Writing a Historical Novel

Writing a Historical Novel Historical novels are becoming more popular in recent years and that has got many writers wanting in on the action. It is not for the faint of heart, though. It typically takes three times as long to write a historical novel as it does to write a novel set in modern times, because of the amount of research that is involved.Having said that, there has been so much written about how difficult it is to author a historical novel that you can easily discourage yourself from writing one altogether if you arent careful. My hope is that you will stop reading articles about writing a historical novel (after you read this one, of course) and get to work on writing yours.A few weeks ago, I watched the Nova documentary  entitled The Ghosts of Machu Picchu. It was not until I sat down to write this article, however, that I realized its relevance to writing historical fiction.Machu Picchu is an ancient Incan city in Peru. It was built in the 15th century, high on a mountain. The fact that the mo untain is prone to frequent avalanches, sits on not one but two fault lines, and receives torrential rains of approximately 76 inches per year only added to the wonder of how the city has survived the centuries.As one discovers upon closer observation, the Incan builders took special care to ensure the citys longevity. They started at the base of the mountain, and built terraces all the way to the top to sure up the mountain. Then, as excavations have shown, they created a foundation for the city some 9 feet deep below the surface, with over 100 drains installed to control rain runoff. It is estimated that 60% of the work that went into building Machu Picchu is underground and concealed from the naked eye.Writing historical fiction is much like building Machu Picchu. You want your novel to stand the test of time and that means doing the historical research to sure it up. But you dont want your research to be flaunted before your readers any more than the builders of the city wanted us to stand in awe of their foundation. The research has to be there but it is your creative work, your story, that you want the reader to stand in awe of; not your research.To write a good historical novel, you will need the same skills that any good novelist would need:you need to be able to tell a good story.You need to know how to build a good plot.You will need to have the final chapter in your mind and write toward that end.Some say you need to capture the readers attention in the first 5 pages, but modern readers are even more flippant than readers of past decades. If you dont have their attention in the first 5 paragraphs, you may have lost them.What sets historical writing apart from novels with a modern environment is that the writer cannot rely on his or her common knowledge to describe sights, smells, tastes, or even the motives of their characters. Like any novelist, you need to understand people well enough to guess at their motives and logic. But unlike a modern novel ist, you have to divorce yourself from modern ideals of what is socially acceptable and entertain motives and logic that may not be acceptable in our time. When you write about polar explorers, for example, you will have to accept that they killed and ate their sled dogs and fed the scraps to their remaining dogs, without judging them for it, or painting your hero with modern sensibilities that are ahead of their times. After all, it is the faults of heroes and heroines, and it is your ability to make the reader sympathize, despite them, that makes memorable characters for your story.I cannot leave this point without sounding a word of caution, however, that there are social paradigms you may wish to overlook in order to make your characters more palatable, while remaining honest with the historicity of the character. If Thomas Jefferson is a character you want your readers to sympathize with, for example, you may not want to over-emphasize the fact that he owned hundreds of slaves, unless it is relevant to your plot. I say this because you have to be honest with that truth if you address it. You cannot then have him telling his slaves to have a glass of lemonade while he finishes their duties.This leads me to another important point. It requires more skill for you to avoid things that you dont know about or are unimportant to the development of your story than it does to flaunt your knowledge of the time period. Again, if your readers wanted a history lesson, they would have picked up a textbook and not a novel. They want to escape into another time and, for a moment, get lost in the person of that period that you have created for them.There is a trust that a reader gives the author when they pick up the book to read; a trust that you know the period about which you are writing. They have not picked up the book to judge that knowledge, but if you betray that trust through poor research, they can be most unforgiving. If you use terms that were not in use in th e time, or refer to technology that did not exist at the time, a knowledgeable reader will likely be through with you.One may presume that candles were in use in the time of King David, because translations refer to candlesticks but readers well versed in the time will know that it means lamp-stand and that candles had not been invented yet.One would assume that the builders of Machu Picchu used carts to move their stones, but they had not yet discovered the wheel.One would assume the climate of England in the 1600s if they did not take into consideration the little ice age. In other words, you are traveling into another world and can take nothing for granted.Historical novelist, Elizabeth Crook, has written on her website about her creative process. She advises that you be willing to do many revisions and Dump the Ballast or cut out those interesting factoids that dont support your plot. She also warns against succumbing to the temptation to write in first person. When readers here someone speak on and on, describing themselves and their actions in minute detail, it makes the narrator sound self-absorbed and less likable.When it comes to research, the foundation of your Machu Picchu, Elizabeth Crook notes, writing historical fiction is like trying to get to San Marcos when you have no car, you dont know where the road is, and you have never in your life harnessed a half-lame mule to a flatbed wagon. Assume it is going to be a while before you arrive.By now you are probably thinking, I thought this article was going to encourage me to get writing. If so, here is the good news:You dont need a university education to write historical fiction. You just have to love research. Digging into past times and cultures can be very exciting. If you dont think so, stick to writing in modern settings. In fact, getting caught up in overdoing the research is often the greatest problem with those who write in this genre (I know I am guilty).Doing the research has never been ea sier. You can travel to your location for inspiration; use the Internet, local libraries and museums; or even pick up the phone and call an expert in the culture or time with an intelligent list of questions to get them talking.More good news: your storyline is already there in history. This is a huge part of the novelists creative process that has already been done for you by Father Time. All you have to do is look at the history, create a timeline for your story, and use your creativity to fill in the gaps.In summary, your readers trust you enough to step into your time machine and have you as their tour guide.  You need to know your world – how it smells, looks, feels, tastes – better than they do without touting it. But dont let the research bog you down. Write. You may include facts that may later prove irrelevant to your story. You may skip over relevant technology until you can research it more. That is what revision is for.Eventually, you have to stop using r esearch as an excuse and get writing. Use Machu Picchu as your guide: 60% foundation and 40% city; 60% research and 40% you.

