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Total Newbie on all levels!

Carol

Scribe
Hello everyone,
I'm so pleased to have found Mythic Scribes.
Quick background, I'm a military historian (research the men not the events) and love historical romance. I have read a few fantasy novels over the years, but do not like Lord of the Rings - please don't hate me. I love Game of Thrones (the books) - not surprising I suppose with its strong historical base, and I do love dragons! I've read a couple of Terry Prachett, (loved Good Omens), Trudi Canavan's Black Magician series, Farenheit 451 is a favourite, as is Fatherland (Robert Harris).
I've been trying to write historical romance, but have been repeatedly frustrated by the behaviour/manners/social conventions, and disappearing down the worm-hole of research. I ranted to a friend in frustration about how I wish I could manipulate the plot etc. He reads Fantasy and Sci-Fi and his reply rocked me: 'But that falls into a sub-genre of fantasy.'
Oh? Really?
Its like a new lease of writing life! So here I am, and for the record I do not consider this an easy option; far from it. What it does mean for me is that I can attempt to 'do my own thing'. Alternate history, based on the UK, medieval-style society, with romance. There will be an occasional battle or two, there may or may not be dragons...
Any and all advice is welcome. Anyone else writing anything of this type, I'd like to connect.
And please - reading recommendations actively encouraged.
Thank you for bothering to read this. Do say hello.
Carol :)
 

DracoNako

Acolyte
Hello! I’m about as new here as you are, haha. What’s your favorite periods to research?

I also have to confess I didn’t vibe too well with LOTR. I didn’t read it until last year, so I think having the hype over it constantly shoved down my throat killed my enjoyment a bit. Not to mention, the writing is.... very thick. A product of the time, I suppose. GOT is, on a similar note, quite thick as well, but I found myself much more invested.

As for book recommendations... hmm. I don’t have any at the moment, but if I find something noteworthy, I’ll let you know!
 

Carol

Scribe
Hello - and thank you for replying.
As a military historian I'm what's known as a Redcoat - I research the Georgian and Victorian periods, but very specifically the Peninsular, Crimean and Boer wars, as well as topics like the Indian Mutiny. The difference is that I am interested in the soldiers who fought, rather than the battles etc.
For my fiction, its the British High and Late Middles Ages 1066-1485. As I'm attempting alternate kingdoms, I'm using the Middles Ages as a foundation and general guide, but I'm not going down the rabbit-hole of strict historical research. I could be gone for weeks! :)
What about you? What is your genre? What do you like to research?
 

DracoNako

Acolyte
I research the Georgian and Victorian periods, but very specifically the Peninsular, Crimean and Boer wars, as well as topics like the Indian Mutiny. The difference is that I am interested in the soldiers who fought, rather than the battles etc.

Oh, that’s fascinating! I’ve done some research on the Victorian era - more on the societal and technological front, though. This gives me new things to look into... Perhaps this is a silly question, but what fueled you to look into the people of these eras, rather than anything else about them? It’s certainly not an angle I’ve seen taken often - but perhaps I don’t look in the right spaces.

For my fiction, its the British High and Late Middles Ages 1066-1485. As I'm attempting alternate kingdoms, I'm using the Middles Ages as a foundation and general guide, but I'm not going down the rabbit-hole of strict historical research. I could be gone for weeks! :)

Ah, okay. Not an unpopular era to reference in fantasy, but I’m sure your research grants a more unique slant than others. Are you looking for a more heroic project? Political intrigue? Fascinating!

What about you? What is your genre? What do you like to research?

I tend to reach across various dimensions of speculative fiction. In the past, I’ve wrote politic-comedic fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal (not romance!), soft sci-fi, straight up political/heist fantasy.... currently, though, I’m working on a dark fantasy novel involving reincarnated gods and living dead people. As for research, the last thing I looked into was, as mentioned above, Victorian era technology. On a semi-regular basis, I also enjoy looking into the country of Malta, whose development has been influenced by the likes of numerous countries in the past. It intrigues me. Why Malta? My family comes from there! Or rather, my mother’s parents.
 

