How to Seamlessly Transport Your Readers to a Historical Setting

by Stephanie Morrill

Stephanie writes young adult contemporary novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series (Revell) and the Ellie Sweet books (Playlist). You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website including the free novella, Throwing Stones.

Last week I talked about gathering the information you need to create the historical world for your story. When researching, not only do you learn an overwhelming amount of dates and information (especially if you're writing a historical that coincides with a war or political situation) but now you have to figure out what belongs in your story.

The mantra to keep in mind as you undergo this task is "Story is king." This is not a historical textbook, is is a story. Your reader wants to be entertained. Yes, historical readers love the genre because they also learn something and catch a glimpse of time long ago but there's a reason they picked up historical fiction and not a biography on George Washington. Right?

Telling a good story is your first priority.

With that in mind, the first thing I did when I started working on my historical book was set aside all my research notes. I had spent time learning the details of prohibition, I had read articles on 1920s fashion, read articles on F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I had read a book called Daily Life In The United States 1920-1940. I had a basic understanding of what my character's world looked like.

The first few chapters were achingly slow. Wait, what kind of hats did men wear? When was the flu epidemic? How did the train system work back then? When did Capone take over Cicero?

The research was strangling my writing process, and if I ever wanted to write "The End" I had to free myself to write the story. I remembered an interview I had read with Phillipa Gregory when she was talking about her process for writing The Other Boleyn Girl. She detailed all the different ways that she does her research and makes timelines. Then she said, "Then I put my notebooks to one side and only consult them for factual detail, and try to write from memory and a sense of time and place. Otherwise, the detail of the research blocks the flow of the story. In the second draft I check everything all over again."

That seemed like it would fit my writing style, so I stopped pausing to figure out train fares or the price of jewelry and instead focused on telling the story.

But some things were worth pausing to figure out, like when I needed to know if it was probable for my family to have a live-in housekeeper. This was a detail that impacted the story and would have been a pain to rewrite.

In the best historicals, the details are woven in so seamlessly, the reader doesn't register that you're spoon feeding them a bite of research. Here are three ways to help immerse your reader in the setting:

Word choice.

Much of what gives a book that great historical feel is the word choice.

Consider this simple sentence from Melanie Dickerson's The Fairest Beauty:

Gabe strode down the corridor to his bedchamber.

Rather than Gabe walking down the hall to his room, Melanie chose period words to describe even his simple actions, making this a sentence that invites us deeper into the medieval setting.

Here's a longer excerpt from Roseanna M. White's Circle of Spies:

She tucked her hand into the crook with an exhalation blustery enough to rival the wind off the Chesapeake. "I am a woman of three and twenty. I am perfectly capable of maintaining my own living, and Mother Hughes needs me."

This combines not just great word choice ("maintaining my own living" versus a more modern "managing my finances") but also a good in-character description of the Chesapeake. It also shows an action common back then, a lady taking the arm of a gentleman when out walking. 

Use comparisons.

There are things about the culture your character lives in that your reader needs to understand. One way that you can do this is by having characters make comparisons. I like how Julie Klassen does that in this excerpt from The Apothecary's Daughter:

"I suppose medicine is rather distasteful," he continued. "Boils and growths. Infections and bodily fluids..." He stopped, turning to her, face stricken. "Forgive me!"

Lilly said mildly, "Do not be uneasy on my account."

"Such talk does not disturb you ... you do not swoon nor faint nor sicken?"

Lilly shook her head. 

In this exchange, Julie Klassen shows us how different Lilly is from other girls of her time. And she does it by comparing the doctor's previous experience with ladies with his current experience with Lilly's mild reactions. She doesn't have to come right out and tell the reader, "Lilly was very unusual for a girl in her time."

When working on my 1920s book, I discovered that being a teenager in the 1920s was very unique in that this generation was being raised with starkly different morals and opportunities than their parents had been. There are a few times where my character might think someone is behaving a bit too Victorian, but I had her quote an expert when she was trying to impress her oldest brother:

“We haven’t spoken much about his family." I raise my glass but don't yet take a drink. "But I suppose our generation is so vastly different than our parents—more so than any generation before—that some clash is inevitable.”

Tim arches his eyebrows.

I laugh and confess, “I read that in an Emily Post column. It was advice on wayward teenagers, or something.”

A little of this goes a long way. We don't need Dr. Graves to constantly be telling Lilly that other women are repulsed by medical issues, nor does my character need to regularly talk about the rise of the modern woman. Just a little will do.

Put it between the quotes.

Sometimes there are outdated notions in a historical premise that need to be outright told to a modern reader in order for the story to make sense. Your reader may not understand the intricacies of land ownership laws in Britain or the stigma of having disabilities during the middle ages or any number of things.

Movies frequently handle this with conversations between characters, and it's fun to study how they do it without it seeming forced. In the 2003 version of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth is telling Charlotte that the dreaded cousin is coming, the one who will inherit their house. "But why?" Charlotte says as they rush along the street. "The house can't pass on to us," Elizabeth says (or something close to it, I forget the exact wording) "We're females."

Historically speaking, Charlotte never would have needed to ask this question. This is something so common that it's built into the whole premise of Pride and Prejudice. The Bennetts had five daughters, so good marriages are critical to a decent life. And if they want the house, somebody needs to marry the comedic yet insufferable Mr. Collins. (The conflict in Downton Abbey, particularly the first season, is the same.)

But unless you've read a lot of regency stories or studied British history, this is likely something you don't know and it's information they needed to pass along to a modern audience so the story will make sense.

Do not forget your reader, who can't help their modern mindset.

As awesome has historical accuracy is, your modern reader will bring their sense of right and wrong into the story. It's only natural.

Certain practices that were considered normal, or at least acceptable, in another time and place may not jive with a broad modern audience. For example, words that we now consider racial slurs were once used very casually by many people. And it was very common to not tell a servant or slave "thank you" or to consider their thoughts/feelings/time/effort. But very few modern readers would be able to overlook such thoughtless and egotistical behavior in a character they're supposed to be rooting for.

This carries over to romance too. In Britain, it used to be extremely common for cousins to marry each other. But even if you're writing a regency romance, I don't recommend your hero and heroine be cousins, despite the historical accuracy. For a modern reader, it's a bit creepy.

One last note...

Don't be afraid to get the balance wrong. Because you will. It's the nature of first drafts. You'll explain too much and have to take stuff out, or you'll explain it too little and add stuff in. But that can be fixed and will likely require the help of critique partners who haven't done all the research that you have.

Next Monday, I'll share a tool I've used to help me keep track of historical dates alongside the dates of my story. Any other questions about historicals that you'd like answered next week?