At the WARA meeting today, there were several questions asked about how to find an agent. Here are two links that can be very helpful.
Association of Authors' Representatives, Inc.
Predators & Editors
A Fond Farewell
6 years ago
Building a Medieval Story World
Each of the prior blogs on world building has been excellent thoughts on the subject. In a nutshell, in order for the reader to get the most out of your story, you, the writer, need to create a world for the characters the reader can clearly “see” and feel part of throughout the story’s journey. It falls back on that time-honored and sometimes painful part of a writer’s job: research, research, research.
For my blog, I’m going to share some of the online resources I used in building my “world” for the medieval series I am currently writing. I believe that basically the same thought and research process could be applied to whatever time period you’re using.
Understanding the Time Period: (5th thru 15th century)
Medieval Terminologry and Glossary This is a resource for nice, simple definitions of terminology of the medieval time period.
Medieval-Castles Glossary Another resource for medieval terminology.
Feudal Terminology This is a resource for medieval feudal terminology.
Glossary of Feudal, Medieval and Castle Terminology This is a resource for medieval terminology with slightly longer definitions.
Wikipedia-Middle Ages This is a nice overview of the various time periods involved in the Middle Ages.
Medieval Atlas This is a resource with a number of listings of different maps for the period.
Scottish History Timeline This is a resource for a timeline of Scottish history.
History of Scotland This is a resource for learning about the heritage of Scotland including its history, geography, culture, curling, tartans, highland dress and much more.
Medieval Jobs This resource gives quick descriptions of the social classes and has a nice list of the various occupations for the medieval period.
Medieval Spell This is a great resource for many kinds of information about the medieval period including architecture (castles and manors), knights (code of chivalry, jousting, armor, swords, tournaments, shields), medieval society (life overview, castle life, roles of women, fashion, food, drinks, entertainment, merchants, punishment, medicine), and warfare (weapons, archers, siege, siege weapons).
Medieval Period This is another resource for basic information on religion, clothing, weapons, battering ram, entertainment, knights, tapestries, art, music, food, medicine, women, men, society, laws, castles, siege engines and more.
Medieval Period Castles & Weaponry This is a good resource for learning about the parts of a castle and what was done in each part or might have been there as furnishings.
Map of English Castles This is a resource with a map for English castle locations, with links to photos and brief descriptions of the various castles.
Castles in Britain This is another good resource for seeing photos of and learning a little about various English castles.
Castles in Scotland This is a great list of castles in Scotland with much information and many photos of each castle.
Weaponry:
Medieval Collectibles This is a good source for seeing pictures of and reading brief descriptions of many medieval items including swords, long bows, archery supplies, chainmail and leather armor, daggers, dirks, helmets, shields, halberds, battle axes, maces, banners, tapestries, and much more.
Characterization:
Medieval Clothing Pages This resource links to various articles on medieval hair information including how to braid hair, how to wear a veil or circlet, how to make a coif, wearing hoods, how to make cylinder curls (crespinettes), how to make a caul or reticulated headdress, and more. It also links to articles on clothing information such as basic garb, making a tunic, etc.
Glossary of Middle Ages Footwear This is a resource for medieval footwear terminology.
Basic Medieval Speech This is a resource with a brief amount of basic medieval speech.
Medieval Words-Orgins This is a resource for words originating in the medieval period.
Medieval Names This is a resource for medieval names.
Scottish Clans This is a resource for a list and explanations of the official Scottish clans.
Original Scottish Clan Map This is a great map for the areas controlled by the various early Scottish clans.
Glossary of Scots Terms This is a dictionary of Scots terms.
Wikipedia Scots-English Dictionary This is a nice quick dictionary of Scots to English words.
For my blog, I’m going to share some of the online resources I used in building my “world” for the medieval series I am currently writing. I believe that basically the same thought and research process could be applied to whatever time period you’re using.
Understanding the Time Period: (5th thru 15th century)
Medieval Terminologry and Glossary This is a resource for nice, simple definitions of terminology of the medieval time period.
