Development - Historical Study, a Little Science in Science Fiction

8 June 2012, Development - Historical Study, a Little Science in Science Fiction

Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon. This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll keep you informed along the way.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

I'm writing about sources of historical research and how to make historical research. These apply to any novel or any subject you might wish to study. Here is a list:

1. Primary source documents or artifacts
2. Secondary source documents or artifacts
3. Tertiary source documents or artifacts
4. Quatriary

If you do get the history right--that is the details as well as the basics--there is another piece of history that needs to fill out your works. This additional part is cultural awareness. Here is the list of how to develop your target period for writing a historical novel.

1. Primary sources (secondary second)
2. Clean slate
3. Add in only what you find from primary sources (secondary next)
4. Cultural awareness
5. Historical feel

Science fiction is often ruined by a poor cultural awareness.  The problem is that many who attempt to write science fiction have no realization of the importance of cultural awareness.  It should not be surprising that many science fiction authors are very experienced with travel and cultures.  You might wonder why some of them are not historical fiction authors. 

Of course the real differentiator in science fiction is the science--isn't it?  I will posit that although we would like to imagine that science fiction is all about the science--it really isn't at all.  Most science fiction today is completely separated from science.  The number of "hard" science fiction authors (like me) is dwindling.  Most science fiction is written without a single thought to science at all--it's all fiction and fantasy.

So what makes the science in science fiction?  I offer that true (hard) science fiction is an extrapolation of known science and technology.  The problem with many science fiction authors is they have no idea about known science.  You really can't write science fiction of any calibre without a strong understanding of science.  The how of getting a strong understanding of science is obviously through study--and I don't mean popular literature and the news.  I mean through papers, industry, and the university.  Those who understand science are those who work with science--just like those who understand culture are those who have experienced different cultures.
I'll write more about this tomorrow.

I'll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples: http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor.com/, and http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.

A New Novel, Part 40 Breakfast and the Parlor again

Aunt Brunhilda can't get away from it, and I don't want you to forget about it--the hair.

When they came down to breakfast, Aunt Brunhilda greeted them. She took one look at Aksinya and her mouth turned up into a large smile. She grasped Aksinya’s hands, “You look ravishing this morning. Who did your hair?”


Aksinya glanced at Natalya.

Aunt Brunhilda grinned at the lady, “You made her look marvelous.” She turned back to Aksinya, “I remember, countess, your hair was so beautiful. I hope you will grow it out again. I know the style today among the youth is for short hair, but my heart longs to see it like it once was.”

Aksinya gave her a strange look that Aunt Brunhilda didn’t know how to interpret. Aunt Brunhilda still held one of Aksinya’s hands and led her into the family breakfast room. Aksinya’s uncle stood when she entered and helped seat her and then Aunt Brunhilda. Aksinya noticed his monocle was in his right eye this morning. They served her bread, meat, and cheese. Her aunt and uncle had coffee. Aksinya ate a soft boiled egg and tea. Natalya attended her.

After breakfast, Uncle Herman put down his napkin, “Countess, would you please join us in the family parlor so we can discuss your future?”

Aksinya touched her lips with her napkin and laid it at her place. She nodded.

Before they entered the parlor, Asmodeus suddenly joined them. No one seemed surprised although Aksinya and Natalya noticed his appearance more than Aksinya’s aunt or uncle.

The fire was still burning in the great fireplace, but it was mostly coals with only a light sprinkling of flames. Aunt Brunhilda led Aksinya to a chair and sat her. She took a seat in the chair beside her and held her hand.

This is scene setting with a slight transition.  Aksinya does look ravishing--Natalya made her look that way.  If you remember, her hair is parted and pinned.  The dress is perfect, but too bright and light for the season--it also makes Aksinya look like a girl.  Can you see the aunt's reaction?  It is to Aksinya as a child, not an adult.  Aksinya doesn't help things along--she is still in her silent mode.  Remember, manic depressive.  This is the depressive mode.  She nods at Natalya and we immediately understand what she means.  She gives her aunt a look and we know what that means.  She doesn't have to say anything and we understand.
 
The culture is there for us to see.  Austrian breakfast, coffee etc.  Aksinya eats what she likes.  She will not be cowed.  She knows her own mind in spite of her depression.  Another indicator of her mind is that she lets Natalya serve her without making any remark--you will see that this changes very quickly when she again has purpose and feels a little in control again. 
 
