1. If your hero is riddled with angst, it'll be because someone is trying to overthrow him, not because he is having a mid-life crisis.
2. There is seldom a need to have one character say to another, "I'll be there for you," "I'm conflicted," or, "You're just not meeting my needs." (Unless, of course, the need is for a male heir.)
3. Your heroine can be slightly plump yet not obsessed about losing weight.
4. The heroine, if she works at all, need not work in the publishing industry.
5. War, revolution, disease, infant mortality, and childbed fever allow you to kill off your characters with mad abandon when they start to get on your nerves.
6. You can buy all sorts of books in your field of interest and tell your spouse that they are for research purposes.
7. Your heroine can wear just plain shoes, not Jimmy Choos.
8. You will not have to write 400 pages about a woman who is juggling her family and her career.
9. If you get facts wrong, you can shrug off your critics on the ground that all fact is the biased distortion of (a) male chroniclers, (b) academic historians, (c) the victors, (d) the Church, (e) all or any combination of the above.
10. No man looks bad in shining armor.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Ten Reasons to Write Historical Fiction Set in Medieval Times
I've published two historical novels set in fourteenth-century England and featuring the Despenser family: The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II and Hugh and Bess. My third novel, The Stolen Crown, set during the Wars of the Roses, is narrated by Henry, Duke of Buckingham, and his wife, Katherine Woodville. My fourth novel, The Queen of Last Hopes focuses on Margaret of Anjou, one of the most maligned queens in English history. I am currently working on a novel set in Tudor England. I use this blog to post about history (mostly late medieval and Tudor England), historical fiction, and whatever strikes my fancy from time to time. Thanks for stopping by!
The title of this blog, by the way, comes from the song "Evil Woman" by the Electric Light Orchestra. Back when this song was new, I misheard the lyrics as "Medieval Woman."
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12 comments:
Very funny!
I love that!
"No man looks bad in shining armor"
It helps that you can't see most of their face! LOL!
Funny, Susan. I apply No. 6 to writing in other periods, lol.
Excellent. Loved this!
This works for most of history except for number 10 in the Tudor era - as "no man looks bad in tights (or should that be hose?)" may not exactly ring true....
I beg to differ, Deborah. I should think some men would look disastrous in tights!
Great stuff!
Brilliant, Susan!
Lol, those are funny. Especially #9.
That's very funny!
Thanks, Gabriele & Diane!
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