Interview - An Enthusist's Perspecitve

Finally, for our last interview, I have an interview ith Sarah Zinn, college student and reader of historical fiction. And through her reading, she's gained a lot of knowledge of the time periods in question.

KR:	So, to start off, who are you and what do you do?
SZ:	My name is Sarah Zinn, and I’m a senior English major in college.
KR:	Generally speaking, what time period do you tend to be most interested in?
SZ:	Mostly 19th-century literature, but I also enjoy a lot of writing from the early 1900s. That’s probably the historical period I’m most interested in, though I prefer slightly earlier literature, on the whole.
KR:	Have you read a lot of historical fiction from and about that time period?
SZ:	From the 19th century? Yes, I would say so. The Bronte sisters, the Shelleys, Oscar Wilde, the Rossettis, Ruskin, Keats/Byron/the literary circle of Leigh Hunt, Austen, H. Rider Haggard, Thoreau and the Transcendentalists (sounds like a good band name, doesn’t it?), Blake, Dickens, Whitman, Dickinson, Hardy, Hawthorne, James, Kipling, Melville, Poe, Stevenson, Stowe, Thackeray, Wordsworth…
KR:	From what you've read, have you been able to learn some things about what life was like in those periods?
SZ:	Boy, I sure hope so! I’ve taken a lot of English classes that have focused on gender relations during that century, and I think it’s a fascinating topic. Victorian social norms (and much of the stereotypes we assign to them) were in full swing for much of the period, but the seeds of women’s rights were just starting to sprout a little by the end of the century. A lot of that was influenced by advances in technology, medicine, and healthcare. Speaking of which, industrialization first hit England in the beginning of the century, and that was a HUGE element that many writers responded to in their work. I would venture to say that the prevailing cultural aversion to topics of sex helped bring about gothic novels and poetry that dealt with unconscious desires, loss of innocence, and the more “animalistic” impulses within human nature – stuff Freud would go on to famously analyze in the next century.
KR:	Are there any little fun facts about daily life from that period?
SZ:	Well, not many people know that John Keats, the famous Romantic poet, was first trained to be a surgeon (which wasn’t a glorious profession at all, in fact – it pretty much meant he was the “amputation boy,” and he didn’t get paid well for it, either). Tuberculosis was all the rage, which means that a good majority of your female characters will die tragically of “consumption” in many books. It was the period most famous for women’s corsets and remarkably constricting clothing. Pollution (which was a new thing) made life in big cities pretty miserable for the urban poor, and “temperance” (anti-alcohol) movements became big in England and America. Europe was still recovering from the French Revolution, for the most part, during the first half of the century, but the second half saw the outbreaks of many minor revolutions that became politically significant later on. The Civil War broke out in America, and common notions of slavery were completely transformed by the end of the century. British imperialism gave birth to the stereotypical image of the handle-bar-mustached Briton wearing a safari outfit and pith helmet, journeying through jungles and savannahs in search of “natives” and big game. It’s also kind of funny to think about how widespread the fear of being buried alive in Victorian times was (going back to the gothic novel thing) – people were buried with little pull-strings connected to bells so that they could alert the graveyard attendant (get it? he took the graveyard shift?) if they weren’t quite dead enough yet. Frighteningly enough, that actually ended up saving a lot of lives….
KR:	If someone were to write from this time period, what's something they should keep in mind to make sure they stay historically accurate?
SZ:	I think a lot of modern-day writers are fascinated by the class and gender elements of (especially English) 19th-century culture, and while, in retrospect, those issues seem hugely important, I don’t think it’s what many people woke up in the morning thinking about. Of course, if you read literature from the period, you’ll find commentary on those issues, but by and large writers are philosophers more than anything else. Sometimes it’s difficult to keep in mind (while writing historical fiction) that people’s day-to-day lives felt as normal to them as going to the grocery store nowadays feels to you. I think we tend to either romanticize the period or paint it as exotic in some way (steampunk culture, anyone?), and it’s difficult to portray it as “normal” in its own way.