Carol

Scribe
I also enjoy looking into the country of Malta
My late father was in the Royal Navy, with what was then the Mediterranean Fleet. He ADORED Malta - apart from home (England) it was his favourite place in the world. Sadly he never managed to go back to visit. Such a brave island nation - especially in WW2.
 

Carol

Scribe
Perhaps this is a silly question, but what fuelled you to look into the people of these eras
That is so far from being a silly question. I have always loved history - I cannot remember a time when I wasn't interested. As a little girl my father told me stories (well really tall tales - like he was a powder monkey with Nelson). Books and reading were an obsession (still are) so of course I'd go off and find Ladybird history books etc and read them voraciously. Gradually you find your interests narrowing, and influenced by the tall-tales of British History, I've ended up where I am.
And I married a soldier so you know, it had to be Army...LOL!
 
Hello Carol and welcome to the Scribes! So happy to hear you're excitement for pursuing your idea. I hope the site can be an inspiration and a help to you a long the way. :)

There are as many ways to write a novel as novelists. The story is what matters most. My suggestion, since it seems you already have a grasp on a lot of the historical, is to write the story you want to write and don't get caught with your arm in the rabbit holes until you've got the basic structure. plot and outline. Like any author, you'll be rewriting a lot, editing, rehashing, pulling scenes apart, either way so working in all those social customs etc, and details we all obsess over, can come later. How someone enters a room, is announced at a function, reacts, proper language, social graces etc. I love the research part of it all too but, for myself, I found I had to set it aside and just write when it comes down to it, otherwise I'd never move forward! I think a lot of my first draft material is absent of 90% of the world building that will end up in the final draft and, what is in there is often stream of consciousness addition, not based on my world building but just what came to me in the moment. It will all find its way in later so I don't worry too much about it upfront. When I look at my story at that point, it could be any genre really. Its what I add later that takes it into the fantasy realm.
 

Carol

Scribe
Thank you. I write history books and articles so my writing focus is of course on detail, accuracy, etc. Switching to fiction hasn't been difficult per se, but as you beautifully highlight, those rabbit holes are a quagmire. Sometimes all a person needs is someone to point and say 'look, do that first, and then do that, and worry about the rest later'. You've done that for me so THANK YOU! :love:
I'm flailing a little less now! :)
 
Hi! I am sort of new too (i joined a few weeks ago). I am also very into history. I like all sorts of time periods. If you like reading historical romances, i think you should read Opal Plumstead by Jacqueline Wilson.
 

S J Lee

Inkling
Welcome! I'll say it again: just slap up the first 5 pages' worth on the critiques thread. Explaining sub-genres or what resarch you did or didn't do etc isn't worth much. Either it's good or it's lacking. Slap it up and get feedback, then adjust if you see a pattern in the feedback. And comment on a few other people there while you are at it, to encourage them to get back to you on your own stuff.
 

Carol

Scribe
Hi! I am sort of new too (i joined a few weeks ago). I am also very into history. I like all sorts of time periods. If you like reading historical romances, i think you should read Opal Plumstead by Jacqueline Wilson.

Jacqueline Wilson is an absolute legend!
Do you have a favourite period of history?
What do you want to write about?
:)
 

Carol

Scribe
Welcome! I'll say it again: just slap up the first 5 pages' worth on the critiques thread. Explaining sub-genres or what resarch you did or didn't do etc isn't worth much. Either it's good or it's lacking. Slap it up and get feedback, then adjust if you see a pattern in the feedback. And comment on a few other people there while you are at it, to encourage them to get back to you on your own stuff.

Thank you for the welcome and advice. Its much appreciated.
I'm very confident with regards to my history writing, but then I've been doing that for a long time and had some local history books published, as well as articles in journals etc. My stories though, its like leaving your baby naked in public and inviting strangers to prod and poke it, then comment on the baby's beauty or lack thereof. (I know - I need to get over myself.) Posting my fiction requires an amount of bravery that I'm working my way up to, but I will get there soon enough.
 
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