Medieval-Castles Glossary Another resource for medieval terminology.
Feudal Terminology This is a resource for medieval feudal terminology.
Glossary of Feudal, Medieval and Castle Terminology This is a resource for medieval terminology with slightly longer definitions.
Wikipedia-Middle Ages This is a nice overview of the various time periods involved in the Middle Ages.
Medieval Atlas This is a resource with a number of listings of different maps for the period.
Scottish History Timeline This is a resource for a timeline of Scottish history.
History of Scotland This is a resource for learning about the heritage of Scotland including its history, geography, culture, curling, tartans, highland dress and much more.
Medieval Jobs This resource gives quick descriptions of the social classes and has a nice list of the various occupations for the medieval period.
Medieval Spell This is a great resource for many kinds of information about the medieval period including architecture (castles and manors), knights (code of chivalry, jousting, armor, swords, tournaments, shields), medieval society (life overview, castle life, roles of women, fashion, food, drinks, entertainment, merchants, punishment, medicine), and warfare (weapons, archers, siege, siege weapons).
Medieval Period This is another resource for basic information on religion, clothing, weapons, battering ram, entertainment, knights, tapestries, art, music, food, medicine, women, men, society, laws, castles, siege engines and more.
Medieval Period Castles & Weaponry This is a good resource for learning about the parts of a castle and what was done in each part or might have been there as furnishings.
Map of English Castles This is a resource with a map for English castle locations, with links to photos and brief descriptions of the various castles.
Castles in Britain This is another good resource for seeing photos of and learning a little about various English castles.
Castles in Scotland This is a great list of castles in Scotland with much information and many photos of each castle.
Weaponry:
Medieval Collectibles This is a good source for seeing pictures of and reading brief descriptions of many medieval items including swords, long bows, archery supplies, chainmail and leather armor, daggers, dirks, helmets, shields, halberds, battle axes, maces, banners, tapestries, and much more.
Characterization:
Medieval Clothing Pages This resource links to various articles on medieval hair information including how to braid hair, how to wear a veil or circlet, how to make a coif, wearing hoods, how to make cylinder curls (crespinettes), how to make a caul or reticulated headdress, and more. It also links to articles on clothing information such as basic garb, making a tunic, etc.
Glossary of Middle Ages Footwear This is a resource for medieval footwear terminology.
Basic Medieval Speech This is a resource with a brief amount of basic medieval speech.
Medieval Words-Orgins This is a resource for words originating in the medieval period.
Medieval Names This is a resource for medieval names.
Scottish Clans This is a resource for a list and explanations of the official Scottish clans.
Original Scottish Clan Map This is a great map for the areas controlled by the various early Scottish clans.
Glossary of Scots Terms This is a dictionary of Scots terms.
Wikipedia Scots-English Dictionary This is a nice quick dictionary of Scots to English words.
Worldcrafting Means People Too
Quite often, we writers forget that people and social situations for our characters are a large and very serious part of the world we are creating. Here in the
Let’s start with this common situation. Clerks at quick stores quite often do not curl or fix their hair, attend to basic grooming, or wear enhancing but subtle makeup to the degree an office person does. They don’t iron their clothing and make sure it is crisp and well fitting with colors and cuts that flatter. They do not look like office personnel. Many display tattoos and piercings. Their speech patterns indicate they are concerned about people, not current events. They do not usually wear perfume or cologne and for some deodorant is a foreign concept. Good grammar and complicated word recognition is not usually widely used.
Their customers, however, are often business people, landowners, and travelers. Customers often have different value systems working than the clerks. These two sets of very nice and intelligent people quite often find themselves at odds over the simplest of things. Customers tend to not see beyond the surface and have no notion how complicated the job of a convenience store clerk actually is. It isn’t for the weak of back or mind. Customers regularly treat clerks with disdain whether it is quietly or not. Often clerks think customers are spoiled brats.
