◣ ✒ 𝐿𝐸𝑇𝐿𝐼𝑇. ⋮ 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 ◥

[Tsukỉ]

@Hi My Name Is ____

To be fair some literature set back in historical times usually features their characters speaking 'normally' for the era, (because you actually want people to understand you) while the side characters may have some dialects or accents. It could get annoying if someone starts speaking in ye olde Shakespearian English for 500 pages, for example, in a book that takes place durings the 1500/1600s. The 1700/1800s have similar English in general (to modern day, as you said) but the way of speaking is... peppered with dead words and whatnot.

However I think you should also consider:

- Where was she born/raised?
- Was her family rich or poor? Or neither?
- What kind of influences did she have in her youth? Were they good or bad?
- Is she shy? Loud?

Because ultimately, from personal experience, it all goes down with a combination of things. For example, even if a character is raised in a household with foul language, they may grow up to not use them. However, an interesting thing may be that the character says cusses, however doesn't understand that they carry a strong meaning and will say them without the insulting intention. (I know this from experience *shudder*) Don't treat this as an absolute, but there's what I thought of.

[.Cas.]

@Atermis makes a good point.

@Hi My Name Is______ Side Note: Are you well versed in your history?

[Hi My Name Is ____]

@Atermis - Thank you so much for the advice!
@.Cas. - Lol, not really... But I am working on it! I think my plan of action will be to write what I can while the idea is still raw, and then do my homework. It's probably the wrong way to go about it, lol, but I think it'll be good for me. Anyway, the answer to your question is no. I probably should have before posting, but I have a strange way of going about things, lol.

[.Cas.]

You must always research first.

Always.

The Civil War is exceptionally rich in history about before, during, and after.

Using Virginia as an example (you said Georgia, but whatever). You would need to know that on October 16th, 1859, a northern abolitionist named John Brown raided the quaint town of Harper’s Ferry. This raid is actually very important for Virginia (and all of the war quite honestly). Two years later, Virginia split up into West Virginia and Virginia due to the argument of the “peculiar institution”.

Also, John Brown’s Raid was a turning point that made the southner’s prepare for war- they feared the north were all Brown loving republicans who wanted to kill all whites who owned slaves.

This is just one example of what I mean about research being important. You may have overlooked this as a cause of the war.


Also, since you’re using Georgia, you may want to be familiar with Tecumseh Sherman, and the Atlanta campaign

[.Cas.]

Revive!

(Warning: This Post will be long.)

I’m struggling a bit with something. I have four characters, all four of which are middle aged teachers of some sort. They all teach at the same high school.

The plot of my story sort of goes like this:
These four teachers (we’ll call them A B C and D) all work in the same hallway together, nestled away from the rest of the school. The novel is written by teacher A, the protagonist of the novel. He is a laid back English teacher who was originally a super famous novelist in his universe. He’s friends with teachers B, C, and D and has worked with the three of them for ten or so years.

After this ten or so year lapse, everything that can go wrong goes wrong. All of them face some sort of different struggle. Afterwards, they are no longer affiliated with the school, and given the label of Heretic (that’s a different story). Let me give you an idea of what’s happening to each of them, in this order.

Teacher D: He’s a very loud, outgoing, and rowdy individual. He’s beloved by literally everyone in the school for being an overall good person. He’s also very animated in his style of teaching. Not everyone loves that, and one of his students reports him for supposedly coming off as “too intimidating”. He doesn’t get fired, but when the school tries to change his personality, he quits.

Teacher C: I don’t exactly know what I want to happen to him yet (suggestions are welcome). He’s this very calculated and short tempered math teacher who is very tough on his students. He’s going to do something wrong that results in his firing, who knows what though. (The first draft had him get arrested- I thought that was going too far.)

Teacher B: loosing his friends is making him start to loose hope. He begins isolating himself from his other friend (teacher A) and just shuts out everything. He’s been crazy paranoid from the start, and it’s kind of saved him for this long.
However, he slowly begins adapting the teaching styles of C and D, and that’s where you think his misfortunate would lie, right? NOPE! His wife dies. He leaves his young son with teacher D and A while he’s making preparations for his wife’s funeral, and is killed in a car crash. This of course is slightly problematic for A and D later.

A is about to get in trouble, but never does. He’s uncovered that all three of his friends (arguably not B, his car crash was likely not involved) are now in unfortunate circumstances because of two girls who wanted revenge against all four of them.

My PROBLEM is this; I want to make it a slice of life story, and develop the story and characters before these events in a way that isn’t super boring to the reader. I want to establish their relationships with each other, and the two said girls. How do I do this without boring a reader to tears?

[.Cas.]

@ellabeth

Thank you!

[TheSongOfTheStars]

I would like to!

[Tsukỉ]

would anyone be willing to read the ‘prologue’ of my current project? It’s a raw draft - haven’t touched it editing wise once. It’s historical fiction!

Second this! Would love to read.

[.Cas.]

do you believe the 'strong female character' lead trope has become cliche? why, or why not?

Absolutely not. “Strong” can mean so many things. They can be physically strong. They can be mentally strong. They can be emotionally strong.

We don’t see enough mentally strong female characters. A lot of female protagonists simply fold when you push trouble their way. I hope to see more protagonists kick butt when facing mental trauma.

Before someone says The Hunger Games, no.

Just no lol.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

do you believe the 'strong female character' lead trope has become cliche? why, or why not?
I believe to a point, yes, the strong female characters I see in media have become a cliche. But I think that is only because of lazy/bad writing. I think strong "well developed" female characters are still a thing we very much need