Carrie-Anne
For almost 20 years, my almost-exclusive writing focus has been 20th century historical. I write about various age groups, but have always considered myself first and foremost a historical writer, not someone defined by modern-day age-based categories.
Written by Carrie-Anne
Food is one way to set a cultural and/or historical flavor. It's important to make sure you're getting the culinary details right.
Written by Carrie-Anne
Every writer has made some mistakes during his or her development as a writer. Have you made some of my past mistakes?
Written by Carrie-Anne
Do you have multiple births in your story? Have you ever thought about including some? Here are some dos and don'ts about how to realistically depict the situation.
Written by Carrie-Anne
One mark of an amateur historical writer is using history as shallow window-dressing. On the opposite extreme is someone who crams in as much history as possible. A realistic historical is all about balance.
Written by Carrie-Anne
Keeping characters and storylines consistent is vital, particularly in a long book or a series. If you change things up along the way, you have to go back to make everything consistent.
Written by Carrie-Anne
It's very easy to fall into the trap of making an antagonist or a character with extremist beliefs into a one-dimensional cartoon. But the most realistic villains have nuances, and weren't born evil.
Written by Carrie-Anne
If your book is set in another country, or is about immigrants, it's important to use just enough foreign language for cultural flavor. But too many foreign words and phrases can be distracting and seem pretentious.
Written by Carrie-Anne
I have many lefty and ambidextrous characters. Here are some valuable pointers on how to depict a left-handed character with honesty and balance.
Written by Carrie-Anne
True historical fiction involves capturing the entire picture of an era, not just dressing your characters up and referencing moviestars or news stories. Good historicals should never feel like a period piece.
Written by Carrie-Anne
Since the YA explosion, it seems as though the definition of young adult or teen lit has undergone a shift. This even extends to historical, a genre that's supposed to focus on historical events first.
Written by Carrie-Anne
Many writers today seem wholly unfamiliar with or antagonistic to the tried and true, traditional third-person omniscient, but it can be an extremely creative, flexible, personal POV in the right hands.
Written by Carrie-Anne
Thoughts on choosing the right tense for your book. While there's a reason past tense was the default for so long, sometimes present tense is more suitable.
