Writing historicals

There's an interesting piece on writing historicals here for those who practice the art and those who enjoy reading them. Hilary Mantel has been speaking at the Edinburgh Writers' Conference recently about her trilogy on the life and death of Thomas Cromwell. She aims to have a turning point in every scene, she says. Lots of turning points. That's a good strategy, but difficult to achieve.

She also thinks it is difficult to give the reader historical information (ie background info) plus foreground information and character information as well.  I can see what she means. Add historical information for background, ie to set the scene in context of what is happening around the character, and critique groups start jumping up and down screaming Info Dump!

I exaggerate, of course, but there is a grain of truth here. The historical information must, it is claimed, be relevant to the character and their actions, and not inserted just because it is interesting in it's own right. But what of the claim that without a background setting, the character is meaningless? If he wanders through the story, swashbuckling left and right, but without reference to the happenings of the time, doesn't the story become a meaningless fantasy?

It's all in the balance, they claim. But my balance may want more historical detail than you do, and the person who lives next door might want no real history at all, but simply wants to skim through the story and wildly excited by the buckle and swash. I'm slowly learning to make more turning points, and to add my background information in an interesting, even lyrical way.
It's just a pity I didn't start all this thirty years earlier.

Grand days out

I would normally have done this post earlier today as I'm well aware that most bloggers and readers "go home" at weekends. But today I'm late because I have been out gallivanting around town with a long-time friend. We've been friends since we were twelve years old, and that's a long, long time ago, let me tell you! A splendid day with lunch somewhere new, a discussion on books and a promise of Wolf Hall just as soon as she finishes reading it. I really should read it soon as its about Thomas Cromwell and almost "my" period of history.

The pic is what you would see if you stood where I was standing in the last pic - ie leaning on the Beheading Stone. It will enlarge if you click on it, and then you should get a good idea of Stirling looking south with the castle probably just out of sight on the extreme right.

Work goes on in between these jolly jaunts. I'm up to chapter eight of the wip, on what is really a third draft since I went through each chapter several times on what I laughingly referred to as the first draft. It is coming along nicely, and I think it is the best thing I've done so far. Still a way to go. Almost everything I read these days is connected to the wip in some way. My latest read is partially set in Stirling - The Merchant's Mark by Pat McIntosh, an author I've never noticed before. It is set a little before my period, in 1492, but interesting for all that. And I am having great fun working in all my little bits of research - but not making them info dumps, oh no no. The trick, I think, is to look at the info through the eyes of the POV character. Would they think it was interesting, out of the ordinary in any way? Or something they see or smell every day of their lives? Then write it as they think of it. Sounds easy, doesn't it?

Heaven preserve me from info dumps!