There are layers in our society. These are two. There are many more and are not difficult to find when you start looking. Each has its own dress code, speech, and position for where they go for entertainment, jobs, and living space. Public school mixes all of these groups together. However, public school will also divide itself into social groups. People can jump across lines going up or down by adjusting their physical behavior, dress, and speech faster than they can by which family they’re born into. Ever heard the phrase ‘dress like the job you want, not the job you have’? That refers to the fact that those in management heavily weigh outside clues to determine who gets new positions. They can’t help it, that’s how humans are built. Those who are passed over time after time even though very qualified, might want to consider whether they are displaying the right signals. Jumping into a different social strata is easiest when the expected requirements for both outside dressing and inside thinking are matched. That’s when we have secretaries marrying bosses.
This is a fairly controversial subject and I believe that no one set of people are more valuable than another, but I wish that there was more awareness of the ins and outs of our society—I’d like to see less heartache and heartburn over the seeming injustices that can be served up.
Our paper world can be whatever we dream it up to be with a social structure however we wish it.
Research and World Building
When the topic was first suggested for a blog, my knee-jerk thought was that I don't world build! The trouble with that idea is that I do. We all do. I just never thought of it that way. No matter what the time or place of a story, a world is built for the characters. It's a place and a time where and when they participate in the life we create for them.
When choosing a setting for your story, even a fictional setting requires some kind of research. My first published book was set on a ranch in Montana, where the heroine became stranded during an October snowstorm. I've only been a few miles into Montana in August and am not familiar with the early snowstorms there. Luckily I knew someone who lived there and could help me with specifics.
We're often told to "write what you know," but writing would be boring if we kept only to what's familiar. Information about anything and anywhere can be found on the Internet, making researching much easier. I wanted to do a scene with the hero and heroine of a story taking place outside under mistletoe, but not necessarily a Christmastime story. I've known for years that most of the mistletoe (the real kind) we see here in Kansas during the holidays comes from Oklahoma. I once heard that it grew on the oak trees there. After doing a little research, I learned two things. Mistletoe in Oklahoma grows on apple and other trees, especially fruit trees, but not so much on oak. And mistletoe just happens to be Oklahoma's state flower. As it turns out, that's even better than I'd imagined. Now I have a scene in an old apple orchard and, depending on the time of year it ends up becoming, mistletoe can be found all year.
There are so many interesting places in this country and in the world, why keep to something you know? Have you ever watched a movie and wondered what the real location of the setting was? Did you think it might be a great setting for your own story? Try IMDB.com (Internet Movie DataBase). That's where I discovered where The Man Without A Face was filmed and hope someday to use that setting (Bath, Maine) for a book.
Details--accurate details--can help make the story come "alive" and real to readers. Don't try to cheat on this. Having too much research information is much better than not having enough. If drawing maps or keeping charts is what's needed to keep details straight, that's okay. Everybody has their own way of doing it. If you don't know where to start, talk to someone who's happy to share their method. You're always welcome to change it to fit you.
When choosing a setting for your story, even a fictional setting requires some kind of research. My first published book was set on a ranch in Montana, where the heroine became stranded during an October snowstorm. I've only been a few miles into Montana in August and am not familiar with the early snowstorms there. Luckily I knew someone who lived there and could help me with specifics.
We're often told to "write what you know," but writing would be boring if we kept only to what's familiar. Information about anything and anywhere can be found on the Internet, making researching much easier. I wanted to do a scene with the hero and heroine of a story taking place outside under mistletoe, but not necessarily a Christmastime story. I've known for years that most of the mistletoe (the real kind) we see here in Kansas during the holidays comes from Oklahoma. I once heard that it grew on the oak trees there. After doing a little research, I learned two things. Mistletoe in Oklahoma grows on apple and other trees, especially fruit trees, but not so much on oak. And mistletoe just happens to be Oklahoma's state flower. As it turns out, that's even better than I'd imagined. Now I have a scene in an old apple orchard and, depending on the time of year it ends up becoming, mistletoe can be found all year.
