BE HISTORICALLY ACCURATE WHEN WRITING

---written by Carolyn C. Holland

When writing a historical piece or novel, it’s important to write accurately about the era in which it occurs.

I’m writing a novel that extends from about 1785 to 1845, but mostly 1791-1798. Geographically, it extends from revolutionary France to Alexandria, along the Va./Philadelphia, Pa./Boston, Ma., to Scioto County, Ohio and finally to Lamoine, Maine. Characters include upper echelon Frenchmen (including Jean-Jacques d"Epermesnil, William de la Roche and Talleyrand) and Americans (including Henry Jackson, Henry Knox, William Duer and George Washington). Note: I didn't know these names before doing my research.

What is today wasn’t in the late 1700s, I soon discovered. After writing several scenes I realized---the site wasn’t Lamoine, Maine, in the 1790s. It was Trenton, Massachusetts. Back to the drawing board I went to do historically correct writing! I realized I had to research the land as it was back then, which meant using maps and references.

Names of towns change. My community became a borough in 1982. Before that it was part of a township. When writing about community residents or the history of the community, the town name must be consistent with the era.

Language was different too. Many of the documents I’ve found are in French---1790s French, which differs, of course, from the modern language. It’s bad enough that I don’t do today’s language---even French teachers are challenged by the old language!

The same is true of English. How did they speak along the 1790s Atlantic seacoast?

I was admonished about a 1789 scene in the Bunch of Grapes Tavern in Boston. Fortunately I had the original documents used to craft the dialogue. Much to everyone’s surprise, the leaders of that time used pretty intelligent language and "my" created dialogue wasn’t out of character.

Even when writing articles set in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s you must be cognizant of the language and setting. Using today’s colloqialisms used in 1950s dialogue will discredit your writing.

Pay attention to detail. SOMEONE reading your material will pick up on your errors and you will lose credibility.

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COMMENTS:
 
Hawthorne spent 15 or more years totally submersed in the puritan period that preceeded him. After he had completly digested all of the mores and folkways and belifes that the puritans held, he could convincingly write about them. The casual reader assumes that Hawthorne was a contemporary of the villagers he wrote about. Read "The Hollow Between the Three Hills" for an example of powerful evocative ideas beautifully expressed.

Comment:
Thanks I appreciate your comments about Nathaniel Hawthorne. I've spent three years researching for this novel, and on my last trip to the New England (Maine) coast I climbed Schoodic Mountains and visited the Ovens to enhance my scenes in the book (see the reports under the category Carolyn Travels on this blog). Carolyn