What happened the year you were born? What were the major
news stories, the most popular song, clothing styles, the car seen on the road
most, or was your country’s top leader? Where any of your favorite cookies or
beverages NOT invented yet? If you were to write one page describing your
average (present) day and then re-write it as if it was happening the year of
your birth, how do you think it would differ?
It’s not enough to be able to describe a setting down to the
finite details; you also need to understand the attitudes, social mores and
even political picture of the day. In the 1950s the average wife stayed at home
to take care of the house and children; in 2014 many wives work full time jobs
outside of the home, they may use an au-pair to help with the children, pick up
takeout food on the way home from work, balance their own checkbook, and make
independent decisions. Perhaps you might view a woman today who needs
permission from her husband to make a purchase, make social appointments, or
manages her home with an allowance doled out by her husband, to be strange, but
in the 1950s this was an accepted way of life.
If you are writing for a different time period than current
day, then start with research. Make sure you understand the time period you are
writing about no matter whether it’s 50-years ago or 400-years ago. Learn
popular phrases of the time, common foods and food storage, medicines and
prevalent ailments, common religious views, and the politics of the day. While
you don’t need to write a factual textbook (please do NOT write a textbook) describing
fashions, travel, schooling, you will need enough ACCURATE information to make
your readers feel as if they are there. Be very careful not to introduce
medical techniques, brand names, or historical events into a period before they
existed. For example, if you are writing a medical drama that takes place in
1965, don’t have a patient receive a medical miracle of an artificial heart;
the artificial heart was first used in 1969. If you mix chronological order you
are likely to lose your reader’s interest and trust in you as a writer.
The internet has a wealth of information relevant to history,
so do libraries and museums. Reference sites such as “this day in history,”
look up newspaper headlines from that time period, watch a TV show or movie
based in the years included, listen, when possible, to music from that era, and
explore enough of “that time” to infuse your book’s pages with description,
sentiment, obstacles and triumphs. Learn to understand the traditions,
political beliefs and period slang. Include real-life major historical events
and figures even if you are fictionalizing the main characters of your story.
When you look up popular names of the time, remember to use baby names from
your character’s year of birth and not the year of your story. If you are
writing about another location as well as time, make sure you are informed
regarding the nuances of that setting; you can visit an area in person, but
remember what you learn has to be compatible with the era of your story – do your
research.
Writing
Exercise: Describe what you ate during
one of your recent meals – do NOT say what the food was. Describe how it
tasted, the texture, the smell and anything else you sensed while eating this
food.
Writing
Prompt: List the titles of the last 5 to
10 movies or books you’ve read or seen. Use 5 single, stand-alone words to
describe the plot for each.
Challenge: 1.) It’s 2014 and you are attending a bridal
shower. Describe the setting and who is in attendance. Include specifics regarding ethnicity, location,
and religious influences. The bride-to-be opens her first ten gifts; make a
list of what they might be – describe each gift including brand name where
possible. 2.) Do the same exercise for the year you were born. 3) Repeat the
exercise for each of the following years: 1932, 1833, 1734. If bridal showers
were not the custom at those times, what would be the closest equivalent
custom? 4.) Briefly describe a bridal shower that takes place 50-years in the
future.