There are so many interesting places in this country and in the world, why keep to something you know? Have you ever watched a movie and wondered what the real location of the setting was? Did you think it might be a great setting for your own story? Try IMDB.com (Internet Movie DataBase). That's where I discovered where The Man Without A Face was filmed and hope someday to use that setting (Bath, Maine) for a book.
Details--accurate details--can help make the story come "alive" and real to readers. Don't try to cheat on this. Having too much research information is much better than not having enough. If drawing maps or keeping charts is what's needed to keep details straight, that's okay. Everybody has their own way of doing it. If you don't know where to start, talk to someone who's happy to share their method. You're always welcome to change it to fit you.
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
by Joan VincentThe” Carmen” in my stories is usually found in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century in England, France, or Spain. This TIME and PLACE of a story is known as the setting. Settings are unique even when they meticulously follow the reality (past or present) of the location chosen for a story. Since the place is described as seen through a particular set of eyes, an individual vision, it will be one-of-a-kind.
My historicals are set in Georgian (during the reigns of any of the four King Georges of Great Britain 1714-1830) and Napoleonic times (1799-1815). I blend reality and imagination. That means I use buildings and companies as well as people that existed during the time I set my story as well as those I have created. Using real people and buildings means doing research. Let’s say I want to set a scene in Drury Lane Theatre in London in July 1812. But the theatre burned down in 1809 and did not reopen until October 10, 1812. Research, you see, is important. The accuracy of what actually existed depends on it. If I want characters watching a play Drury Lane Theatre in July I had better make it a rehearsal and have carpenters and painters working around them.
My Honour series Book Five opens in 1810 Paris in a disreputable
portion of the city and involves the heroine’s flight to escape those intent upon capturing or killing her. To map a route I needed to know Paris in 1810. One resource I discovered in my research is the gorgeous Turgot map. It is early for my period (published in 1739) but much of the city had not changed. Here’s one small portion of the map—the detail is unbelievable. The entire map can be found at Turgot Map of Paris —just click on sections and then click again to enlarge.My reaction to this map also hints at one danger with research. Be careful not to get so lost in it that you never write your story. There always comes a point when I have to say “Enough.” Then I get to writing but keep a notepad at the ready to jot down what needs checked for historical accuracy at a later date.
Since I am beginning book five in a series, much of my world for that series has a good solid base of constructed places intertwined with real places and events. “World building” was a phrase coined by fantasy/sci fi writers for their fictitious worlds but the term works well for historicals. For all my major characters in my Honour series I had to construct not only their families complete with back story and their life’s avocation but also family estates, town houses and their floor plans, clothing style,—the details appear endless at times. Since many of my main characters are cavalry officers I had to determine the regiments in which they served. That decision had to be based on which regiments were in the Peninsular War and when. Then there are details on uniforms, places stationed in Portugal and Spain, winter camps, etc. Research. Research. Research.
When I began writing in the 70's I had only the public library for a resource. Now, with thanks to my sister Vera, I have a library of research books on my period with a our specialty being Peninsular War memoirs, journals, etc. Makes researching much easier. After reading a lot of general history on my period I settled in on first hand material. Period journals, memoirs, and letters are a great way to absorb the cadence of the language, the topics that were of import, the political leanings, and gossip of the times. The information Peninsular war letters etc contain in words and written between the lines is invaluable in fleshing out the setting, especially of skirmishes and battles.
Many of the men who write and were written about become very alive to me. Major the Honourable Edward Charles Cocks was an intelligence officer in the Peninsula from 1809-1812. His letters and correspondence by others show him an intelligent, gifted, courageous, and caring young man. When I reached the end of his story and learned he had died (at age 26) during heroic action during the siege of Burgos in Spain I grieved. Lieutenant Tomkinson, another writer of an interesting Peninsular journal, but one who survived the wars, wrote “He (Cocks) is regretted by the whole army and in those regiments in which he has been, not a man can lament a brother more than they do him. He is on every ground the greatest lose we have yet sustained.”
