Tug of War
Detail from Hokusai Manga
Historical fiction is a balancing act–better metaphor, a tug of war, accuracy pulling hard on one side and accessibility on the other. If you make your characters talk like they actually did four or five centuries ago, you will quickly lose readers who don’t have the patience to mentally translate. For example, here’s a snippet of Meriwether Lewis’s diary from his expedition to find the Northwest Passage. He’s presumably writing and spelling more or less as he spoke:
…this may in some measure assist us to account for the heavy dues which are mor remarkable for their freequency and quantity than in any country I was ever in— they are so heavy the drops falling from the trees from about midknight untill sunrise gives you the eydea of a constant gentle rain.
And that’s just from 1803, and the man is speaking/writing English. If you’re trying to go farther back historically and farther afield geographically, it gets harder and harder to make your characters sound comprehensible.
On the other hand, if you make your characters talk like today’s teenagers, they just sound ludicrous. I knew I had gone too far in that direction when one of my writing group participants told me that my ninjas sounded a bit like her Yiddish-speaking relatives.
And the thing is, you don’t actually know if you’ve kept your balance until the thing is published and you get reactions from readers. That’s when you discover if accuracy had yanked you so far off into Meriwether-Lewis-land that nobody can understand you, or if accessibility has pulled you flat on your face.
Read MoreBack To Regular Life
Next sabbatical reading?
Not that a life spent researching Japanese demons and plesiosaurs is all that regular, but anyway, the sabbatical is over.
Too bad. It was an intoxicating experience to be able to read for hours at a stretch, the way I used to be able to read (now that I think about it) in childhood. It’s surprising that, as a writer, I could forget how mind-blowing it is to bury yourself in a fictional world, not to be dragged out for anything less urgent than lunch (hey, I like lunch). Thank goodness for this reminder. I may have to schedule mini reading-sabbaticals more often.
I realized something, though. I read realistic fiction, fantasy, humor, autobiography, award winners, and regular everyday books…but what I did not read was anything where the main character is not white. This is disheartening. I’m a fan of children’s literature, reasonably well-read in the field, alert to new trends…and to find books with a character of color, I must go deliberately searching for them. Most readers don’t do that. And then the fictional world reflects and reinforces the world inside our heads, where minorities are not just minorities–they are nonexistent.
So I’ve got Linda Sue Park’s A Long Walk To Water on the list. Anything else I should add?
Read MoreWhat I’ve Been Reading: The Misfits
Charming. James Howe creates real characters, real kids, and vivid real-life problems. Perhaps the ending is a bit too fairy-tale good, but who am I to complain when it’s so satisfying?
Read MoreWhat I’ve Been Reading: Wonder
My name is August, by the way. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.
This is worth every bit of the hype. Far and away my favorite piece of sabbatical reading so far. I’m a big fan of Cynthia Lord’s Rules, which deals with a boy with autism and his older sister, but I actually think that R. J. Palacio actually provides a stronger, more vivid, more honest look at what it means and feels like to grow up other than “normal,” to have a sibling or a friend or a student who is not “normal.”
This is one of those books that is hard for me, as an adult, to read. It’s difficult to shed my adult impulses to protect and shelter Auggie from all the cruelty, intentional and unintentional, that he encounters every day as he leaves his sheltered, homeschooled life and starts fifth grade. Like his mom, I want to keep this kid safe forever. But that’s one of the ways the author succeeds so brilliantly–in letting Auggie suffer but also letting his courage show through. His story is bearable in part because he is so strong, and also in part because he’s surrounded by a cast of flawed but loving characters who help him through (and grow themselves as well).
Read MoreSarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Thomson focuses on newfound connection, magic, and suspense to conjure a fast-paced, heartwarming mystery. Thomson’s world is populated by resourceful protagonists, fanciful creatures, and quirky supporting characters.”
—Publishers Weekly