And there you have it. Special thanks to Sarah Zinn for taking the time to answer these questions! 

Zinn, S. (2012, May 02). Interview by K. Robinson [Personal Interview].

Podcast - Names and Naming

And now, for something a little different... today's entry is a podcast. And in that podcast I'll be talking about something pretty basic, but pretty important: names. 

Hamper, R. (1998). .. during the late roman republic. Retrieved from http://www.therthdimension.org/AncientRome/RomanNaming/romannaming.htm

Guest Post - More on Microfiche

As a further follow-up to my post on how to read microfiche, we'll get to hear from Colton Mraz - author of the blog L2Photograph - on another method of reading microfiche:

An Alternative Solution to Reading Microfiche 

There is another method to reading microfiche data, though not always most effective, you can use your computer! A microfiche storage device can be viewed on screen if it has first been digitally captured. 

In order to digitize microfiche, you need to find yourself a special scanner which is able to read the data. Once the data is collected, the scanner will then digitize it so that it may be viewed on any standard analog screen.

 

Some individuals have tried to use their standard flatbed scanner as a means of digitizing microfiche data. Some have succeeded in doing so, others have not. 

The downside to not being able to digitize your microfiche with your standard flatbed scanner is the fact that you will have to find a rather rare and quite expensive microfiche scanner; but as Kristen mentions in her previous post, it is probably wiser to just gather all of the microfiche you wish to read and then rent a reader. 

You may also be concerned about being able to reverse the process by creating a microfiche from your digital data. Be advised however, this is expensive and usually outsourced to professionals, so only pursue if genuinely interested.

Interview - A Publisher's Perspective

 To give you all a bit of a different perspective on the importance of historical accuracy, in this entry we have an interview with Tara Powers, who works for a publishing company. 

KR:	So, to start off, who are you and what do you do?
TP:	My name is Tara Powers, and I'm a Trade Project Editor in the managing editorial department of W. W. Norton & Company, a publishing house in Manhattan, New York.
KR:	Do you see a lot of historical fiction in your line of work?
TP:	As a house, Norton doesn't do a huge amount of fiction. But of the fiction we've been contracting lately, quite a lot of it has been historically based, yes.
KR:	Of the ones you see, are they often checked for historical accuracy?
TP:	Always. Part of the job of our copyeditors is to fact check any names, dates, and general details about events based in history that come up in a book that is being marketed as a historical fiction title. This can be fairly time-intensive, especially if the novels are long ones, but it's a necessity.
KR:	Have you ever heard of there being complaints among readers and reviewers if a story is historically inaccurate?
TP:	I can't recall a specific complaint, but I do know that Norton accepts phone calls or emails from readers who find errors and inconsistencies in our books. We have changed dates and names in our other nonfiction historical titles when readers have reported inaccuracies, so I can only assume that the same can happen for fiction.
KR:	Any advice you have for those wanting to work on historical fiction, or else just fiction in particular?
TP:	Picking an interesting time period is key--we're getting more books about time periods like the French Canadian migration, things that haven't been covered extensively in fiction before and so have fresh story possibilities. Lots of time periods have been "in vogue" and sort of feel overdone at this point. Fiction is also the hardest genre in which to get a book signed--it's intensively competitive, and you really need to have a unique story idea and engaging characters to even get an agent or editor to read through your entire proposal.

I'd like to thank Tara Powers for taking the time to answer my questions. And I hope you all found the interview informative.

Powers, T. (2012, May 02). Interview by K Robinson [Web Based Recording]. 

Topics in History - Boats

Following up once more on one of my previous posts, this entry will be about boats and their development over time and in different areas.

In particular, we will be focusing on boats in the following eras and areas:

• Prehistoric
• Ancient Egyptian
• Ancient Chinese

 

Prehistoric Boats

Boats started out fairly simply, there there is controversy about where and how they began. One theory suggests that the first boats were rafts - first made out of bamboo, then wood (Vaucher, 2009).