General Sir John Moore is another man I have come to admire greatly. He was killed at the Battle of Corunna in 1809 after saving his rag tag army from Napoleon and was unappreciated if not outright maligned for many years. But time has proven his worth as a general and the value of what he tried to accomplish with training regimes and improving the life of the common soldier. In the Collection portion of my website www.joanvincent.net under Napoleonic War go to Part 3 to see the variety of journals, both English and French that I have acquired.Research has become much easier in this Internet age (with the usual caveat to have more than one source as wiki and other sites can prove unreliable). Some answers can be found quite easily—such as the date of the fire at Drury Lane Theatre. Other questions take more painstaking research because it’s important not to learn just the physical setting but also to understand the political, social, and technological climate in which your characters live. Some writers try to give the eighteenth century woman the same outlook on life as we have today. It could never happen. Today’s woman would find it very difficult to conform to 18th century mores and the 18th century woman would be appalled at some modern women’s behavior. Technology was just in its infancy and computers undreamt. Facebook to “my” Carmen would indeed be a book with faces in it!
Creating your own world is work but fascinating too. It would take several blogs to detail how I constructed "my" world. I hope you've enjoyed this brief glimpse. Here are a few web sites with basic and in some cases detailed information if you’d like to construct your own Georgian/Regency setting: British History
Greenwood’s 1827 Map of London
Historical Conversion of Currency
The British National Trust Especially Find a Place to visit for getting ideas on estates and houses Find a Place
UK Climate and Moon Cycles
The Regency Library
Jane Austen’s World In particular on this site a page with great links to all aspects of Regency History-- Jane Austen’s World Regency Links
The Regency Collection
The Georgian Index
Food and Drink in Regency England
Jessamyn’s Regency Costume Companion
The Napoleonic Guide
The Napoleon Series
The Peninsular War
The Peninsular War 1808-1814
Military Heritage
My Armoury
TO BUILD OR NOT TO BUILD
That is the question.
Imagine yourself standing on a stage in a serious pose with one hand held high while you ponder that aloud. Apart from looking a little silly, you’d probably be pegged as a writer. Or, a good looking architect with serious erection issues. (As in deciding whether or not to erect the building.)
This month we’re all about the world building that takes place in our novels. Some detail it meticulously while others do it as they go. It’s your map and you are wearing the hardhat with BOSS stamped on the front.
This is what I do when I start a new manuscript.
1. Find the poster board. And the yardstick. A pencil and the sharpener. Sometimes this takes longer than it should, but I persevere—nothing short of a natural disaster or the big hairy spider guarding the yardstick will keep me from completing my mission.
2. Name the small town/big city/mobile home park/space station, etc. where the bulk of my story takes place. I put this at the top of the map in bold letters—just to get me in the spirit of creating a world so unique that even I want to live there.
3. I’m not a very good artist so I usually draw boxes for the buildings. Blob shapes become bodies of water and long rectangle ribbons with cute little dashes make up the roads. I find it’s best to start with the building/structure where most of the action is going to take place. Office/ranch/home/apartment building/ supermarket/pet store, whatever and give it a name and a home on the map.
4. Draw more boxes for the other businesses in town. Where are your characters going to work/shop/attend school/party/visit their dear old grandmother/eat and meet? Often times scene ideas will come to me at this stage—so be prepared.
5. Next comes the fine tuning and adding in the details. Street names. What side of her house is the garage on? Parallel parking (which she can’t do) or diagonal slots in front of the drug store? Notations about the uneven sidewalk where she stumbles into him and he helps her up on more than one occasion. The gigantic pothole in front of the diner that gives him a flat tire so he’s late to pick her up for their first date. The poison ivy they get in while making out at the park behind the gazebo next to the old oak. The barn on his best friend’s property where he houses his horses. These little details will make your world come to life. You won’t have to remember if he lives on Walnut Street or Pine Drive because you can look it up. Does she head into or away from the blinding sunrise on her way to work? You may not use all these details, but if you need them, they’ll be in place for you. Especially if you’d get lucky enough to write a series of books set in the same town.