Then again with the culture: the napkins are a tiny piece of a social puzzle.  Only the wealthy have napkins.  Only the wealthy and aristocracy know what to do with napkins.  Tiny reminders and scene setters.  Then the demon joins them.  Note, he just appears almost out of nowhere.  We will see this strange effect more powerfully later.  He is supposed to move within human affairs like a shadow, only seen and heard when he wishes to be.
 
Finally, we reenter the parlour.  I don't have to describe it again to you.  I just remind you about the fire, then you imagine it again yourself.  I didn't give a huge description before--perhaps I will add one to the final manuscript.  We get the picture again of Aksinya in the chair with the Freifrau at her side.  We have returned to the evening before--the unanswered questions are all still unanswered.  That is what we shall see next.

A New Novel, Part 37 The Fireplace, the Sherry, the Hair

We have to encompass the culture of the times.  In 1918, much heating was still done by open coal fires especially in more ancient homes.  The poor and the wealthy made due with this kind of heating until electricity made forced air heating more common.  The middle class had radiators and boilers.  The oddity here, and I will show you more of it, is there is a wood fire.  Wood roars; coal burns.  Generally, a coal fire might be augmented with wood in a wealthy house especially if they intend to show off.  Note the Freiherr and Freifrau do indeed want to show off.

Aunt Brunhilda cleared her throat, “You poor dear.” Aunt Brunhilda guided Aksinya into a large room with an enormous fireplace. In it, a hot wood and coal fire roared.

Aksinya felt drawn to it. She moved to the fire like a moth to a flame. Aunt Brunhilda pulled her back before she could step into the coals. She held tightly to Aksinya. The Freiherr drew a chair close and Aunt Brunhilda pushed Aksinya into it. Aksinya closed her eyes. The heat clasped her in its grasp, and a slight smile stole onto her lips. She raised her arm, “Thank you, Aunt, Uncle.”

Her uncle and aunt pulled their chairs close to her on either side. Her aunt held her hand. The Freiherr sat and a look of concern crossed his face. After a while he clasped his chin, “When you feel better, we can go to supper. Would you like something now?”

Aksinya shook her head.

“I’ll bring you a glass of wine.” The Freiherr stepped to the sideboard. He selected a bottle and filled a glass. He took it and held it near Aksinya’s hand, “Please, countess, drink this. It will warm you and make you feel better.”

Aksinya took the glass in her shaking hand and tasted the dark brown aperitif. The sherry was very fine and rich. She sipped on it while her aunt patted her other hand.

In a while, Aksinya sat a little straighter. Aunt Brunhilda squeezed her fingers, “Do you feel better, countess.”

“Yes. Thank you, Aunt Brunhilda. I have not felt myself for a long time.”

“You were always a sensitive child.” Aunt Brunhilda touched Aksinya’s face then moved her hand a little higher and touched the tips of her hair, “Dear child, what happened to your hair?”

Aksinya took a deep breath, “I lost it with my family.”

“Did you cut it off yourself?”

Aksinya hung her head.

“Yes. It looks like you did. You poor girl.” Her aunt took Aksinya’s hand and held it against her face, “Tomorrow, I promise, my beautician will trim your hair and make it look much better.”

“But I don’t want to trim it. I don’t want to…to… forget…”

“We will not forget. Your mother and father were great friends as well as relations of ours.”

Aksinya could feel the eyes of the demon on her, “Thank you, but I don’t wish to cut it—I insist.”

“Then, would you let me style it for you? If you won’t have it trimmed, we shall make the most of it.”

A servant came to the door and rang a small bell.

There is so much unspoken in this scene.  Here, we have three touchstone events.  The first is the fire.  I told you a little about fire.  Fire indicates status.  Yesterday, I showed you Aksinya's desire for death.  We understood this, but now we see a little of it manifest itself.  I will not make a lot of this, her survival instinct is too great--she is not self destructive, but I wanted to let her put on a show for the demon.  It is a game, so Asmodeus said.  Her aunt and uncle play a part in the game, but they have no idea the rules that govern it or Aksinya.  Note, that her aunt pulled her back--a little foreshadowing, but not of great consequence.  I just wanted to show Aksinya when she had little control over herself.  Remember, this was the demon's doing.

