At the moment and on a very sporadic basis, I'm trying to help a young teenager with story set sometime during the Middle Ages. Even though we've barely gotten past the first chapter and we have very little communication for various reasons, it got me thinking about historical fiction or fiction set in the real world.
Because of the communication issue, I've yet to bring this up with the girl I'm helping, but there is one thing that I'd like to tell her. She started her historical fiction with a basic story with a basic enemy but no clear indication of the story's setting or anything of the sort. The problem is that she should have done some research on the issue first because, depending on the year and location, it may have a huge impact on the story.
The Middle Ages are commonly used in fantasy and in other genras, and it has, to me, been overdone. However, part of the problem is that the Medieval worlds people create for their stories are not well-researched and come across as very flat. Most commonly think of that time in history as having kinds, knights, lords, the prominent church, and chivalrous acts, but they do not stop to look into that period of time more deeply. They often neglect looking into things like the following: what was housing like back in those days, how was society organized, what were towns and cities like, and other detailed glances. This will help your story seem more realistic, which is a good thing in regards to historical fiction.
Another thing for any form of a historical story is to get a detailed look at the history for the time period. The Middle Ages, depending on what year the story's based in, was a very tempestuous period with frequent wars and tensions between countries. In the early years, you have the Vikings running around all over Europe and wrecking havoc there; then you have wars between England and France; and then you have different invasions such as the Normans invading the British isles and taking over. Things like those need to be taken into consideration because it will help define the world that your story is set in and may also help you create a plot for the story.
So, in conclusion, if you are setting your story in the real world in any time period, do some fairly extensive research for that time. It will help your story seem more accurate, and it should help prevent you from creating a story that seems too modern.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
More on Mary Sues
I follow the livejournal anti-shur'tugal, which I enjoy because it often makes me think of writing topics and of ways to improve my own writing. Someone on a forum I frequent posted the following article about Mary Sues and what they really look like; the author verbalizes the issue better than I did, so I suggest you take a look at it.
http://anti-shurtugal.andontie.net/2010/08/14/ironwings-mary-sue-discourse/
http://anti-shurtugal.andontie.net/2010/08/14/ironwings-mary-sue-discourse/
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The Story's Hero
In fantasy or epic stories, one thing that bugs me is how the hero is practically the same in every single one. I've noticed that the following have become very popular but also very overdone:
1) The hero starts off on a farm. There's nothing wrong with someone having farming origins, but there are plenty of other occupations that could be used instead. Your hero could come from a background in fishing, in hunting (though this one would depend on what kind of society you use, and it wouldn't really work in a Medieval-esque world... unless the family is poaching illegally), in mining, in forestry, or a number of other occupations.
2) The hero has obscure origins. In "The Inheritance Cycle", you have Eragon having an unknown father and a mother who was absent completely from his life. In "The Wheel of Time", the protagonist supposedly has parents but is revealed to have been adopted. It's rare to find a hero who has both parents still alive and who is living with them when the story begins.
3) The hero comes from a more remote region of the kingdom/empire/ civilization. I can't think of a recent hero that comes from a city or a more populated region. Granted, it does make for interesting interactions between a country boy and the big city, but it has been overused, in my opinion.
4) The hero falls for a princess or someone high up on the food chain. Eragon falls for Arya, Joraeim from "Beyond the Summerland" falls for Princess Wylla, and others do the same. I can't recall a hero who loves a girl from his hometown and returns to her at the end of everything; that, to me, is more romantic.
5) Another one is that the hero is somehow a descendant of a king or royalty or to whoever's ruling the place, which harkens back to his often-obscure origins. This too has been overdone, and I'd like to see a hero who is just an ordinary person with no connections to a ruling person.
These are just a few examples, but I find it sad that these five have been used so much in stories when there is greater potential for heroes and their background.
1) The hero starts off on a farm. There's nothing wrong with someone having farming origins, but there are plenty of other occupations that could be used instead. Your hero could come from a background in fishing, in hunting (though this one would depend on what kind of society you use, and it wouldn't really work in a Medieval-esque world... unless the family is poaching illegally), in mining, in forestry, or a number of other occupations.
2) The hero has obscure origins. In "The Inheritance Cycle", you have Eragon having an unknown father and a mother who was absent completely from his life. In "The Wheel of Time", the protagonist supposedly has parents but is revealed to have been adopted. It's rare to find a hero who has both parents still alive and who is living with them when the story begins.
3) The hero comes from a more remote region of the kingdom/empire/ civilization. I can't think of a recent hero that comes from a city or a more populated region. Granted, it does make for interesting interactions between a country boy and the big city, but it has been overused, in my opinion.
4) The hero falls for a princess or someone high up on the food chain. Eragon falls for Arya, Joraeim from "Beyond the Summerland" falls for Princess Wylla, and others do the same. I can't recall a hero who loves a girl from his hometown and returns to her at the end of everything; that, to me, is more romantic.
5) Another one is that the hero is somehow a descendant of a king or royalty or to whoever's ruling the place, which harkens back to his often-obscure origins. This too has been overdone, and I'd like to see a hero who is just an ordinary person with no connections to a ruling person.
These are just a few examples, but I find it sad that these five have been used so much in stories when there is greater potential for heroes and their background.
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