Sunday, December 12, 2010
As I've moved up through the grade levels in college, I've found less and less time to actually write for myself. However, I've actually finished a chapter for the first time in a while, which is a pleasant surprise to me, considering that this semester I was working on a capstone paper (which I am polishing off as I post this - I need a break from writing academically every now and then).
I'm actually typing up the beginnings of chapter twelve, as well, whilst I watch the horribly inaccurate film The Patriot on TV. It's really just unpleasant when historical films are so grossly off from what actually happened. It's okay to stretch the truth a little bit to make the characters' adventures more fun, which is what most of us historical fiction writers do from time to time, but to actually change history too much...it becomes unrealistic, and you lose your readers and viewers that way.
With Londinium, I know that certain things are somewhat of a stretch - Basil and Dustin's friendship is a tad unusual, though not unheard of in Victorian times - but I've been doing my very best to make sure they're still believable people. The key to historical fiction, after all, is to keep it historical, but make sure you're telling the stories of real people (your characters become real when they appears in your pages!).
I suppose I should get back to finishing up my thesis now. Well, that and mocking The Patriot. C'mon, do some research before you put these things out, seriously!
