Overwhelmed With Historical Information

djunamod

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 25, 2010
Messages
179
Reaction score
5
Location
West Texas
Hi All,
I've been exploring writing historical mysteries for the last year and although I'm making some progress, I keep getting intimidated with the historical research.

I'm working on a mystery series that is set during the Progressive Era in America (more specifically, Northern California in 1902). I have a little background in the Gilded Age/Progressive Era from my days in grad school, as this time period was my focus for most of my papers and my master's thesis. So I did quite a bit of research, especially about social issues of the time. I really love this era, which is one reason why I chose to set the series in that time period.

So I'm managing to work on the first book of the series with the background that I have but of course I'm continuing to do research.

Here's where I get stuck - many of the sources and books that I'm reading focus much more on the political and economical aspects - the rise of the corporations, corrupt politics, labor strikes, temperance, women's rights. Since my book is a mystery series, I'm much more interested in social and human issues, though women's rights does play a role (my main character is a New Woman and a supporter of women's suffrage).

Every time I start to do research, I get overwhelmed by so many details about the politics and economics of the time, which I feel are big issues that my series simply doesn't delve into (though they might play a small role in later books). So I feel as if I spending a lot of time getting information that I will not use. I am much more interested in the "feel" of the era, the every-day, and especially the social issues, particularly class issues, the conflict of the "old" world (Victorianism) vs. "new" world (modernism), and, of course, women's place in society. But it's tough to find information just on this.

I'm thinking that my best bet would be to actually find novels published during the Progressive Era, as they seem to focus more on these issues, plus they give a good feeling for the era more than history books. I'm also thinking that I am overwhelming myself by not focusing on specific areas that I know are more relevant to my book, so looking just to get accurate details and background on the stuff that interests me and is relevant to my series (upper/middle class life, women's roles, New Woman) is going to be my best bet.

I think one of the things that I fear about writing historical fiction is that I know that readers are very picky about details and accuracy. If something is not accurate, even if it's a small thing, they will nail the writer in reviews for it. So I'm becoming too obsessed with getting every single detail right on stuff that won't factor much into my book. I think if I focus on the stuff that is relevant and getting the details right as much as I can there, it's going to serve me much better and make me enjoy the process of research and writing, instead of feeling anxious about having to get everything right because some readers might nail me for something not right.

How do you approach the issue of being overwhelmed with so many aspects of life in a historical context that you can't possibly get every single detail right?

Djuna
 

Marlys

Resist. Love. Go outside.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
3,584
Reaction score
979
Location
midwest
Reading novels written in the era is a good idea--definitely do that. But for immersion into daily life, nothing beats newspapers. Read them, cover to cover. Ads, notices, editorials, reminisces, court cases, recipes, homemaking tips--tons of great stuff.

Another thing to look at is etiquette and cookbooks from the era--they'll have info class-related stuff like how to deal with servants and how to pull off a formal dinner.

As far as how much to include or getting overwhelmed with details, I'd say write the story. See what you absolutely need to include, and where you can embroider the setting with what you've learned without boring your reader. It's a balance, and beta readers can help with that.
 

Evangeline

Twirling in a glass of champagne
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
369
Reaction score
39
Location
California
Website
www.edwardianpromenade.com
You're reading the wrong books!

What you need to do is find travelogs, memoirs, and autobiographies. Those will focus on the social history of your chosen setting. An easy place to start is Google Books--I've downloaded plenty of neat travel books and guides about California between 1890 and 1920. The second place to start is your local college library. They'll have tons of old books your public library weeded decades ago. Then you read your tertiary sources. Once you get all of this down, then you read newspapers--if you know your time period like the back of your hand, you'll see the biases and sensationalism. Lol.
 

KarmaPolice

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
203
Reaction score
20
I agree. Locate a couple of autobiographies of people who lived in your time/place and read them. Normal history books miss loads of the little details and human element which gives all the colour. One of my favourite books is 'The Diary of a Country Parson' - it taught me more about life in the 1770's - 1800's that a stack of 'proper' history books could have.
 

snafu1056

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 18, 2013
Messages
819
Reaction score
88
If you feel overwhelmed, try focusing on the micro instead of the macro. Try answering the smaller, immediate questions first. What does your main character do for a living? Is she rich? Poor? Middle class? If so, how did people in her socio-economic class live? What was her daily life like? What were her day-to-day concerns? Remember, your job isnt to recreate an entire era, just one person's slice of it. Decide what that slice looks like and then research as necessary.

