I’m currently writing a historical novel set at the end of the Civil War. My characters live in Western North Carolina on a mountain without internet. What? No online food ordering? And while I may be old enough to remember life before the internet, I certainly don’t know what it’s like to live in a mostly isolated area without running water, electricity, plumbing, and the threat of war down the mountain.
Fiction writers create believable characters readers trust in book after book. It’s the job. Historical fiction writers do too, with the added task of structuring the story on historical accuracy. We have to be careful not to impose societal norms, progressive thought, and/or scientific evidence not yet discovered on characters in the past. We are living in a different time and under different circumstances. We have to keep our knowledge of today from informing our characters’ words, actions, and feelings.
So, how do we keep that in check? How do we write it right?
Research Informs Everything
The most obvious answer is thoughtful research with trusted resources. Be meticulous. Read old newspapers, seek out experts, watch reels of microfiche whiz by without getting sick. What’s important is to pay attention to the details. We can get caught up in moving the plot and overlook a simple problem.
For example, a man (let’s call him Tom) who works in an office environment in the 1950s wouldn’t send a facsimile. The fax machine as we know it today (and I know I’m dating myself here) wasn’t invented until 1964. That’s an easy one and so is finding out what kind of suit Tom would wear to work or what kind of car he drives.
Here is a slightly harder one: Does Tom drive his car on the interstate? When were highways, byways, loops, and state roadways built? Make sure his route is possible.
Your Characters Can’t See The Future—Unless They Can
For readers to accept Tom, he has to not only think and look and act like he belongs, but he can’t see into the future unless that’s part of the story. He has to depend on information and knowledge that someone living in his time would have. This is an important part of ensuring the story’s historical accuracy and Tom’s harmony with the period. Because, after all, it isn’t just Tom who has to fit; his environment has to as well.
If we return to the facsimile example, checking the technology used in a period is paramount, especially in today’s advanced world. Sometimes we forget that answering machines weren’t always a thing. More importantly, would the recording of someone’s voice on a box that is connected to another box with a noise-handle that connects you to someone who is not standing next to you make sense in your story’s time?
If Tom lived in the 1700s, he would have no reference to an answering machine or a telephone. Even the idea of one would be out of the question. He cannot conceptualize something not yet invented.
Forget Today’s Standards
In the late 1800s, the mountains of North Carolina were home to gritty, self-reliant, loyal, and loving people. Honestly, the character of mountain people hasn’t changed much. You’ll still find them walking miles to help a neighbor, living off the rocky land, and clinging to their long-standing culture. I would not have been able to create the lens through which these characters tell their story without an understanding of their specific community and beliefs, much of which comes from a rich Scot-Irish heritage and Native American influences. The trouble comes when I allow twenty-first-century politics, societal expectations, and current trends to impact plot development.
For example, my great-grandmother was a “Granny Woman” in the hills of South Carolina. Granny Women were midwives, bone-setters, healers, potion-makers, gardeners, scavengers, and therapists for their community. Sometimes a town “down the mountain” would employ a doctor, but a Granny Woman was trusted and usually lived closer. Some rituals seem downright wacky these days, but historically, these people relied on herbal remedies, spoken incantations, and practices handed down from elders.
There is a magical realism element in the story that is representative of the life-giving properties some mountain folk still believe in today. During the time of my story, the “magical gift” this family possesses would not be so unheard of. Belief in “abilities” was present among many, whether attributed to the divine or some other form. If the family is outcasted at all in the story, it is not because of this gift, but because of other circumstances important to the plot. If we allow our own beliefs to color the lens through which we write, we are less likely to write a true account of the time.
Let’s say Tom is a bachelor living in a small Southern town. The receptionist (a woman, of course) makes advances toward him. He may be intrigued, which would work in the past or the present, but his thoughts about the woman’s moral code are more likely to be negative in the 1950s. She’s promiscuous, easy, a harlot even. Whereas today, it would be more acceptable for a woman to be upfront with her attraction.
A character’s thoughts, actions, and reactions have to match the time and environment of the setting. Likewise, Tom can be a maverick, but this has to be a conscious decision on the writer’s part and be a thread throughout his appearance in the story or he will feel out-of-place and unbelievable.
Learn the Language and Limit Accents
Granny Women were called to cure all kinds of ailments. From lumps to bad blood, and dropsy, people “took sick” in ways that were described in a manner distinct to the time and place. Cancer, epilepsy, migraines, and heart attacks, are ancient ailments, but we haven’t always had the science to determine them or the vocabulary to describe them, which brings me to the hardest portrayal of perspective: language.
Depending on the time period, there may be limited resources to review for not only vocabulary of the time, but also cadence, the vernacular, and the difference between written and spoken word. For my manuscript, I invested in The Dictionary of Southern Appalachian English published by UNC Press in 2021. This dictionary is a deep dive into the linguistics of the Appalachian area and culture and uses example texts such as letters from Civil War soldiers to their loved ones as evidence of words and phrases used. It was a tremendous help in crafting my characters’ voices. I also read journals, listened to recordings, and made my way through several of The Foxfire Book series. These resources allowed me to find language that has since died out or is only used in a small area of the mountains. It’s crucial to check phrases that you may think have been around forever, but in truth, only became widely used in recent centuries. Again, depending on your timeframe, it’s important to ask, “Would Tom say this?”
You get it, bro?
And not just would he say it, but how would he say it? Without getting into the weeds here, using the vernacular in your writing is a line best toed. For a reader, using “an accent” in dialogue can be a turnoff. It makes the writing chunky, stops the flow of words. A reader has to pause and figure out how to pronounce the word or phrase. It can also come off as inauthentic or even insulting.
I’m from South Carolina and hearing or reading a put-on Southern accent makes me cringe. Let other aspects such as mannerisms, traditions, and the environment of the time help shape a Southern feel without over-working the language.
Readers love a well-researched historical novel and will, for sure, let you know if you got it wrong. Taking the time to respect the history and culture of the past will only make your story stronger. Writers can accept historical constraints without a cost to creativity. In the end, it is fiction, and much of history has proven to be up for debate.
ACM
Thanks! That’s such a great detail about the post. I guess it was their social media 😆
I'm currently reading Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen, and I was talking to my mom about how the idea of a morning and evening post (which the main character talks about in this book) sounds like fantasy to me, and my mom said, oh yes, it was how you talked to friends if you didn't want everyone on the party line to know what you wanted to say.
It can be so tricky to do a good job, because you have to know if a technology was available (like the telephone) and how it was available (via party line). Good work on your research! It sounds like a fun deep dive. And I love oddly specific dictionaries!