When Men Were Men and Women Were Everything Writing Historical Romances

When Men Were Men and Women Were Everything
Writing Historical Romances
By
Becci Clayton

What character can feed a household of hundreds, practice healing arts, raise babies, animals and organic produce, wield a sword like a warrior and conquer her man's heart, all in a single day? Why, the heroine of historical romances, of course! It's what Susan Wiggs describes as the "larger than life" or medieval heroine.

Why do we love her? In Susan's words it is, "One of the aspects readers find so gratifying...because in the resolution of the love story, the hero is made to accept that the woman he loves is a strong, brave, independent person and not his inferior." Mix in the added difficulty of following the different and often stringent etiquette and social norms of the time period plus the beauty and danger of a more primitive time and you have the perfect mix for romantic conflict. More than any other type of story, historicals can use the setting to heighten the emotional appeal and intensity of our story. Not only must our heroine prove herself strong and brave in the face of adversity but she must do it during times in history when strong women were frowned upon or even disowned for being what she was naturally--a leader among men!

What are some of the popular time periods? Most major publishers are now listing historicals as any time prior to 1900. Just a few popular periods include:

Regency Romance - (1811-1820) - This was a period noted for stylish elegance alongside obvious excess and severely polished manners. Think Jane Austen.

Time-Travel - While usually thought of past history, the key here, no matter the time setting, is the heroine's (or hero's) reaction to the differences between their time and the time where the story takes place.

Victorian - Think beautiful straight lace, gaudy amounts of furnishings and naughty books.

Western - In today's market, this almost always refers to the "American West" and all things "cowboy"--Indians, covered wagons, wide-open prairies, and horses.

Then there are Medieval, Viking, Georgian, King Arthur, King Richard, Native American themes/periods...well, you get the point. But, what makes these stories so believable?

RESEARCH!

Accuracy is critical in writing historicals. For example, it is possible (although not very likely) that in the late 1830's your character might be riding in a caboose. Prior to this time, the term referred to the galley of a merchant ship--an even less likely place for her to secure seating. Another critical point to remember is dialogue, dialect, and language usage. As with any of our characters, correct word usage and speech patterns for the time period are critical. I have read many manuscripts where the setting and time was correct for the story but then a character used "ain't" during the prime and proper Edwardian period! Ain't is listed as modern slang, by-the-way.

But who has time for heavy, time-staking research you ask? Talk about something that is history! With the Internet and the numerous search engines available, what once took hours or days at the library, now only takes minutes. I have listed only a few of the thousands of research sites available on the Internet.

General History Research - http://history.cc.ukans.edu/history/vl (large general history database); http://users.erols.com/cosby/diana.html (Great site includes herbs and poisons, pirate, Viking, Scottish, and police links)

Manners/Etiquette - www.mindspring.com/~thinds/jmh/etiquetteurls.htm; www.dstylus.com/victorianlady/default.html

Victorian Era - www.victoriana.com; www.spiritone.com/zsk

Fashion - http://heyerlist.org/gardenrobe (19th century fashion)

Civil War - www.civilwar.com (general information); www.access.digez.net/~bdboyle/cw.html (for hard core research buffs); www.cwartillery.org/artillery.html (artillery information)

English Titles/British Peerage - www.camelotintl.com/heritage/peerage.html; www.royal.gov.uk/history/crown.htm (titles from Anglo-Saxons to the Windsors); www.britannia.com/panorama/earldoms.html (evolution of English titles)

For those tried and true book references you might look at:

Don't Know Much About History by Kenneth C. Davis, (Avon; general chronological American history)

English Through the Ages by William Brohaugh, (Writer's Digest; record of words from old English to modern-day slang)

And don't overlook good old Webster -- Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (9th Edition and newer) and Dictionary of English Usage. A quick reference, these will show you not only the meanings of words but when they were first used in everyday language.

The whole series of Writer's Digest "The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in..."

Another great resource is the children's section of public libraries. These will contain brief, illustrated references for almost every time period you can think of to write.

CD-ROM Encyclopedias and search engines - This seems almost redundant since most of the major encyclopedias are now available on the Internet. Yahoo, Lycos, Dogpile, and AltaVista are fantastic for word searches on topics and web sites.

Isn't modern technology wonderful? Without even leaving our office chairs, we can research and write entire historical novels! Although we may think of history as "simpler times", having to feed the household, lay new rushes, feed the children, weave tapestries, tend the garden, mend war wounds, defend the castle and all of this before noon--doesn't sound so simple to me! No thanks. I'll take my nice little climate-controlled office and padded ergonomic chair any day. Now, I think I'll have a pizza delivered and dream about my heroine's simpler life of slaying dragons.

Just think, in only another hundred years or so, some writer will be accessing references on the barbaric ways we writers of "today" wrote our historical novels. I'd bet money though, that the heroine will be a strong, capable woman and that her relationship with the hero will stand the test of time--no matter the time period.

Even with her Bachelor's in managment, Becci choses to write historicals and time-travels and has done so for about four years now. She's a freelance author, reviews ebooks for eBookconnections.com, and is this year's HODRW contest chair.