Research for writing

[Hannah]

Any body have and ideas on how to get info on England pre-revolutionary war, and during the war?
My character is leaving colonial America just before the war starts to be a governess to her cousins in England, she stays in England for 4 years.

~I don’t know what I’m doing~

[Kate Flournoy]

@Salome01w4g Hmm… not myself, but we do have a few historical fiction authors on here, so let me do some tagging for you.

@MarkMcGuire @WarrioroftheRealm @Northerner (though I realize your stuff is a lot older; still, any researching tips?).

INFP. kateeverythingwriting.wordpress.com

[Northerner]

@Salome01w4g look up re-enacting groups. There’ll be a lot on the American side of things during the war, but you might find some eighteenth-century re-enactors in England too. British and European re-enactors tend to have even stricter standards and go deeper with their research than American ones, and in this case,they’ll have a lot more access to primary sources, so they’re a good source.

After you do enough research you’ll get a feel for what sources are reliable and what ones aren’t. Avoid places that make sweeping generalizations. Some things may be true for the whole century, but a statement that begins, “All eighteenth-century. . .” is suspect. A healthy list of works cited is a good thing: the number of sources isn’t the only important thing, the quality of them matters too.

Ask specific questions. “Anglo-Saxon personal life” is a huge topic and nothing is going to cover every little detail properly. If you know exactly what you’re looking for, though, and you search for “Anglo-Saxon bathing customs”, you may not get a lot of good answers, but you’ll get something closer to the topic, and maybe ideas of where to search next. “Eleventh-century clothes” gets you answers for things from all over the place, but searching “11th century English man’s clothes” will narrow the answers to the relevant things.

Once in a while you’ll come across a well-researched novel set in your time period. It’s rare, though. Don’t use novels as a source. People who write novels have the best of intentions (usually), but may get things wrong — by doing research wrong, by using outdated theories, using unreliable sources, they’ll end up perpetuating misinformation and misconceptions. Reading in your genre and particular time period is good to learn what your target audience likes, and to learn what not to do, and how not to copy the common cliches. But don’t take your equals as authourities.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3)

[Hannah]

@Northerner Thank you and thank you! I completely stopped writing for a couple months because I felt like I hit a brick wall with research. Thank you for the advice!

~I don’t know what I’m doing~

[Northerner]

@Salome01w4g how much of the story have you gotten written, apart from the research and notes and things? I find it helpful to research enough so that I know my plot won’t be anachronistic, and then write it, and research the smaller things during and afterward — that way I don’t find myself with a pile of notes and no story, too overwhelmed with Stuff to start writing.

You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3)

[Hannah]

@Northerner first I had to go look up what anachronistic meant …. XD
about 4 chapters (well I’m in the fourth chapter) My Protagonist is preparing to leave for America, so I’m researching life on a British military ship and life in England at the very beginning of the war.
I’ll give a bit of a run down on what my story is like

A young woman named Pennie is the step daughter to a cruel step mother, receives a request from her aunt and uncle to be a governess to there twin daughters. Pennie is struggling with bitterness from her home life , and in escape accepts there proposition and goes to England just before the war breaks out, the war breaks out and she serves her family in England for 4 years before her father’s apprentice (Peter) comes and brings her back because of some tragic circumstances. (No- spoilers) Anyway the premise is her overcoming her bitterness (sorta a James 1 type thing) easy, kinda accept for the time period I chose. 🙁

~I don’t know what I’m doing~

[Hannah]

@Northerner would you consider Ancestry.com a reputable place for research? I found a few articles there

~I don’t know what I’m doing~

[Northerner]

@Salome01w4g, I haven’t done anything with Ancestry.com, partly because my research is 11th-century stuff. It seems reputable? I dunno, really. I’ll look up examples of sites I’m confident about and ones that don’t give off the same feel at all, to show you what I mean.

You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3)

[SeekJustice]

@Salome01w4g lots of people use Ancestry for researching family history and I’ve heard its very good, though I haven’t actually used it myself. Other than that, @Northerner has some really good tips which I completely agree with. I’m not really up there in American history, is the Revolutionary War the war for independence from England? I have an incomplete set of books which chronicle the history of England from prehistoric times to modern history, something like that might be good to get your hands on.

INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.

[Hannah]

@SeekJustice Yes it is the war for independence, though what I am looking for is life in England during the war.

~I don’t know what I’m doing~

[Author]

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