All Comments on 'How to Write Period Pieces'

by Colleen Thomas

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writingdragonwritingdragonalmost 18 years ago
Thanks Colleen

A bit of insight and wisdom from one of this sites best.

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 18 years ago
Really good advice...

...writing good "period" or "historical" fiction - whether or not it's erotica - is one of the hardest challenges for an author. I've often been irritated by crass anachronisms (whether of fact, language or attitudes). But we need perhaps to think carefully about what we mean by historical fiction, and make our meaning clear at the outset. For example, if I write a story set in Victorian England, am I writing a truly historical story - i.e. one that sets out to give a realistic view of what life was like in that era - or perhaps a pastiche of Victorian erotica/pornography - in which case the constraints may be less rigid (sorry, that sounds like a BDSM reference!). Both require, as you say, careful research, but the nature of the research and of the final product will be different in each case. Again, I might be writing about an "alternative history" Victorian scenario (Americans call this "alternate history" which doesn't make sense in the English we speak in England) - but I still need to do research to come up with a credible scenario - to take an extreme example, if I wanted to write an erotic story set in the context of H G Wells's "The War of the Worlds", I shouldn't just read the novel but also research what life was like in England in 1899/1900.

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 18 years ago
So true!

You have made many excellent points. These principles are often overlooked by published authors, let alone amateurs who post stories here. I get very annoyed when I come across examples of the writer's ignorance, especially when it concerns something that could be looked up in five minutes online.

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 18 years ago
Very good advice

But how far should you go without offending the reader. I'm working on a story who's main character is a black woman working in the Justice Dept she's assigned to investigate a Texas oil company executive and his company for gas gauging. The white exec resents her authority and feels she is to proud. He uses an artifact to send her back in time, 1800's, to his great, great, great grandfather's plantation. I don't know how graphic I want to get in her mistreatment. Unfortunetly there aren't many stories on this subject matter so I don't have anything to use as a template. I don't want it to become a BDSM story because there will be a romance involving the plantation owner's wife and the heroine. Should I assume that anyone reading the story will now there will be violence, bad language, etc in a piece written about slavery or should I feel obligated to tread softly on such a sensitive matter?

ivy71ivy71almost 18 years ago
Very good advice

But how far should you go without offending the reader. I'm working on a story who's main character is a black woman working in the Justice Dept she's assigned to investigate a Texas oil company executive and his company for gas gauging. The white exec resents her authority and feels she is to proud. He uses an artifact to send her back in time, 1800's, to his great, great, great grandfather's plantation. I don't know how graphic I want to get in her mistreatment. Unfortunetly there aren't many stories on this subject matter so I don't have anything to use as a template. I don't want it to become a BDSM story because there will be a romance involving the plantation owner's wife and the heroine. Should I assume that anyone reading the story will now there will be violence, bad language, etc in a piece written about slavery or should I feel obligated to tread softly on such a sensitive matter?

silverlock447silverlock447almost 18 years ago
Well Said

Colleen, very well said.

Very many years ago, I had a teacher who preached "write about what you know and if you don't know, research it until you do know."

Your article makes this point nicely.

silverlock447silverlock447almost 18 years ago
Well Said

Colleen, very well said.

Very many years ago, I had a teacher who preached "write about what you know and if you don't know, research it until you do know."

Your article makes this point nicely.

OroroStormOroroStormalmost 18 years ago
Thanks for advice.......But next time.

Could you write a "How to" for women writing lesbian erotica. I know you've done one for men but recent submission to literotica seem to prove that women need some help too. Many of the stories are about butch women walking around with strap on dildos looking for submissive, fems, to screw or to suck their fake cocks. Are there really women who walk around with strap on dildos all day? Cause that just screams penis envy. The stories don't even have scenes of mouth to vagina sex there just stories of women being screwed by other women in every hole possible. It seems as if women have fallen prey to the male dominated porn industry that seems to think even lesbians need a male phallus in order to achive an orgasm. When in fact many women don't orgasm from simple penetration they need additional stimulation i.e. rubbing their clits. If I wanted to read about women who look like men, talk like men, fuck like men, then I might as well go back to reading hetero stories.

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 18 years ago
Excellent Advice!

Very well-written advice. I'm surprised that your editor found your use of the phrase "hated Japanese" to be racist. Racist would have been the use of some vulgar expression such as "slant-eyed yellow monkey."

"Hated Japanese" is more like unbiased reporting of the attitudes of the day. Editors...what can you do?

SEVERUSMAXSEVERUSMAXalmost 18 years ago
From my own experience, I'd have to agree......

....period pieces have to make sense to both lay readers and history buffs alike. And they have to be exciting and suspenseful, despite the fact that you know what is going to happen in the long run. The readers have to be kept guessing what will happen to the protagonists in the short term and later.

For instance, it's all well and good that people know that the Continental Army defeated the British. However, that doesn't decide whether a Loyalist character ends up in Canada or England, or if he or she is stuck at home and punished for their treason.

So, once again, you have shown a lot of sense. Just thought that I would add 2 of mine. It's very useful essay, indeed. Some of my older stories were period ones, and they taught me a thing or two about that.

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 18 years ago
Well done

Well thought-out and sorely needed advice to oh so many writers -- none of whom, I very much fear, will ever read or heed it. They just like the sound of their Lord Troy Dashingley-Haddon, the Viscount of Hardonia, close friend of gypsies and black people, unsung Regency inventor of the aeroplane, and aren't going to be stopped by dull detail.

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 18 years ago
Have you noticed bluebells are late this year?

All research is good and should not be restricted to "period pieces."