The second is the sherry.  She refuses, but her uncle still pours her a glass.  He promised her wine, but brought sherry.  If you remember, Asmodeus told her to do what her uncle asked.  This works on multiple levels because even if you realize Aksinya is acceding to the will of her uncle (whether intentionally or unintentionally), her uncle's action is an indication of his personality and character.  Her acceptance just reinforces her own problem--luxuria.

The third is the hair.  We cannot ever forget the hair.  It is and must be part of the plot and theme throughout the novel.  She gave her hair as the surety of her contract with the demon.  The ignorant actions of aunt press deeply into the wounds Aksinya bears, yet look at her response.  She simply states directly though her aunt can't understand.  Do you see the multilevel here too.  Part of the act of mourning in many cultures is to cut the hair.  Her aunt may or may not recognize this--many readers will see this.  For Aksinya, her hair is absolutely a sign of her mourning--the loss of her family.  It is a sign of her contract--her greatest anguish.  It is the loss of the one thing she thought was beautiful about herself.  Talk about pitiful, and Aunt Brunhilda is picking in the wound with a blunt pair of scissors (isn't that a great analogy?).  Aksinya is literally rescued by the supper bell. 

Writing Historical Fiction, part 11 more Examples

Applicable to all writing, I offer my five basic rules again, and I will show you some examples of how to immerse your readers in your writing.
1. Don't confuse your readers.

2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing - colliery: immerse your readers in the world of your writing.
If you noticed, I added a colliery.  The point here and the point of the question I answered yesterday was, how do you immerse your readers in a completely different world than their own.  I have a foot up because one of my day jobs is to teach people, and in those classes, I try to get them to experience the cultures we are talking about.  Writing however is very different than technical writing or teaching.  You can't immerse your readers by suddenly giving them a treatise on a culture or history.  So I'll provide some examples from my writing.

The first example is description from the novel Aegypt, http://www.aegyptnovel.com/:
"Paul signaled his men to remount. His horse, l’Orage, was skittish and danced back a step as Paul hauled his aching frame into the saddle. Her muscles rippled like silk under her black coat, and Paul touched her gently to soothe her. l’Orage had been his steed for nearly three years, almost half the time he had been in Tunisia.

He had bought her from a Berber’s market on the coast. She was the most beautiful horse he had ever seen. Feral and full of fire, she was uncontrollable in the hands of her merchant owners and stood blindfolded and hobbled in the market horse pen. A demon in the guise of a horse, she was black as charcoal without a trace of lighter markings. Paul knew she was stolen the minute his eyes lit upon her.

He paid in cash—francs, and few of those, because of her temperament. When he entered the pen to claim her, Berbers, Arabs, and Tunisians lined the enclosure to watch the black fiend trample the foolish Lieutenant. Paul walked quietly up to her, and when the laughing merchant stripped off the blindfold and hobbles, Paul spoke a single word. l’Orage calmed immediately and let him stroke her face.

Contemptuously, he led her on a light field-lead out of the marketsquare. The marketplace had turned into a frenzy of babbling men, women, and children. The native peoples sidled out of Paul’s way as if he were himself a demon from the pit. At the edge of the market, to the amazement of the spectators, Paul leapt upon l’Orage bareback and rode off at a gallop. He laughed all the way back to the garrison.

l’Orage was a horse trained for war. She was an Arabian, bred and drilled to the battlefield. She was trained to kill and to the tactics of combat. She was a European’s horse. Paul could tell by her carriage and by the saddle scars on her flanks. Only one type of European warrior had found his way into the wilds of Tunisia: l’Orage had to be a Frenchman’s horse. Paul guessed that, but his confirmation came when he first stood before her, wondering himself if she would strike him before he could speak. His single word was French, and with that single word, he knew she answered to only one tongue—French. Not to the Tunisian or Berber or Arabic her previous masters unsuccessfully tried, only to French. In combat after combat, she proved herself to be, by far, one of the finest horses in the Legion stables."

Right from the beginning of the novel, you have a very short description of how Lt. Bolang bought his horse l'Orage.  The description itself tells you a lot about the times, place, and people.  It gives you a small window into Lt. Bolang and tells you about the languages and the problem of language in Tunisia.  It lets you know the feeling of the people for the Foreign Legion and the fact that horses are still used in warfare at this time and in this place.  This is a method of using description to immerse the reader into the times and place and to let them taste the culture and society.  By the way, l'Orage means tempest or thunderstorm in French and the description takes place right after a thunderstorm in the desert and a tempest-like attack on Tunisian bandits.

