We grow up being told to “write†what we “knowâ€, but history is the unknown. You have to learn almost everything about a period and the social customs just to get your characters out of their beds, (or off of their skins,) and feed them breakfast.
Rule #1: Sweat the Small Stuff.
The authenticity of historical fiction depends on your knowledge and use of historical detail. It is not enough to say a character walked down the street. The reader has to be able to see the street, see the conveyances; he has to smell the smoke from the factories or the sewage in the gutter. If there are street vendors, he has to know what they’re selling. This is a new world: the reader can’t fathom it unless you give him images. These should be View the rest of this article
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