Aline Soules

Poet and Fiction Writer

Writing

The Research Dilemma

Magnifying glass
Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnifying_glass

Until I retired to write, I spent my formal working life as an academic librarian.  As part of that job, I engaged in research and writing, along with helping others in their research and writing work. I regularly faced this question:  If I don’t find what I’m looking for, is it because it isn’t there or did I miss it?

This dilemma is less intense for fiction writers, even historical fiction writers, because we aren’t conducting original research that must be complete and accurate or where results will affect life and death decisions, but we still face the same dilemma.  If our work doesn’t come across to the reader as ‘authentic,’ the fictive dream is broken and the reader’s gone. That requires extensive and intensive research.

There are also certain historical periods that are fanatically known and researched by professionals and amateurs alike. Examples include the American Civil War and World War II.  If a devotee disagrees with the tiniest fact that we’ve researched and swear is correct, he/she/ey can pillory us in a review that goes viral.  Readers will accept fictional characters, but any real characters, the setting, the details must be as accurate as possible.

One of my adult students wrote about his favorite books by Mary Renault.  She wrote fictional novels set in ancient Rome and Greece, a period he enjoys and he’s a fan, partly because she wrote good stories and partly because she conveys the authenticity that comes from a deep knowledge the period. Her main characters were fictional, the rest was not.

I can think of other fiction writers who carry that same authenticity.  I am not a huge fan of historical romance, but I’ll read a book by Georgette Heyer anytime.  She knew the manners, the culture, the diction of the historical periods where she set her books.  

I was born in Scotland. Well-meaning acquaintances will draw my attention to historical fiction set there.  Once, I was offered a book set in 16thcentury Scotland. I began reading, but gave up when I encountered dialogue that included the phrase “No problem” in response to a favor one character had bestowed upon another.  I found this so egregious, I couldn’t continue.

When I get discouraged about my research—just one more fact, just one more book to read—I remind myself that my goal is to transport my reader to another time and place, as well as tell the reader a story.  I think about the phrase “no problem,” and I return to my research with renewed vigor.


The Joy of Year-End Lists

Image credit:https://www.bookdepository.com/bestbooksever

Although some people lists annoying, I revel in year-end lists, especially of books. What have I read? Not read? Do I agree with the list? Do I not? It’s like being given the mast of a ship against which I can test my sails. Even a month into the new year, I still go back to the lists. Here are some to consider:

you get the idea. There’s plenty of overlap, but that, too, is one of the good things about these lists. The overlap is instructive, whether it shows popularity or reader interest or just plain great writing. That’s what to look for, if you’re a writer. The great writing. Have at ’em.

Writing from the Self

Image credit: http://www.newarkthinktank.org/wrs_poetry

Recently, Justin Cox reminded readers of this quote:

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.

Cyril Connolly, 1933, as quoted in the patron-only January newsletter of Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/home

As timely today as it was in 1933, this statement reminds me that I’m a writer. Yes, I’m an author, too, but, even if I hadn’t published anything, I’d still be a writer. I choose to write on a computer, but if we were back in cave life, I’d etch on the walls with a rock. It’s who I am.

I’ve always written, even as a child. When I was born in Scotland, only some Christians celebrated Christmas. For families who did celebrate, one neighborhood “rule” was that we children had to sit down and write thank you letters for our presents on Boxing Day (Dec. 26). Most of my friends were dragged to this. I thought it was fun. I was a writer, finding different ways to say thank you. My thanks were more enthusiastic the more I liked a particular present. My most eager thanks were for gifts of books.

I never thought about becoming an author when I was in “single digits.” But I knew I was a writer. And I always will be, as long as I can pick up a pen or clack on a computer.

As I enter another year of writing, the quote also reminds me why I’ve come to writing historical fiction. We can call this quote timeless because we have the distance that enables us to realize its continued validity today.

The lessons of history, in whatever form they take, are hard come by. History is what has been written down, both in primary and secondary sources. That, inherently, means bias. What we choose to write also implies what we haven’t written down, what’s lost. As I read extensively in researching my novel, I’ve become more and more aware of the fragility of knowing what really happened. My novel is set in Europe in WWII and much has been written, but always from a perspective and often from a set of constraints on the writer. Or is the writer an “author” in this case? Sometimes no, if the writer never intended for the words to be read, but sometimes yes, if the writer was aiming at sharing those words with others, from a small group of family members to formal publication.

