Monday, May 23, 2016

Fiction and Research by Jacqueline Seewald

You’ll notice that a lot of writers set their novels and short stories in places they either live in or have lived in. This may seem provincial, but in fact, it makes for good writing. If authors know a place well, they can create a realistic setting, an intriguing background for their writing. Setting is one of the important components of any piece of fiction.

My adult mystery series, featuring amateur sleuth and psychic librarian Kim Reynolds, consists of four novels: THE INFERNO COLLECTION, THE DROWNING POOL, THE TRUTH SLEUTH and THE BAD WIFE, all set in Central New Jersey where I lived for forty years.

But what about historical fiction, writing about times and people of long ago? The answer here is that writers need to do research. The fact is that every type of fiction, contemporary or historical, requires a certain amount of research, some more than others.

I believe the best fiction combines elements of what we actually know with research into what we need to find out. I’m no fan of info dumping in fiction, but writers do need to read and discover a lot more information than they will actually use in their work before they begin writing.

A good way to find out about a particular period in time is to peruse available reference books at your local library on the period. Examine time lines first. What important events were happening in the world, in that particular country and in the geographic area, historical as well as political? How did people dress? What did they eat? What were their general beliefs?  How were women treated? Your library catalog will allow you to locate appropriate books that you can borrow as well. Reference librarians can also provide helpful input.

One historical novelist suggests writing the book first and then researching the areas that need filling in. But I prefer immersing myself in an historical period and setting before starting to write. It’s true there will always be some essential information that requires further research. However, that should be part of the revision process.

I tried to seamlessly incorporate the culture and history of the turbulent historic West into my novel THE KILLING LAND. The characters represent the viewpoints and prejudices of those times. A lot was going on in the Arizona Territory in the 1880’s. And a lot of it was pretty violent. You had cattle barons and ranchers opposed to sheepherders and homesteaders and vice versa, leading to range wars—people fighting over land rights. Then there were Native Americans, many of them hostile to the people they saw as usurping their ancestral lands. There were also lawless outlaws to contend with.

My main character, Mary MacGreggor, is no cream puff, but as a settler coming from the East with her family, she discovers life in the West poses many challenges that she was unprepared to contend with. The reader discovers them right along with Mary.


                 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ATYI6WU/


There’s a lot of satisfaction is both reading and writing well-researched fiction whether historical or contemporary. Which do you prefer?



18 comments:

  1. Very informative and so true that we know more about our home area than any other. Research can be fun though.
    Great post Jacquie!
    PamT

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  2. Thanks, Pam. Most of us live in areas that we know well and find interesting and unique.

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  3. Jacqueline,
    Your research for "The Killing Land" certainly paid off because, as I read the book, I felt as if I were really there.

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    1. Patricia,

      I'm so glad that the novel came off as real--so important with historical fiction.

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  4. Yes, I do tons of research for my cozy mystery/Southern Gothics featuring Civil War spirits. I learn much more than I incorporate in the books. Your The Killing Land did a great job of entwining fiction and facts of the time/place. Nice post!

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    1. Thanks, Susan. I'm glad you enjoyed The Killing Land and found it well-researched. As a former academic librarian, I really enjoy that part of writing. I loved doing it for my Southern Gothic DARK MOON RISING as well.

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  5. As always, a good and thought-provoking post. I especially like your advice to get to know the time period before starting to write. As someone said, The past is another country - they do things differently there. Susan, aka Janis

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    1. Hi Susan Janis,

      I like that quote! Looking at time lines really is the best way to begin any historical research.

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  6. I recently visited a book club and they asked me, How long would I have to be in a place before I felt I could write about it? I'm not sure of the answer but I thought the question was a very good one. How much research is enough?

    Good post, Jacquie.

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    1. Hi Susan,

      I don't think you must live in a place to use it as an historical setting, but familiarity certainly is helpful.

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  7. Excellent blog. I agree, Jacquie, that one should immerse one's self in the protagonist's past before writing the book. I spent years living in the 18th-century with my sleuth, Mary Wollstonecraft,before putting pen to paper. It's the best way, I'm convinced, to become one's character and write a fully believable novel.

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    1. Nancy,

      I loved what you did with Mary and the French Revolution.

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  8. I love research, though it can be distracting and lead you off to places you never intended to visit. I agree, Jacqui, the research has to come before the actual writing. That way you immerse yourself in the period and that familiarity with the period translates into what you write. I also recommend looking at period newspapers as an excellent showcase of what people were thinking, how they dressed, what they ate, etc.

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  9. Hi John,

    Looking at newspapers from the period is an excellent way of getting a sense of immediacy. It makes the fiction more vital. Good suggestion!

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  10. Good post. I'm a newcomer to Arizona and decided to set my book here. Even in the present, it's amazing how much research one needs to make something seem authentic! As for historicals, I admire you and John and Nancy, Susan, et al, for braving them!

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  11. Hi, Kathy,

    Arizona is a great state to set a novel. Let us know how it goes.

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  12. Jacqueline, I can't agree more for the need to include enough details in historical stories to create a world that is different than what people know in our current times. I believe that's why "fish out of water" stories are so popular because the reader can compare how he or she would react to learning how to wash clothes by hand or how important having a thriving vegetable garden was.

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  13. Hi Jacqui. You are so right about the importance of research. We're always being told to write what we know and we don't know everything, especially in writing historical novels - so research is key. A lot of people are eager to find and broadcast errors in stories, my husband is especially sensitive to how and what guns are used. If it isn't right he can't finish the story.

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