Jumping Into Historical Research by Carrie Turansky

Do you want to write an historical novel, but you’re not sure how to tackle the research? Come along with me and I’ll give you some of my best research tips! I enjoy history and traveling, so doing research for my English historical novels is a fun task for me. I can easily get lost in a stack of books when I’m gathering background information and plotting out a new story.

Getting Started

I begin by looking at the big picture to get general background information about the time period and location, and then I focus in on the exact time, place, and social circles of my main characters. This is where I do my detailed research. I want to get to know my characters' corner of the world so well that I can move around there in my imagination. I can picture my character walking down a street or sitting at a table and know exactly what the character would see, hear, feel, and smell. I want to research until the historical part of my novel becomes almost second nature and I can focus on the story.

The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Sources

History books and biographies can be very useful in research, but they are what are known as “secondary sources.” I always try to track down “primary sources” when possible. A primary source is something that was created during the time period itself, such as a newspaper, magazine, journal, diary, historical document, movie, radio broadcast, or a firsthand account from someone who actually lived through the moment and recorded an oral history, interview, or autobiography. Historians and biographers build their works by examining primary sources. As an author of historical novels, I try to go directly to the source whenever possible, so I get an unfiltered view.

In my latest novel, Across the Blue, I focused the story around the development of early aviation and the pilots who were preparing to be the first to fly across the English Channel to France. I came up with the idea when I visited the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC and saw an exhibit about the Wright Brothers. I noticed a poster for the First International Air Meet in Reims, France, in 1909. I love the Edwardian era, so I jumped in and started my research. That led me to the newspaper owner who was offering the prize for the first cross-channel flight, and that sparked the ideas for the heroine and her family. I wanted to give her a dream and goal that was as worthy and inspiring as the hero’s, so I made her long to become a journalist in a time when that kind of work was rare for women.

I read some wonderful books to give me background information for this story including The Wright Brothers by David McCullough; Northcliffe: Press Baron in Politics by J. Lee Thompson; and Aviation Century: The Early Years by Ron Dick and Dan Patterson. I watched YouTube videos about early airplanes, reenactment flights, and drone movies of the Cliffs of Dover and Kent where the story takes place. Pinterest and Google image searches were also a great help. I saved all these images on my Pinterest Board for Across the Blue. Take a look at this link: https://www.pinterest.com/carrieturansky/across-the-blue/

Take a Research trip!

I've traveled to England twice to research my novels set there, once with my husband Scott, and another time with fellow author Cathy Gohlke. Seeing the settings for my books, meeting people living there, and taking in the countryside were a wonderful ways to absorb the atmosphere and settings for my novels. But if you can’t travel to the location of your story you can always watch movies and documentaries describing the era, places, and people.

So jump in! The water is fine! You’ll find your best story just below the surface in your research!