Now an example of using conversation to immerse your reader in the times and place.  This is from Centurion, http://www.centurionnovel.com/.

“Where are you from, youngster?” Portius asked Abenadar.

“I came from Natzeret in the Galil.”
“From Natzeret?” said Euodus. “Is the Primus now accepting trash from the provinces?” Euodus was as fancy a man as Abenadar had ever seen. His short hair was carefully shaped to form oiled ringlets in the style of a Persian warrior. His face was angular but well made. He wore a colorful tunic with pins and decorations all over it.
“No, I’m a Roman citizen,” answered Abenadar.
Euodus smiled. “Another bastard child of Rome. You are well placed in this century. We are all bastards of one type or another.”
Portius laughed out loud, but Lupus protested, “I, for one, have a family in Italia.”
“Yes, but does your family claim you?” riposted Euodus.
“They will welcome me back when I am released from service.”
“If your throat is not cut first by these rebels, you may see Italia again.”
Lupus rubbed his throat and made a face. “I wish you wouldn’t put it like that, Euobus.”
“Don’t get carried away, Lupus,” said Portius. “The people fear us.”
“Yes, they fear our blood will splatter their clothing when they slit our throats.”
“Shut up, Euobus,” said Portius. “Come, Abenadar. Don’t listen to his rambling. It is meaningless. As long as we stay together, we are in little danger, and we’re always safe while in camp.”
Without waiting for Abenadar, Portius walked out the door. Abenadar quickly followed behind him. As Portius exited the barracks, Abenadar hurried to catch up. “The camp is huge. How many legions does it hold?”
Portius chuckled. “It doesn’t hold even one.”
Abenadar was shocked.
Portius noted Abenadar’s look and laughed again. “That’s right. This camp holds only two cohorts: the I Cohort, Primus and the X Cohort, Decimus—the first and the last in the III Gallica. Admittedly, the Primus Cohort is the largest and best, but the Decimus isn’t a training cohort. It isn’t made up of inexperienced recruits.” Portius glanced at Abenadar. “You excepted. You will get along well if you can translate in the marketplace, especially if you can speak with the barmaids and whores. I predict you will be a very popular man in the Decimus Cohort.”
“How many men are in our cohort?” asked Abenadar.
“During your training, you will learn how the legion is organized, but I guess I can start your education early. The Decimus Cohort is formed of six centuries. They are called the Pilus Prior, the Pilus Posterior, the Princeps Prior, the Princeps Posterior, the Hastatus Prior, and the Hastatus Posterior. We are part of the Hastatus Posterior, the Lion Century. Each century contains about 80 men. The men are organized into 10 columns of eight each. All the other cohorts from the second to the tenth are put together the same way, but the Primus Cohort is different.”
Here you can see in conversation, I give you many details about the place, times, people, and the Roman Legion.  In conversation, Portius goes on to give Abenadar a host of information about the Legions that the reader likely doesn't know and that Abenadar doesn't know.  The character and the reader both learn from the experience and the tones and conversation tells you a lot about the fears of the Roman soldiers and their concerns.
 
Tomorrow, I'll conclude this series on writing Historical Fiction and move to science fiction.

