Frustrated

celticroots · Jul 25, 2014

I am working on the second draft of one of my WIPS about the girl banished from her village for witchcraft and works as a servant for a wealthy merchant family.

It's going ok, but I am frustrated with the middle portion (which I am writing now) and the steps my character takes. She goes to Antag's former buisness partner as a source of information until he winds up murdered. MC then goes to find out who murders him and decides what steps to take next.

I am thinking that MC would later find documents, a registry, something, talking about Antag's dishonest business practices. And why he has the desire to ruin his "best" friend. But I still don't know his motive.

Or how my MC could convince Andrew, the merchant's son that Antag isn't who he seems to be and to help her get evidence against him.

I think a major reason why I am frustrated is research. I just can't find a lot about merchants in 16th century Europe, treatment of servants, etc.

I am grappling with self-doubt again, but I figured getting this out would help me maybe put things in perspective. I am sharing my draft with my writer's critique group and their critiques and positive comments have helped me continue to believe in this story.

beachbum21k · Jul 25, 2014

I don't know if this is the kind of thing that you are looking for but sex is always good. Someone cheating on someone, doesn't matter the time period people always find love and sex motivating. his "best friend" could be an ex-lover too or something. if there's magic there could be an artifact that he's after or maybe Antag is the victim of a cursed artifact. Or just plain old fashioned money.

It's hard to know without the story but if you've already finished the rough draft this is just fine tuning. If your beta readers are still into it you're fine.

Anyways, hope that helped. You're doing great. To have that much written puts you ahead of a lot of other people.

Michael Steven · Jul 25, 2014

Good question. I wonder about what you said "banished for witchcraft." That itself sounds a little off. I think 16th century Europe that would be more of a "escaped execution for suspicion of witchcraft." Maybe that's what you did and referenced with a euphemism.

I think Europe in that time was very class conscious and everyone better darn well act with proper respect. A servant could very well earn a beating for improper attitude. Strict but not vicious. Behave and everything is well. Smart off and you might get anything from a smack to some lashes.

Maybe not as vicious as the Middle East with thieves getting a hand removed, but I think upper class people wouldn't think twice of whacking comeuppance with a cane.

Some possibilities to look into, although a true historian would have a much better view of these things.

Willow M Stevens · Jul 25, 2014

celticroots said:
I am thinking that MC would later find documents, a registry, something, talking about Antag's dishonest business practices. And why he has the desire to ruin his "best" friend. But I still don't know his motive.

I'd suggest using simple greed for the motivation. That's why people do dishonest business--to turn a profit. If he does that then he's already greedy. Maybe killing the other guy gets him a bigger territory, or a bigger slice of the profits.

I can't help you with the research, though. Sorry!

Velvet27 · Jul 25, 2014

celticroots said:
It's going ok, but I am frustrated with the middle portion (which I am writing now) and the steps my character takes. She goes to Antag's former buisness partner as a source of information until he winds up murdered. MC then goes to find out who murders him and decides what steps to take next.

Actually, this struck me. This doesn't sound like a close relationship here, so why is your MC, who is in hiding presumably, risking herself to investigate a murder? What's the motivation here?

I'd concur on the villain's motives, keep it simple and go with something like greed.

Bufty · Jul 26, 2014

There's a Forum for research and another for brainstorming.

Peter Kenson · Jul 26, 2014

celticroots said:
I think a major reason why I am frustrated is research. I just can't find a lot about merchants in 16th century Europe, treatment of servants, etc.

You could do a lot worse than read The House of Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett. Okay it's late 15th century but it's all about European merchants. Might trigger a whole load of ideas for you and her historical detail is spot on.

Layla Nahar · Jul 26, 2014

Michael Steven said:
Maybe not as vicious as the Middle East with thieves getting a hand removed, but I think upper class people wouldn't think twice of whacking comeuppance with a cane.

Around the time that that the north American colonies were being settled, people were hung for theft. Banishment to the colonies came about as a humane alternative, if I recall correctly.

RN Hill · Jul 26, 2014

Just a few thoughts: Narrow down your search. Your setting will help you figure out just what would have been going on at the time with merchants and servants. France was different from the Italian city-states, and both were different from the Germanic states. Lots of changes going on in the 16th century, and not everyone got on board with everything at the same time.

Servants were little more than property, to be honest. How they were treated depended largely on the person they worked for. Punishments were very harsh. Witchcraft was not taken lightly; neither was heresy. You could be hanged, burned, or both, for either one. I doubt she would have been banished for witchcraft, and if she had been accused, she would never find work anywhere near her village; they'd be looking for her.

Plus, you need to know what her socioeconomic status is; it sounds like she is peasant or low middle-class. Either way, the chances of her being literate are pretty low.

As others have said, motives are the same no matter what century you're writing about. Sex and greed are almost always the top 2 (along with someone finding out something about you that you do NOT want them to spread around!).

celticroots · Jul 26, 2014

Thanks

RN Hill said:
Just a few thoughts: Narrow down your search. Your setting will help you figure out just what would have been going on at the time with merchants and servants. France was different from the Italian city-states, and both were different from the Germanic states. Lots of changes going on in the 16th century, and not everyone got on board with everything at the same time.

Servants were little more than property, to be honest. How they were treated depended largely on the person they worked for. Punishments were very harsh. Witchcraft was not taken lightly; neither was heresy. You could be hanged, burned, or both, for either one. I doubt she would have been banished for witchcraft, and if she had been accused, she would never find work anywhere near her village; they'd be looking for her.

Plus, you need to know what her socioeconomic status is; it sounds like she is peasant or low middle-class. Either way, the chances of her being literate are pretty low.

As others have said, motives are the same no matter what century you're writing about. Sex and greed are almost always the top 2 (along with someone finding out something about you that you do NOT want them to spread around!).

Thank you for the info. During the research in the early drafts of the story I read about a village in Scotland that had a witch hunt. Some people were hung or burned, and some were banished from the village forever. I am not sure how often banishment did happen, but since reading that article, I got the impression that banishment happen, although rare.

celticroots · Jul 26, 2014

Thank you!

Peter Kenson said:
You could do a lot worse than read The House of Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett. Okay it's late 15th century but it's all about European merchants. Might trigger a whole load of ideas for you and her historical detail is spot on.

I will definitely check those out! Thank you for telling me about that series.

Frustrated

celticroots

beachbum21k

I'm tired

Michael Steven

Willow M Stevens

Bending but not breaking

Velvet27

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

Peter Kenson

Layla Nahar

Seashell Seller

RN Hill

celticroots

celticroots