I tend to check facts, for most things, just to be sure of authenticity.

Thank you for your how to...may there be more.

rgraham666rgraham666almost 18 years ago
Nice work, Colleen

As always a well written and very useful piece of work.

I'll find this especially useful as I'm starting a period piece of my own soon.

Thanks. Well done/

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 18 years ago
Okay

It was basically an okay how to. There was nothing really in it that just isn't common sense.

BlackShanglanBlackShanglanalmost 18 years ago
Can we make this "assigned reading"?

This is great work. You identify the really hardened offenders of the genre and offer gentle rehabilitation for them, with lucid examples that illustrate your points nicely. How I long for the day when every author of historical ficiton has read this how-to first!

AnonymousAnonymousover 17 years ago
"hated Japanese ... "

"Hated Japanese" is not only not particularly racist in historical context, but also was much less common than the contraction "Japs," which everybody used at the time. Even the members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit in WWII, which was made up largely of nisei soldiers from Hawaii, used the term to refer to the Japanese. A perusal of a few of the better novels written about the Pacific War would reveal how extensively the term was used. "Hated Japanese" is anodyne. I would probably have edited it out for historical timidity.

JateJatealmost 14 years ago
What about steampunk?

What would happen if a professionial historian started reading a steampunk novel without knowing the first thing about the genre?

beatrice_dreamsbeatrice_dreamsabout 12 years ago

So far I've steered completely clear of anything period or historical in my writing, possibly just because it is such a huge challenge on top of just writing well in the first place! I was a history major in uni, but perhaps more because I was reasonable at the coursework and not so much because it thrilled me. I'll have to think about a particular period that I do find interesting and give it a try - I'll be sure to be back and reread your piece - thank you!

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 12 years ago
If only more would-be historical fiction writers were on Literotica...

I happen to devour any good Regency romance I can get my hands on, but there are few authors who come anywhere near to Georgette Heyer, who obviously meticulously researched her subject and balanced that research with masterful storytelling and compelling, diverse characters. Modern writers are frankly easier to read than writers of the actual period, (of course, Austen will always have a special place in my heart, and it is a pity she did not live to write many more books) but I see the same problems you point out in this article, and I couldn't agree with you more. When a writer betrays obvious ignorance of period culture, and writes what is really a modern story set in a cheap bastardized historical setting, it takes away the entire point of writing historical fiction. And all of my enjoyment in reading it!

JdeauJdeauover 11 years ago
Resources

I find "The Writer's Guides" (such as the one on "Everyday Life from Prohibition Through World War II") to be invaluable.

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 10 years ago
fascinating..thank you.

truly enjoyed the specific detailing of revelant inclusion in the story body.

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 10 years ago
5 star submission from an award winning lesban novelist, recently feted by the entire international gay community.

Intellectually brilliant submission; par excellence!

rockchaserrockchaserover 6 years ago
Fantastic

Succinct and useful guide! I frequently worry about building a plausible world for my stories, with the goal of making the background immersive and largely invisible. In practice that can mean becoming bogged down in endless research that has little effect on the story (particularly true for my SF stories, which is why none of them are really finished). The idea of writing historical fiction with realism is terrifying because I can't even rely on the skills I have for SF research.

Your examples and suggestions are exactly what I need, to see how a little can go a long way. I think their usefulness extends beyond historical fiction.

AnonymousAnonymousover 6 years ago
What if Colleen Thomas was never a woman and is still living?

She could have us fooled? A talented male writer disguised as CT? Hmm never know do we?

Shaima32Shaima32about 6 years ago
Very useful article

I agreed with everything you said. I laughed at the endless research just to ferret out a couple of details to write into your story. I have done endless research just to make everything seem more real. In particular when dildos were first used, turns out the ancient Greeks used them!

AnonymousAnonymousover 3 years ago
That last paragraph says it all.

Sage and sound advice.

RIP Colleen Thomas, 3-26-2006

AnonymousAnonymous11 months ago

Thank you for your writing, Colleen Thomas. I hope you’re doing well, in Heaven or on Earth, whichever you currently reside in.

AnonymousAnonymous4 months ago

Good work as far as it went. There are certain rules that govern writing, both fiction and nonfiction alike.

1) Write what you know, especially in the beginning. Every writer begins with autobiography to start. Hemingway to Grisham, they wrote out of the wealth of their experiences.

2) Be aware of cultural boundaries even today. It never ceases to amaze me when writers living outside the South attempt to write about it. Even within the South are many nuances in speech, culture, and practice. Heck, Texas is its own world.

3) Research, research, research. You never know who is reading your stories. Inevitably, and it will happen, some smart ass will find your one mistake and point it out in the comments. To prove my point, CT did her due diligence, but something always slips through the cracks. In Cold Reception, Annika, a Soviet sniper, shoots a German soldier with a Mauser, which was a weapon during World War Two omn the Eastern Front…by the Germans. One could argue that she was resourceful and picked it up. Problem, where’s she gonna find ammunition? Lesson: fact check the hell out of your story before publishing it. The internet is forever.

4) Watch for anachronisms. Time machines don’t exist. Nobody in 1776 would share your views on the Revolution. Take CT’s advice and find some primary sources to inform your writing. Also, don’t take modern (read revisionist) claims at face value. When neo-Marxist historians, an ideology born in the Modern Philosophical paradigm, evaluate thinkers from the Pre-Modern paradigm, they inevitably apply a foreign framework to the past.

p.s. If you have a question you can’t find the answer to, be smart and ask for help. The first rule of scholarship is admitting what you don’t know.

lastboyleftlastboyleftabout 1 month ago

loved your piece in it about the stalingrad

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