Dugout Canoes would logically have followed next. A large tree trunk or chunk of wood would be burned, and then the burned parts would be scooped out to leave a hollow area (Lambert).

The main - if not only - method of propulsion at this time was people, usually via rowing.

Ancient Egyptian Boats

Ancient Egyptian boats were made of papyrus reeds, as wood was much more scarce (Reshafim, 2000). Boats were mainly steered with oars, but the Egyptians made several advancements - particularly with the development of the sail (Lambert). They first used leafy branches and plants, though later sails of woven reeds replaced them (Williamson, 2007). Between this and the development of canals, boats and rafts became one of the primary forms of transportation throughout Ancient Egypt.

Boats were used to foster even more trade between areas. The exchange of items and information led to a more interconnected world. However, because of the simplicity of early boats, trade routes were often highly influenced by the time of year, as seasonal winds made sailing easy in some directions and near-impossible in others (Reshafim, 2001).

Ancient Chinese Boats

China's most famous ancient ship is known as a "junk," developed during the Han Dynasty - around 300 B.C. -  300 A.D.  (Country Facts & Information, 2004). While the junk had many features, one of the biggest and most influential one was its sail. The junk's sail was designed so it could be moved and turned, allowing a boat to sail into the wind (Country Facts & Information, 2004) .

Sources

Country Facts & Information. (2004). Ancient china ships. Retrieved from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/china/ancient-china-ships/2414

Lambert, T. (n.d.). A brief history of transportation. Retrieved from http://www.localhistories.org/transport.html 

Reshafim, K. (2000). Ships and boats: The archealogical evidence. Retrieved from http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/navigation.htm 

Reshafim, K. (2001). Means of transportation. Retrieved from http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/means_of_transportation.htm 

Vaucher, J. (2009). Prehistoric boats. Retrieved from http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~vaucher/RW/Voiliers/page1/page1.html 

Williamson, M. (2007, September 07). The first boats. Retrieved from http://warandgame.com/2007/09/07/the-first-boats/ 

Know your Resources - How to Read Microfiche

Following up my previous post about library resources, I thought I might take the time to explain how to read microfiche. Microfiche, as my previous post explains, are essentially books and other materials printed on small pieces of celluloid. It's a great way for libraries to store large collections of information in much smaller spaces. 

However, microfiche cannot be read normally. And that's why I'm going to take you through the process of reading a microfiche. 

We'll pick up the process right after you've found your resource.

1. Check to see if the resource you found is in microfiche



Here you can see that the resource is in microfiche,
the call number, and that it is available as an eBook

2. Make sure that the microfiche resource is not available as an eBook
3. Write down the call number
4. Look for the resource in your library's microfiche section 
5. Pull out all the sections of your resource
6. Go check at your library's circulation desk to rent a microfiche reader
7. Turn the microfiche reader on
8. Slip the celluloid pages into the microfiche reader one at a time
9. Use the computer program provided to capture the individual pages
10. Once you are finished, save the pages
    

After this point, you can usually do one of two things: 

• If the microfiche reader provides internet access, you can email the pages to yourself 
• Otherwise, you can save the pages to a zip drive

Additionally, here are a few additional notes from my own experience reading microfiche: 

• Reading microfiche is very time consuming. If you have an alternate way of getting the same resource - such as an eBook, use it. 
• Many microfiche resources are printed on multiple "pages." Some libraries may store all the pages together on in one file, or they may store the pages individually in different files right next to each other. Make sure to check  
• Microfiche readers usually have a short rental time - the one I used was two hours, with no grace period. Make sure to get all the microfiche you want to have read first before you rent one.
• Some libraries may give you a set of specific instructions on how to use the microfiche reader. If they do so, refer to that. If they don't, don't be afraid to ask for help from the librarians. They usually have someone nearby just for that purpose.

So far as microfiche go, that is about it - except for one thing. How does this tie in with historical character creation? It ties in the same way that learning about a college library does: microfiche has resources that you can't find elsewhere.