What sources have you found to be most valuable in your research, whether historical or contemporary?

~~~~~~

Carrie Turansky has loved reading since she first visited the library as a young child and checked out a tall stack of picture books. Her love for writing began when she penned her first novel at age twelve. She is now the award-winning author of nineteen inspirational romance novels and novellas. Carrie and her husband, Scott, who is a pastor, author, and speaker, have been married for more than thirty years and make their home in New Jersey. They often travel together on ministry trips and to visit their five adult children and five grandchildren. Carrie leads women’s ministry at her church, and when she is not writing she enjoys spending time working in her flower gardens and cooking healthy meals for friends and family. She loves to connect with reading friends through her website, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. 

Website and Social Media links:

Carrie’s website, blog, and email newsletter: http://carrieturansky.com/

Carrie’s Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Carrie-Turansky/e/B001H6SNK0/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2

Carrie’s BookBub Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/carrie-turansky

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Across the Blue:

Love soars to new heights in this Edwardian romance filled with adventure, faith, and

inspiration, but how much will it cost Bella and James to follow their dreams?

Isabella Grayson, the eldest daughter of a wealthy, English newspaper magnate, longs to become a journalist, but her parents don't approve. They want her to marry well and help them gain a higher standing in society. After she writes an anonymous letter to the editor that impresses her father, her parents reluctantly agree she can write a series of articles about aviation and the race to be the first to fly across the English Channel, but only if she promises to accept a marriage proposal within the year. When James Drake, an aspiring aviator, crashes his flying machine at the Grayson's new estate, Bella is intrigued. James is determined to win that race across the Channel and gain the prize Mr. Grayson's newspaper is offering. He hopes it will help him secure a government contract to build airplanes and redeem a terrible family secret. James wants to win Bella's heart, but his background and lack of social standing make it unlikely her parents would approve. If he fails to achieve his dream, how will he win the love and respect he is seeking? Will Bella's faith and support help him find the strength and courage he needs when unexpected events turn their world upside down?

Avoiding the Pitfalls Historical Fiction – Part One by Amanda Cabot

Amanda Cabot

I was delighted when Dora invited me to visit Seriously Write. Then came the hard part: deciding which aspect of writing we should discuss. Since I write historical fiction, I decided to talk about some potential pitfalls, but rather than give you a dissertation that will make your eyes glaze over, I thought we’d have some fun. My version of fun, anyway. It’s a little quiz. The object is to see what’s wrong with each of the following selections.

The first one is from a book set in 1170. Yes, the Middle Ages.

“Can you not settle this peacefully?” Marguerite asked Alain. Surely he must see how conflicted she was by the situation.

“Perhaps I was mistaken,” Alain said, not bothering to hide his scorn, “but I thought it was a knight’s duty to protect his lady.”

Marguerite sighed. She wouldn’t go there. Instead, she nodded stiffly, then took her seat next to Louise. The teenager’s enthusiasm for the fight stood in marked contrast to her own reluctance to see blood shed. But the fight was over almost before it began. With one deft stroke, Alain sent Henri’s sword ricocheting against the wall.

If you guessed that there were anachronisms in it, you’re right. There are at least four. “Conflicted” came into general use in 1967. “Wouldn’t go there” is a phrase from the 1990s. “Teenager’s” first usage was 1921, and – this one surprised me – “ricocheting” wasn’t commonly used until 1828.

Why worry about anachronisms?

The first reason is that they brand you as a sloppy writer. You spend weeks, months, possibly years researching a book. The details of daily life are accurate; the speech patterns are authentic; you’ve even ensured that your characters eat common foods from the era. Why spoil the effect with an inappropriate term? Consider this: checking a word’s first usage is simply another form of research.

The second reason is that at least some of your readers will notice the anachronistic terms. For some it may be a mild annoyance. Others may find the errors so jarring that they stop reading. In either case, the suspension of disbelief that we strive so hard to create is broken, if only for a second. Don’t do it. Don’t risk losing readers.

Okay, are you ready for quiz number two?

At least it wasn’t raining. Normally he wouldn’t mind it. In fact, he preferred rain when going into battle. Unfortunately, today he wasn’t waging war, nor was he facing an opponent at the other end of a lance. It would have been easier if he were. Even a few hours at the quintain would have been preferable to the fate which was now mere minutes away.

The knight on the silver gray destrier let the reins slacken as he looked around him. Though the wheat field could not compare to the raw magnificence of Outremer, there was no denying its beauty. It spoke of fertile ground, of centuries of tradition, of home. This morn it also reminded Alain de Jarnac of the obligation awaiting him.

This is another selection from the same medieval. While there are no anachronisms in this passage, I would venture that some of the vocabulary made you pause. Admittedly, devotees of medievals are familiar with quintains (a post with a revolving crosspiece that knights used for training) and know that a destrier is a war horse. They’d also know that Outremer meant overseas and was a term used during the Crusades.

But – and this is an important “but” – many readers won’t recognize those terms. If a potential reader picked up the book and glanced at this passage, the chances are she wouldn’t buy the book, simply because of the unfamiliar words. You don’t want that to happen, and so I urge you not to fall into this potential pit.

Either use common words or include an explanation. For example, if the author had replaced the simple reference to a quintain with “a few hours of jousting against the revolving arms of the quintain post,” the reader would have understood what a quintain was and might have smiled over the fact that he’d learned something new. The key is never to make a reader feel stupid.

That’s all for today, but I’ll be back in two weeks for part two of the pitfall discussion. I hope to see you then.

Dora here. Did you pick up on the errors in these passages?

