Dominic Leung’s Reviews > The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write > Status Update
Dominic Leung
is on page 218 of 283
Reading chapter 11- Research - Serving your story
It's important to bear in mind that the essential purpose of your research is to serve your story. This usually means making the reader believe, if only for the duration of his reading, in the world you've created, and for most readers belief will depend on the narrative having a discernible relationship to the facts.
— 7 hours, 31 min ago
It's important to bear in mind that the essential purpose of your research is to serve your story. This usually means making the reader believe, if only for the duration of his reading, in the world you've created, and for most readers belief will depend on the narrative having a discernible relationship to the facts.
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Dominic’s Previous Updates
Dominic Leung
is on page 218 of 283
Reading chapter 11- Research - Serving your story
But serving the story also requires flexibility in our treatment of the facts. It's as desirable as it is inevitable that a writer of historical fiction will deviate, to a greater or lesser extent, from historical fact: it's often in the gaps between known facts that our imagination work most freely and fruitfully.
— 7 hours, 29 min ago
But serving the story also requires flexibility in our treatment of the facts. It's as desirable as it is inevitable that a writer of historical fiction will deviate, to a greater or lesser extent, from historical fact: it's often in the gaps between known facts that our imagination work most freely and fruitfully.
Dominic Leung
is on page 217 of 283
Finished chapter 11 - Research - Sources
And how do you begin? In general, it's a good idea to start wide and shallow (establishing a board sense of the subject area or historical period) and later, as your needs define themselves more clearly, to go deep and narrow (digging down to find out specific details). You can find out a broad categories of publication in the book that you may need to go to for information.
— 7 hours, 35 min ago
And how do you begin? In general, it's a good idea to start wide and shallow (establishing a board sense of the subject area or historical period) and later, as your needs define themselves more clearly, to go deep and narrow (digging down to find out specific details). You can find out a broad categories of publication in the book that you may need to go to for information.
Dominic Leung
is on page 217 of 283
Finished chapter 11 - Research - Sources
Where do you go for your information? We're fortunate these days in having a great deal of material literally at our fingertips: a considerable amount of our research can now be carried out online, though you're still likely to need the support of libraries at times.
— 7 hours, 37 min ago
Where do you go for your information? We're fortunate these days in having a great deal of material literally at our fingertips: a considerable amount of our research can now be carried out online, though you're still likely to need the support of libraries at times.
Dominic Leung
is on page 215 of 283
Finished chapter 11 - Research - Subjects
But historical fiction makes particular demands on the writer, who needs a broad spectrum of knowledge in order to picture her fictional world and develop a sense of what living in it might be like. You could check the checklist in the book that will be helpful to you if you choose, to set your fiction in the past.
— 7 hours, 52 min ago
But historical fiction makes particular demands on the writer, who needs a broad spectrum of knowledge in order to picture her fictional world and develop a sense of what living in it might be like. You could check the checklist in the book that will be helpful to you if you choose, to set your fiction in the past.
Dominic Leung
is on page 215 of 283
Finished chapter 11 - Research - Subjects
Your subjects for research are, of course, the subjects of your fiction; if, for example, you're writing a detective novel and need to find out how long a set of fingerprints might be expected to survive in an exposed environment, your research subject is obvious.
— 7 hours, 54 min ago
Your subjects for research are, of course, the subjects of your fiction; if, for example, you're writing a detective novel and need to find out how long a set of fingerprints might be expected to survive in an exposed environment, your research subject is obvious.
Dominic Leung
is on page 212 of 283
Finished chapter 11 - Research - Keeping research unobtrusive
That same character might then, when returning to their slum, see their own surroundings more critically, and notice details in new ways. Descriptions will often feel more natural to a reader when the material in question is new to or seen anew by, a character.
— 8 hours, 19 min ago
That same character might then, when returning to their slum, see their own surroundings more critically, and notice details in new ways. Descriptions will often feel more natural to a reader when the material in question is new to or seen anew by, a character.
Dominic Leung
is on page 212 of 283
Finished chapter 11 - Research - Keeping research unobtrusive
A character who has always lived in a Victorian Slum would not perceive their surroundings with pitying eyes and might not even consciously notice them, but a more affluent visitor would. Similarly, the slum-dweller, entering a rich person's house, might be struck by every detail.
— 8 hours, 21 min ago
A character who has always lived in a Victorian Slum would not perceive their surroundings with pitying eyes and might not even consciously notice them, but a more affluent visitor would. Similarly, the slum-dweller, entering a rich person's house, might be struck by every detail.
Dominic Leung
is on page 212 of 283
Finished chapter 11 - Research - Keeping research unobtrusive
We need to help our readers, but we also need to credit their intelligence.
— 8 hours, 24 min ago
We need to help our readers, but we also need to credit their intelligence.
Dominic Leung
is on page 212 of 283
Finished chapter 11 - Research - Keeping research unobtrusive
One of the challenges of historical fiction is providing sufficient detail to build a picture in the reader's mind while avoiding the clutter of unnescessary explanation. When we write an elaborately explanatory sentence we're often either showing off what we know or demonstrating our lack of confidence in the reader's ability to pick up the clues.
— 8 hours, 25 min ago
One of the challenges of historical fiction is providing sufficient detail to build a picture in the reader's mind while avoiding the clutter of unnescessary explanation. When we write an elaborately explanatory sentence we're often either showing off what we know or demonstrating our lack of confidence in the reader's ability to pick up the clues.
Dominic Leung
is on page 211 of 283
Finished chapter 11 - Research - Research
World events may figure in your narrative but your shouldn't let them overshadow the particular story you want to tell. Historical novels tend to have a big story and a little story - the historical events and the events of the characters' lives. you should put the story in the background and the little story in the foreground.
— 8 hours, 34 min ago
World events may figure in your narrative but your shouldn't let them overshadow the particular story you want to tell. Historical novels tend to have a big story and a little story - the historical events and the events of the characters' lives. you should put the story in the background and the little story in the foreground.