And having the best resources will make your character more realistic and believable to your readers, which is the entire point. 

Interview - Advice from a Creative Writing Teacher

In order to give you, the readers some good advice about creating historical characters, I have an interview with LeeAnn Derdeyn a creative writing professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. I thought I would ask her about some of the basic of writing historical characters:

KR:	Do you see a lot of historical stories (and by extension, historical characters) in your class?
LD:	I don’t see a lot of historical stories in my intro classes, but I do see some. Also, people occasionally take recognizable characters from the past & try to bring them au courant into the present or even project them into the future.
KR:	Of the ones you see, are there any eras or periods that tend to come up more often?
LD:	The 19th century tends to get the most coverage. It’s easy to exemplify the “can-do” American spirit through tales of the West, and pre-technology narratives offer their own sets of tensions. After this era, when I let students veer from the “real” world setting, I’ll often get some version with magic that is perceived as a ‘medieval world’ tale but usually is only some version of “Dungeons & Dragons” or something else they’ve seen or played.
KR:	What are some common mistakes that you see in historical characters (both inside the class and elsewhere)?
LD:	Writers often make anachronisms with historical characters or eras through ignorance. I don’t mean stupidity, but literally ignorance—not knowing. They’ll put what they think is archaic language in their characters’ mouths that either never was spoken as such or is from the wrong period. Or the reverse, they’ll use words with connotations that haven’t become in use or word sequences or slang or phrases that haven’t yet occurred. Writers might also include objects or concepts that haven’t yet been invented, or things that were already long out of vogue or usage. However, there’s also the problem of ‘shibboleths.’ What word does a particular timeframe or culture predominantly use for an object? If you’re writing a British story, you can’t use the words “stroller” or “cookie” or “fries.”
KR:	What are some of the ways to avoid these mistakes?
LD:	The best way to avoid these mistakes is to follow the age-old adage: “Write what you know!” If you write characters who live in a world like yours, who have jobs, school, friends, interests, likes & dislikes, speech patterns, habits, etc. like yours – you’re not going to screw it up. But if you want to go out on a limb and write something you don’t know intimately, then do what I call “rhizome research.” Google everything: culture, architecture, art, music, pop culture, food, housing, jobs & economies, dress, trends, what major events happened in the 5-10 years preceding your setting—try to get a handle on anything & everything in cultural conversation for your characters. Last semester, a student wrote a story set in Tokyo, but it could have been Dallas: there were no geographical place holders. Ditto this semester except it was a vacation in Trinidad (to which place the author had never been). I just happened to be reading A House for Mr. Biswas so the difference between the descriptions of a Literature Nobel Prize winning, native Trinidadian (or Tobagan depending on which isle they grew up on… see what Google can do for you?) and that of my student who didn’t include any lush details—well, use your imagination. My point being—not writing what you know takes a huge learning curve, a major time and interest investment, but you’ve got to be willing to make that to get a good story or game narrative. Because someone will know when you screw it up (and possibly, sometimes probably, multiple someones).
KR:	Is there any other advice you have for someone looking to do research for creating a historical character or story?
LD:	If you can, find someone who will read what you write (or with whom you can exchange work for critiques) who will tell you like it is. Kindness & comfort in a reader guarantees you a readership of one. But you also don’t want a reader who is never generous enough to notice your successes. Then, just like when you read great literature from different eras, you must be willing to be susceptible to that world—to understand how the concept of what a ‘human person’ is for that world might be different. Their cultural myths and motivations might be totally foreign to yours. Do not make your characters time-travel into your world, nor make them seers and prophets for things they can’t possibly know. Make their worlds authentic habitats, and make them organic to that habitat. Mostly, always keep reading the good stuff & learning across the spectrum. The broader your interests as a human being, the better worlds and characters you’re going to create.

I would like to thank Professor Derdeyn for taking the time to speak with me for this blog.  

  
Derdeyn, L. (2012, April 27). Interview by K. Robinson [Web Based Recording]