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
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