Remember, the sky is the limit. It’s your story. Your map. Your world. It doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to be. Happy building or erect—never mind. I won’t go there.
Hugs,
Reese
Imagine yourself standing on a stage in a serious pose with one hand held high while you ponder that aloud. Apart from looking a little silly, you’d probably be pegged as a writer. Or, a good looking architect with serious erection issues. (As in deciding whether or not to erect the building.)
This month we’re all about the world building that takes place in our novels. Some detail it meticulously while others do it as they go. It’s your map and you are wearing the hardhat with BOSS stamped on the front.
This is what I do when I start a new manuscript.
1. Find the poster board. And the yardstick. A pencil and the sharpener. Sometimes this takes longer than it should, but I persevere—nothing short of a natural disaster or the big hairy spider guarding the yardstick will keep me from completing my mission.
2. Name the small town/big city/mobile home park/space station, etc. where the bulk of my story takes place. I put this at the top of the map in bold letters—just to get me in the spirit of creating a world so unique that even I want to live there.
3. I’m not a very good artist so I usually draw boxes for the buildings. Blob shapes become bodies of water and long rectangle ribbons with cute little dashes make up the roads. I find it’s best to start with the building/structure where most of the action is going to take place. Office/ranch/home/apartment building/ supermarket/pet store, whatever and give it a name and a home on the map.
4. Draw more boxes for the other businesses in town. Where are your characters going to work/shop/attend school/party/visit their dear old grandmother/eat and meet? Often times scene ideas will come to me at this stage—so be prepared.
5. Next comes the fine tuning and adding in the details. Street names. What side of her house is the garage on? Parallel parking (which she can’t do) or diagonal slots in front of the drug store? Notations about the uneven sidewalk where she stumbles into him and he helps her up on more than one occasion. The gigantic pothole in front of the diner that gives him a flat tire so he’s late to pick her up for their first date. The poison ivy they get in while making out at the park behind the gazebo next to the old oak. The barn on his best friend’s property where he houses his horses. These little details will make your world come to life. You won’t have to remember if he lives on Walnut Street or Pine Drive because you can look it up. Does she head into or away from the blinding sunrise on her way to work? You may not use all these details, but if you need them, they’ll be in place for you. Especially if you’d get lucky enough to write a series of books set in the same town.
Remember, the sky is the limit. It’s your story. Your map. Your world. It doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to be. Happy building or erect—never mind. I won’t go there.
Hugs,
Reese
Creating a world
Pat Davids here.
Creating a realistic setting can be very important to a novel, be it historical, modern day or on another planet in a far away universe. As many of you know, I've been writing Amish stories lately. Creating an Amish world has it's own set of challenges.
For the fictitious town of Hope Springs, Ohio, I started with the Internet and located the area of Ohio I wanted to use. I chose the real town of Sugarcreek as a template for my town. I changed the name of the streets and googled the businesses there to see what a village that size would contain. I checked out a dozen books about the Amish over several months and contacted other authors for their reference material suggestions. Authors are wonderful, helpful people.
I now have a town map of Hope Springs with streets and businesses laid out to use in future books. I sure don't want to have the medical clinic on different streets in different books. Readers catch that kind of thing. I was also fortunate enough to contact a woman in the Sugarcreek area. She sells Amish made baskets on-line and she was able to give me a ton of information and even recommended a DVD for me. It was a big help in setting out the way they travel and how they care for their horses as well as what businesses and farming methods the Amish use.
I'd love to travel to Ohio one of these days, but until then travel sites and travel books will have to give me the flavor I need.
World building is just one more fun part of being an author. How cool is it to make up your own town? Real cool.
Pat
