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| Image by Comfreak on Pixabay |
Period pieces are more forgiving depending on your genre. Most readers are not history buffs, but
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| Image by alan9187 on Pixabay |
Try to use reliable sources when researching time periods. Be especially careful when researching costuming choices. Thanks to Hollywood there are many mixups out there. Wikipedia is wrong from time to time so be careful. There are other sources available from universities and historical societies. These sources tend to be more reliable.
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| Image by KELLEPICS on Pixabay |
When building your world, your characters may have a need to travel, and everywhere they go needs a name. Naming towns can be challenging. There are several methods to name cities, towns and even streets. Many websites offer name generators; some are better than others. I personally never cared for using them although they are fun to play with. You can reuse city names if they fit with your character naming scheme. My personal favorite is to collect street and subdivision names. Many of them fit in well with the fantasy books I write. For instance, Meadowbrook is a local street name and would make an excellent town name. I used to keep a notebook in my purse or car at all times for ideas or good names. Now I just put them in the notes section on my phone.
Currently, I have 11 titles available ranging from sci-fi, fantasy, and romance. My current favorite series is my dragon shifter series: Dragons of the North and Dragons of the South 1& 2. If you would like to learn more about me or my books you can find it at these links.
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Great post! It is very important to do research. I read a novel recently that plays out in Manhattan in our time and it was very distracting that the author put famous buildings and a bridge in the wrong places.
ReplyDeleteI had to be very careful about my timeline when my characters went to NY. The entire skyline changed around the time part of the book took place. Some of the younger readers wouldn’t notice if I was off by a year but anyone in my generation or older would have called me out big time.
DeleteI'm also a proponent of doing the research to incorporate realism, no matter how minute the detail may be. I feel we owe it to our readers.
ReplyDeleteI’ve found myself researching the weirdest things from landmarks to travel times. I even once found myself researching sailing times in the 18th century.
DeleteSpot on with your comments, Rebecca. I have to draw a map of my world and add to it as my story unfolds. Without it, I would be unable to gauge distances, the lay of the land, rivers and mountains etc.
ReplyDeleteI drew a map for my fantasy novels as well. It was the only way to remember where things were. I later had it redrawn and published it with my book.
DeleteGreat article. I didn't do much world building in my YA trilogy or even my MG but in my wip's I have definitely done more research.
ReplyDeleteI’m sure members of the group would be glad to help if you need anything Chris.
DeleteGreat tips and insight into world building. I think sometimes I spend more time on world buiding than I do writing. As you say, research is key.
ReplyDeleteIt’s definitely labor intensive and readers never realize how much effort it takes to make a believable world. I guess that’s what makes it worth while. I spent more than 30 hours researching For Their Sins and that’s just a rough guess. 3 of it was the sailing times I mentioned above. LOL
DeleteWonderful tips to writing engaging novels!
ReplyDeleteThanks I hope they help
DeleteI agree that there is no ease on choosing a location or an era or even another world. Historical fiction is one of the most demanding in term of research, particularly when the information that are coming from different historians tend to diverge.
ReplyDeleteIt’s my least favorite thing to write and mine wasn’t truly a historical novel. Hats off to those who write the genre and do it well.
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