Activity – Den of Writers

Raine replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 12 months ago

Totally agree re Boyne, @jillybean. He’s lazy and complacent, and doesn’t care who he hurts as a result.

Having recently discovered the horrors of researching hist fic, I must admit to struggling with knowing where the line is between really getting stuck on details that don’t matter, and making sure the whole worldbuilding feels authentic.…[Read more]

Libby replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 12 months ago

I agree with you Jules. It’s worrying that schools will teach misleading literature.

One thought from my perspective as a writer of realist historical writer: the truth is more interesting than the invented even if it’s harder to work with. There’s a smaller point too that we can all make mistakes so might as well aim to get as much as possible…[Read more]

Libby replied 5 years, 12 months ago

That’s mean to be ‘historical fiction’.
It’s the heat. I can’t remember what I’m supposed to be.
- Libby replied 5 years, 12 months ago
  
  Or how to spell.
  - Jules replied 5 years, 12 months ago
    
    Haha right there with you! And I completely agree – the truth in historical terms is often far more interesting than the Everyone Knows version. Also agree that writers have to be free to make unintentional mistakes without being pilloried for them. It’s inevitable that some small detail will be wrong but as you say, why not try to be as correct…[Read more]
Squidge replied 5 years, 12 months ago

Even in fantasy – I do some research! Not in depth, granted, cos I’m not seeking to reflect accuracy, but I do have to do enough to make the processes I describe (like melting precious metals; making a catapult out of just string; rules about coats of arms for example) so if anyone reads it who also has that knowledge, I’ve given enough to make it…[Read more]

Jules replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 12 months ago

Pretty sure Stephen King now has a team of fact checkers. But yes I imagine the tone of those letters is gleeful. What I’ll say for King is that even though he’s writing speculative fiction, he portrays characters who’ve had life experiences he has not respectfully. The same cannot be said for Boyne! One of the big problems with The Boy in the…[Read more]

Sandra replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 6 years ago

Ah, yes. I take your point Athers. My ignorance obscured it earlier.

Athelstone replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 6 years ago

There are degrees to this and a dependency on the type of book being written. I am not searching for an artificial precision in moral culpability. I am not saying that there are some absolute rules at play. I am saying that if you bend the truth to suit your story, while at the same time maintaining that what you write is authentic, then there are…[Read more]

Sandra replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 6 years ago

Athers, I’ve not read Boyne, so took the passage you quote as from a fantasy novel which, in my understanding, means anything goes in the way of made-up words and facts.
On the subject of ‘proper’ research; at Newcastle Noir a couple of years ago, one crime writer told of being asked how many specialists he had on call to help him with research,…[Read more]

Sandra replied 6 years ago

There’s an article in today’s Telegraph referring to this, and mentioning it seems to apply less to film-makers, e.g. Braveheart where kilts were worn 500 years before in use “because they looked better”. Artistic licence, innit?

Doug replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 6 years ago

Stephen King, who’s described himself as a lazy researcher, has related the letters he’s gotten from people who caught him in research errors. The tone of the letters, he said, was invariably gleeful. I wonder if Boyne has gotten those too? “Hee-hee, you got this wrong, and that wrong!”

Athelstone started the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 6 years ago

This is a lightweight blog.

I was just settling down after reading about the astonishing performance by George R R Martin at the Hugo awards, when my son approached brandishing his phone.

‘Look at that,’ he said.

I looked. My son has been a fan of the Zelda video games since he was little. I played a few along with him in the last few years,…[Read more]

Libby replied 6 years ago

I didn’t gasp – too world weary – but I can see why you’re annoyed, Ath. On a lighter note I was disappointed, having hoped to learn something more about nightshade! Woody nightshade grows in our garden, is pretty and you could imagine the berries being used for dye. It’s also poisonous. But when I got a bit further I’d have switched off if you h…[Read more]
- Libby replied 6 years ago
  
  Here’s a review of the book https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/06/a-traveller-at-the-gates-of-wisdom-by-john-boyne-review-an-ambitious-era-hopping-epic
  - Athelstone replied 6 years ago
    
    Thanks, Libby. A really interesting review. I hadn’t realised that the Zelda mistake was one amongst many. Aside from characters deep in history musing about their peers in the language of C20th psychology, we have ‘…kimonos and obis to the Chinese, igloos to the Norse Icelanders, and steel and horses to pre-Columbian South Americans. Potatoes…[Read more]
  - Kate replied 6 years ago
    
    That makes me flippin mad! All the hard work we put into our MSs, and he just… 😫
    - JaneShuff replied 6 years ago
      
      Absolutely agree. I accept that the ‘worlds’ we base our stories in have a lot of the unlikely and improbable in them but there is a big difference between that and not bothering to do proper research.

Doug started the topic 5 Tips to Help You Write Imperfectly in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 6 years ago

This article really helped me, what with self-doubt, not liking my own writing, etc. Some of the advice made me smile & nod. I think it’s worth sharing.

Writing Imperfectly

Cheers
~Doug

Doug replied to the topic The $2,000,000 Guitar in the forum Blogs 6 years ago

Such a great story! As a guitarist who at one time owned a Les Paul, I found it fascinating. I’d also like to add that, for one of the greatest all-time guitar leads–the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”–Eric Clapton knocked it out in one take, with a red Les Paul he called Lucille. Wonderful stuff.

Mad Iguana replied to the topic The $2,000,000 Guitar in the forum Blogs 6 years ago

I saw that and thought of your post, and your memories.

RichardB replied to the topic The $2,000,000 Guitar in the forum Blogs 6 years ago

Sadly, I have heard today that Peter Green, without whom this blog wouldn’t have been written, has died at the age of 73.

Doug replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 6 years ago

An update. I’ve continued the revisions, but slowly, slowly. I’m now a hundred pages from the end, and I’ve decided enough of the nonsense, I’m getting all through it <i>this weekend</i> come hell or high water. Feel free to hold me to it.

Will check back in Sunday night, one way or the other.

Kate replied 6 years ago

Good luck, Doug. I’ve got the same goal.
- JaneShuff replied 6 years ago
  
  So have I! Something in the air this weekend.
  - Doug replied 6 years ago
    
    Got it done! I got all the way to the end, and backed it up on Gmail. Seemed to take forever to get through that draft. I feel like celebrating now! Thanks for your support.
    - JaneShuff replied 6 years ago
      
      Congratulations!! I nearly did it. Just 10 pages left to go but I made the decision to look at them with fresh eyes this morning.
    - Kate replied 6 years ago
      
      Finished it and emailed off for a book doctor report. After which I’ll probably have to start again!
    - Libby replied 6 years ago
      
      Well done, Doug. And Jane and Kate too.