do:
Gardnerian Wicca. Not practiced as such prior to 1940. Contemporary forms of Wicca as we recognize them now are in fact, contemporary. A "fortune-teller" in a Colorado brothel circa 1880 was not going to paint an "indelible" pentagram on the floor of her room and plant a purple crystal at each point. There wouldn't have been any historical context for it and such activities likely would have been hazardous to her health.
"Mail slots" would have just arrived on the scene (though common in Europe) and would hardly have been extremely common. Not common enough for your characters to use them for sexual innuendo without a comment on the novelty of them, certainly.
Just watching Deadwood would have given this author a better notion of life in a town like Leadville in 1880 than she was able to create on her own. Really, research counts. Making a setting come alive pulls your reader into your work and keeps them there. You don't need to infodump everything you've ever read but things like having your character note that something is new or unusual when they encounter it is a handy device. Which means you need to know weird things about your setting, like the fact that cigarette lighters prior to 1900 were very rare. Why? Because they were amazingly dangerous. Goes for many other forms of explosives and many guns for that matter.
Remember that a sizable chunk of readers will do the homework you couldn't be bothered to do and quite a few of those will stop reading when you make silly mistakes like these.
A few years back, I wrote an article on historical research for fiction writers so this is something near and dear to the writing brain. Last night, I jettisoned a historical mystery 40 pages in because the author hadn't bothered to do even the most basic research for her setting (1880s Colorado, using the real city of Leadville). When using an historical setting, bear in mind that how your characters express themselves makes a huge difference in keeping your readers actually reading your book. Not to mention engrossed in your story.
Some samples from the book in question: "Let's go shopping." (One female character to another). Okay. In a Colorado boomtown of the time period, that pretty much would have meant the general store. Maybe one other shop. Using this phrase without context sounds like they're going to the mall. It does not make your setting come alive.
"He's stolen my new hunting rifle!" (male character to female character). Not so much on the "hunting" part. Rifles were pretty much rifles, regardless of purpose.
Details of what your characters do:
Gardnerian Wicca. Not practiced as such prior to 1940. Contemporary forms of Wicca as we recognize them now are in fact, contemporary. A "fortune-teller" in a Colorado brothel circa 1880 was not going to paint an "indelible" pentagram on the floor of her room and plant a purple crystal at each point. There wouldn't have been any historical context for it and such activities likely would have been hazardous to her health.
"Mail slots" would have just arrived on the scene (though common in Europe) and would hardly have been extremely common. Not common enough for your characters to use them for sexual innuendo without a comment on the novelty of them, certainly.
Just watching Deadwood would have given this author a better notion of life in a town like Leadville in 1880 than she was able to create on her own. Really, research counts. Making a setting come alive pulls your reader into your work and keeps them there. You don't need to infodump everything you've ever read but things like having your character note that something is new or unusual when they encounter it is a handy device. Which means you need to know weird things about your setting, like the fact that cigarette lighters prior to 1900 were very rare. Why? Because they were amazingly dangerous. Goes for many other forms of explosives and many guns for that matter.
Remember that a sizable chunk of readers will do the homework you couldn't be bothered to do and quite a few of those will stop reading when you make silly mistakes like these.