As a reader, what pitfalls throw you out of a scene?

As a writer, do you research word usages?

With Autumn's Return
Purchase Link

She’s planning on instant success. What she didn’t plan on was love.

When Elizabeth Harding arrives in Cheyenne to open a medical practice, she is confident that the future is as bright as the warm Wyoming sun. Certain she’ll have a line of patients eager for her services, she soon discovers the town may not welcome a new physician—especially a female one. Even Jason Nordling, the handsome young attorney next door, seems to disapprove of her chosen profession.

When a web of deceit among Cheyenne’s wealthiest residents threatens to catch Elizabeth and Jason in its snare, they must risk working together to save one of Elizabeth’s patients, even if it means falling in love.

From the time that she was seven, Amanda Cabot dreamed of becoming a published author, but it was only when she set herself the goal of selling a book by her thirtieth birthday that the dream came true.  A former director of Information Technology, Amanda has written everything from technical books and articles for IT professionals to mysteries for teenagers and romances for all ages.  She’s delighted to now be a fulltime writer of Christian historical romances.  Her Texas Dreams trilogy received critical acclaim; Christmas Roses was a CBA bestseller; and a number of her books have been finalists for national awards, including ACFW’s Carol award. 

www.amandacabot.com

http://amandajoycabot.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amanda-Cabot/110238182354449?v=wall

Sharing Research

This is a research day on A Writer's Wisdom Wednesdays, and I asked Vickie McDonough to answer the following questions: 

"You're the author of a number of historicals set in the 1800s. How important is it to you to connect with other historical writers of your time period who are willing to share what they have learned through their research? Do you have three or four of your personal favorite sites, books, or blogs you can share here, and what makes each special to you?" - Sandy

Vickie: Thank you for having me as a guest, Sandy. I’m excited to be here.

In this day and time, researching a historical novel is far easier than it’s ever been. The Internet makes researching a topic fairly simple and quick, but you do need to be sure that the information you find is correct. It’s always a good idea to find at least three sources for the same information before you trust it to be accurate.

Online writers groups are another modern resource. I’m a member of several, including ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and a couple of local groups. It’s nice to have other writers, especially those who write in your genre, to bounce ideas off of and to go to for research help. I’m in one group that is especially helpful as it’s a group of 150 writers who all write books set in the 19^th century. This allows us to discuss topics that relate to all of our books, and we benefit from each member’s special expertise.

Finding tiny details is often hard, but those minute details, like the kinds of flowers that grow in the town I’m writing about or the type of fabric my heroine’s dress is made of really make the story come alive to my readers. They can see the vivid color and scent of the flowers in their mind and hear the swish of the heroine’s silk dress when you give them the details. There are many great websites to help with this kind of information.

One of my favorites is the Food Timeline:  http://www.foodtimeline.org

This website is a wealth of information, all about food. I found the name of a historical cookbook that my current heroine will be using. Besides checking out the timeline on the Home page, be sure to click on the ‘Food history A-Z’ link to discover gobs of food information and history. And if you don’t find what you need there, you can email the website’s owner, Lynne Oliver, who very graciously answers questions and helps with additional research.

When I need to know the types of flowers, shrubs, and trees in a specific area, I’ll Google “native flowers of Kansas”—or whatever state I’m writing about. Here’s a good one I found yesterday: http://www.kswildflower.org Most states have similar websites.

Tip: Another good way to find local flora and fauna is to do a search on ‘ranches for sale’ in the area you’re writing about. Often the ads will list the wildlife and types of trees and grasses that are found in the area, as well as include some fabulous photos. I’ve found this usually works better for ranches with a western setting.

Historical societies are another place to find excellent information, and they often include links to other sites. Here’s the one for Kansas: http://www.kshs.org/  (Can you guess where my current series is set?)

I’ve written a number of books set in Texas, and my favorite research site for that state is The Handbook of Texas Online. You can find it by going to the Texas State Historical Association: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online There is an incredible wealth of information on Texas history there.

Texas Bob has lots of interesting info on his website, including a fabulous Texas Timeline: http://www.texasbob.com/txdoc/index.html

When I get stuck and need a new way to describe a physical attribute, I go to The Book Thesaurus website: http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com  I love this site. If you scroll down, on the right-hand side is a list of different kinds of thesauruses, from a Physical Attributes thesaurus, to Color and Shapes, Emotions, to a Settings thesaurus. This website is gold, and any writer not using it as a resource is missing out.

One final website I’d like to share is an especially important one. When you write a historical, no matter the time period, you want to be sure to use words that were in use then. Nothing jars you more than reading a historical set in the 1870s and to read that the hero carved a toy truck for a child. A great website for finding when a word was first used is http://www.etymonline.com

I could go on and on, but I don’t want to bore you. Research can be tedious but it doesn’t have to be difficult.

~

Vickie McDonough is an award-winning author of 26 books and novellas. Her novels include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series and the 3^rd & 6^th books in the Texas Trails series. Her novel, Long Trail Home, won the Inspirational category of the 2012 Booksellers’ Best Awards. Watch for Vickie’s new series Pioneer Promises, which is set in 1870s Kansas. The first book, Whispers on the Prairie, releases this summer. To learn more about Vickie, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com

So, what about you? Do you have a group or people with whom you share research resources? What are some of your favorite internet sites for research (and it doesn't have to be historical)? Let's exchange ideas and sources for various genres.