Writing Historical Fiction, part 6 The Voice of the Times and Culture

I'm not certain there is any writing that is easy.  All writing is difficult, but I think historical fiction may be the most difficult.  First, it requires a lot of research and especially primary and secondary source research (real research) that is if you intend to write good historical fiction.  Second, you must immerse yourself in the culture and understand it from the point of a participant.  Third, you have to be able to find the voice of the times and culture.  The voice of the times and culture is the point of immersion and research.  Fourth, you have to be able to write well.  The fourth point is beyond the scope of this series, but is is a critical point.  Many of us have read literature today that is crippled by the inability of the author to write well.  Many popular books are missing the spark of good writing and makes you wonder why they were published to begin with.  But back to the third point...if you can't capture the voice of the times and culture, your historical fiction will not be historical fiction, it will be a modern novel set in a historical period.  That simple observation has been my greatest experience with writing that claims to be historical fiction today.  Most is not historical at all, but rather modern fiction set in a historical period.  When you find modern issues and modern ideas along with historical infidelity in a historical novel, that writer has not taken the three required steps to write about the times.  So how do you find the voice of the times?  That is a function of immersion and knowledge, but the precise point is that you have to subjugate your mind to the mind of the times.  Now comes the difficult point.  To have the voice of the times and culture means the ability to convey that time and culture to your readers in the modern world.  I personally use many genre crossing techniques to allow a modern person to see the times and culture through the eyes of the modern world.  The normal technique in historical fiction is the one from my novel Centurion http://www.centurionnovel.com/.  Centurion uses the typical model of simply a novel from the viewpoint of the people of the times.  There are no tricks and there is no ability or basis for comparison with the modern world.  The novel unfolds as a normal piece of historical fiction writing.  In The Second Mission http://www.thesecondmission.com/, I use time travel as a technique to move the reader into the past.  This method allows the writer to make comparisons and to convey the period through the eyes of a modern person.  It also allows comparisons with a future world or ideas.  This is a complex method and requires the author to be strongly consistent in immersion and research.  If the comparisons aren't there, then their is no purpose in using this technique.  The third method I have used (by no means the last) is using a fantastic means to pull people from the past into the present.  Aegypt http://www.aegyptnovel.com/ takes place in 1926 and pulls a being from the 18th Egyptian dynasty (1539 to 1295 BC) into that place and time.  The comparisons here and the power in the novel is the ability to see the world in the French Foreign Legion in Tunisia in 1926, the period of great archaeological discoveries in Egypt, plus the comparison of the world from the eyes of a person from classical Egypt.  And that ultimately is the power of historical fiction.  It allows the author to present the past as it was and lets the reader see the differences in the times and culture.  Tomorrow, I'll expand on this.

Writing Historical Fiction, part 2 More on Immersion

The basics of immersion.  Immersion, in this context, is placing yourself in the position to understand the culture and times of the people you intend to write about.  I wrote yesterday that the first step is to research and read all the primary and secondary source documents about the time period that you can.  This is when you begin to build your data on the historical period you are studying.  I start a file of the information and add to it over time.  You can see some parts of these files at http://www.ldalford.com/ under the "secrets" pages for my books.  This isn't all the information, but parts of it.  This type of all inclusive research works well for antiquity, but for more modern history, the number of documents becomes overwhelming.  You have to select them carefully.  Past a certain point in the modern era (beyond Gutenberg), I'd recommend using only primary and secondary sources.  When I researched the period of the civil war for a yet unpublished novel http://www.antebellumnovel.com/, I used only primary and secondary source documents (mostly letters and personal accounts).  I limited my research to Southern documents from mostly the area of the events of the novel.  I used pictures and my experience of the area along with period documents and reconstructions.  Because the information is so copious from that time, I had to intentionally limit my studies to the area and people at hand.  This is an important point about your frame of reference.  My frame of reference was the people in a certain town, in a certain place, in a certain time.  The better your can bound the scope of your subjects, the better you can immerse yourself in their lives and the better you can write about them.

Let's look deeper at some very important ways of understanding a culture.  Start with a blank slate.  I implied this yesterday.  Don't start with any preconceived ideas about the culture or the history of the times.  That might blow your theme out of the water, but it is better to get the history right than to work toward an agenda that will not stand up to scrutiny.  Some of the most egregious mistakes I see in historical novels set in antiquity are the obvious historical errors in them.  Some of the worse are a lack of understanding of: furniture, clothing, money, cultural ideas, food, meat, sexuality, general culture, slavery, commerce, religion.  These basics drive a society and culture.  A lack of understanding of them will cripple any historical novel because they define the culture and time and the way people think.  For example, in the West, money was not invented until ca. 600 BC by the Lydians.  It was not ubiquitous in the known world until the Roman empire and even then it was rare in many areas.  If you write a novel in these periods, you have to understand there is no money in general circulation until about 250 BC.  You have to figure out, from history, how people traded and did business without money.  Even after money is available, it is rare, and people still use the older methods of trading without it.  Money, or lack of it, drives the entire culture and ideas of the people.  A book with money in it in the periods mentioned (definitely prior to 600 BC but in varying degrees until much later) is just silly.  Ubiquitous furniture is another example of a lack of understanding about the past.  People did not have furniture, except the very wealthy and royalty, until very late in human history.  People in antiquity in the West, especially the wealthy, lay on their sides to eat and sat on the floor or cushions.  Slaves sat up to eat.  There were few chairs.  Tables were nonexistent or very low and small.  There were few pots or pans or plates and no utensils used for eating.  I'll get into more details about these subjects tomorrow, but you can see how important these details are for understanding about the past and history.