Deeanne Gist - www.deeannegist.com - Inspirational Romance Author

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Historical Research

In continuing our discussion about snags authors run into when writing ... as a historical author, I spend an inordinate amount of time researching my books up front. But it isn't as if the research is all done and then I get to just write. This is due to what we discussed yesterday about how I don't know exactly what will occur in each and every scene--I only know what needs to be accomplished.

In Lady, my heroine is having a discussion with the hero in the kitchen. To keep them from simply standing there talking back and forth, I usually give my characters something to do with their hands. In this case, I decided my heroine would brew them some coffee. Then, I realized, I had no idea how they made coffee in 1849. I was pretty sure they didn't have perculators or anything.

So, I stopped writing and spent about an hour-and-a-half looking through my resources and on the internet to find out exactly how one makes coffee in primitive San Francisco, 1849. I found the answer in a tiny hardback about the size of a toddler's Bible (but it's over 1000 pages thick). It is called Beeton's Book of Household Management and is a reprint of a book published in 1861. It is comprised of information for the "mistress, housekeeper, cook, kitchen-maid, butler, footman, coachman, valet, upper and under maids, lady's maid, maid-of-all-work, laundry maid, nurse and nursemaid, etc."

It might not be a few years after 1849, but it was as close as I could find. The entire coffee thing was only about one paragraph in length and as it ends up, I think I scratched that scene, but I can't really remember. In any event, those kinds of things really slow down my writing. The good part is, once I find that little nugget, it really gives the scene a feel of authenticity.

posted by Deeanne at 1:09 PM

3 Comments:

Barb said...: Yeah but that's the kinda stuff that makes an historic novel really interesting too. Writers of contemporary fiction reeeeaaaally need to have a strong story line and strong characters to carry the book, cuz they don't have as much intriguing stuff like your little historical details to keep the reader fascinated. In my opinion. Twould be interesting to see a bibliography of all the sources you used in your research for each novel tho!
Jezreel said...: That's what I think is awesome about your work because it's obvious how much time you put into the little things. I've read some works where the author attempts to put modern-day applications to the way the characters talk and what they do and it just ends up seeming really poorly done.
Meg said...: Yep, the little details add authenticity. So do characters who suit the time period of the story in their attitudes and actions and speech. So I appreciate all the research you do, Dee.