When I read these many works, I seek what really happened, if it’s possible to know that, and I seek the writer’s “self.” It’s very important to me to find the “authenticity” in the work, to know that the writer truly believes the words he/she/they have put on the page. I want a writer who conveys passion and conviction on the page, someone who gives me deep-seated belief in the subject matter, even though I am that writer’s “public,” planned or otherwise. I need the one who writes for the public, but only one who has found and written from “self.” And I strive to be that writer myself.

The Gift of the Public Domain

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/copyright-free-creative-commons-98566/

Reading a Facebook post by Jane Friedman, she reminded readers that important works will come into the public domain on Jan. 1, 2019. Of course, there are also movies, music, and works of art coming as well. Of particular importance, as The Atlantic pointed out, is the fact that a whole year’s worth of copyrighted works are affected. In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Act extended the term of copyright, meaning that we spent about twenty additional years “waiting” for key works to be available publicly, without copyright control. Works first published in 1923 will be opened for us to create new works or simply read them without the addition of a copyright fee. Lifehacker (https://lifehacker.com/these-1923-copyrighted-works-enter-the-public-domain-in-1825241296), also noting this seismic event, has provided a long list of works (scroll down for their list of chosen books).

The one that haunts me is the short story, Mrs. Dalloway in Bond Street. This, plus an unfinished short story called “The Prime Minister,” were the basis of her novel, Mrs. Dalloway, published in 1925 (meaning we need to wait two more years to get our public domain hands on it). I love this work for its interiority. The reason I like books with interiority is, for me, full interiority is unique to books. Setting, character, and plot can be found in books, movies, and TV, but interiority is elusive. What’s going on inside a character’s head can be interpreted and partly conveyed by actors, but full interiority, conveyed by the author directly to a reader, can only be fully available in books. Mrs. Dalloway isn’t the only “interior” book in the world, but it’s the one that gave me an “aha” moment when I began writing myself.

As the Lifehacker article points out, not quite everything published in 1923 will come into the public domain, only works with an authorized publication in 1923, so you have to check, but we are finally beginning to see a true expansion of the public domain and that’s the ultimate gift for the new year.

I suggest that you find a book on the list and indulge yourself in the new year by reading it, knowing that it will be there for you, your children, and your children’s children. Maybe one of the books on that list will prompt an “aha” moment, as I experienced. That’s what the gift of reading and the public domain has to offer us.


More Mergers, Fewer Traditional Options

I refer readers to https://bit.ly/2BYHXoh, “Centrello Details Crown Reorg,” the latest in traditional publisher mergers, this one a merger of Random House and Crown Publishing.  According to the article, “the structure, editorial direction, and imprint teams of the Random House publishing programs are unchanged,” but I wonder for how long.  

This is the business of publishing, and, fortunately, new models are springing up.  Self-publishing has been around for a while now, but it’s a tough slog for an author.  The cost is the author’s and the marketing is exhausting, time-consuming and, often, not particularly successful.  Hybrid publishing generally “shares” expenses and, sometimes, marketing between author and publisher.

While at the Kauai Writers Conference recently, I wondered about why traditional publishers continue with impractical practices.  Blockbuster authors earn out their advances, but agents only want blockbuster authors (or books) because their cut of the “advance” enables them to make a living.  For an author, a big advance might be the thrill of a lifetime, but if that author doesn’t earn it out, publishers are unlikely to consider the author’s next book.  New models of publishing offer some sort of solution to this, if the author can afford to go that way.

As a former librarian, I have some sense of the struggles publishers face.  Production costs have risen, marketing costs are impossible (major houses do less or no marketing for non-blockbusters), and profits are marginal if the book isn’t a blockbuster.  There’s a risk in taking on a new author.  As for sales, I definitely know that publishers don’t sell as many books to libraries, because library budgets have shrunk for decades.  As for general sales, I read periodically that more people read books than ever, but the latest Publisher’s Weekly article says that adult book sales were flat in October and sales of children’s books were down 6.8% (https://bit.ly/2BYt9G3). And with the new publishing models, more books than ever are available.  I’m sure everyone is hoping for bumper sales for the end-of-year holiday season.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, but I suspect we’re in for a bumpy ride.