Like the last few posters have said, old newspapers, diaries, and magazines are a good place to start, just to get a feel for the time. If you need to you can use a real person as a model for your main character. Not a historical figure per se, but just a person from a newspaper article. Youd be amazed how many little stories are hidden away in old newspapers.
 

Magnanimoe

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 13, 2014
Messages
91
Reaction score
10
Location
Michigan
You're reading the wrong books!

What you need to do is find travelogs, memoirs, and autobiographies. Those will focus on the social history of your chosen setting. An easy place to start is Google Books--I've downloaded plenty of neat travel books and guides about California between 1890 and 1920.

I agree. I spent six months researching this same time period, focusing more on the imperialism aspect. These types of books Evangeline mentions are on Google Books, and because they are old enough to be in the public domain, you can get the entire book (I like to download as PDF). And some that are not on Google Books can be found on Archive.org, another invaluable website. I was researching the Philippine War, and by far the best resources for those simple things the history books miss came from travelogs and memoirs. And make sure you get them from both male and female writer--they often notice very different things!
 
Last edited:

Snowstorm

Baby plot bunneh sniffs out a clue
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2008
Messages
13,722
Reaction score
1,121
Location
Wyoming mountain cabin
Museums are a fantastic resource. I see you're in Texas, so going to California and prowl museums may not be possible. Many museums have their collections online, photographs, artifacts, and--if you're very lucky--journals and diaries and letters.

Libraries are a wealth of little-known books. Many historical societies compile books and binders of rarely used information. A local library has geneology books from MANY states that may be of interest. The State of California might have archives (Wyoming does and it's amazing) that are online accessible that could be invaluable. You might find photos, journals, letters, and oral histories that give you much insight.

I've written one historical mystery and am working on historical mystery #2. I had the outlines written while I was researching. While there were facts I discovered that made me take a hard look at the story and rewrite portions to ensure authenticity, you don't have to have ALL your research done before you start writing. (I had HM #1 done when I had a sudden and fantastic opportunity to visit the actual site of my story. By and large I had it all correct except for one thing, which I rewrote plus I found many "flavoring" items that I wrote in.)
 

gothicangel

Toughen up.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2008
Messages
7,907
Reaction score
691
Location
North of the Wall
You need to read social history, even literary theory.

One book that springs to mind is Dracula, particularly the character of Mina who is a New Woman (and the anxieties surrounding her.)
 

sportourer1

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
59
Reaction score
1
Location
UK
I write in the Napoleonic War period about which so much has been written and there are millions of armchair experts. I remind myself that firstly I am writing fiction, telling a story woven into "facts" and secondly so much of history was written by the victor and is never 100% reliable. If you worry too much about accuracy there will be no story to tell
 

angeliz2k

never mind the shorty
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 24, 2008
Messages
3,727
Reaction score
488
Location
Commonwealth of Virginia--it's for lovers
Website
www.elizabethhuhn.com
djuna, I have to agree that my first reaction when I saw your post was that you need to try different sources/different types of sources.

I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by the glut of information about the Civil War and the period before it. I did run into a similar problem as you, though: the Antebellum period in particular is usually written about in general terms, or with the coming war looming large over it. There are lots of books about society and political movements. . . but I wanted day-to-day stuff. Things that I found useful: cookbooks, household advice books, memoirs, biographies of specific people. There are so many rich sources out there.
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,611
Reaction score
7,289
Location
Wash., D.C. area
Seconding the suggestion to focus on memoirs and newspapers. So much nonfic is often written with the benefit of hindight that it's not refleecting what was known or believed at the time.

I also wonder if you're trying too hard to know everything before you start, and at some point we just have to focus on what is enough for the story.
 

sportourer1

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
59
Reaction score
1
Location
UK
I sympathise entirely. I am in early research for a first sequel to thriller I published, set in the turbulent 1880s of London. Now I need to find the right background drama for the sequel, my head is spinning. Hours of research seem to have identified the quietest period in European history was 1884 to 1890. Frankly it is doing my head in!
 

djunamod

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 25, 2010
Messages
179
Reaction score
5
Location
West Texas
A million thanks to everyone who responded. I'm sorry it took me so long to respond to the thread, but I haven't been idle. I'm still working on the first book of my series (I'm about 50,000 words into it) and it's going well. I'm slowly doing more research and getting less intimidated as I realize that focusing my research on aspects that relate to my novel is helpful.

These are all great suggestions and I've even discovered some on my own before reading this thread (such as etiquette books and cookbooks). I didn't think about newspapers, but it does make complete sense.

Djuna