Mental Health Essay

Mental Health Essay Mental Health Essay Alessandra, who was a senior in college and just finishing up her final year at her university. The hustle of being a senior was overwhelming. The last 2 weeks of college is the most laborious for anyone graduating with finals, graduation, the goodbyes and the tedious preparation of packing up all four years of belongings to take home. Much like her peers, Alessandra was ready. Ready to see her family, begin looking for her career and finally reuniting with her boyfriend, Mike, from back home. It was during her strenuous week of final exams when she noticed that she wasn’t feeling her best. It started with a tickle in her throat and a stuffy nose. â€Å"The inevitable is happening. I’m getting sick† she thought, but quickly realized that there was just no time to worry about a cold. Finally after finals, she found some time to go to the doctor and get something for her cold. The doctor prescribed her a common antibiotic that she would have to take for ten days. â€Å"This is great news,† she thought, â€Å"the antibiotic will fight off whatever I have, so I can finally start my life and move in with Mike.† Everything was falling into place for the bright young graduate. Graduation came and went and finally, after two days of packing, she was ready to head home. It was a long three hour drive, but felt like an eternity since she wasn’t well. Why hadn’t the antibiotics kicked in yet? It was the fourth day of taking the medication when she realized she wasn’t feeling any better. In fact, the medication she was taking was making her feel really nauseous. After completing the antibiotics, she realized she felt worse. She looked awful. She had lost weight, had rashes on her body and had developed difficulty swallowing. After multiple doctor visits, it was diagnosed that she had developed thrush from the antibiotics and had a severe reaction to it. More medication was given but once she started feeling physically better, she started feeling anxious. Anxious that she would get so sick again and eventually die. She didn’t leave the house for days. She felt safe only at home with her parents. â€Å"I can only depend on themà ¢â‚¬  she thought. When the time came for her to see Mike, she started to feel anxious and afraid because she knew he wanted to live together. She wanted to stay at home where her parents could take care of her. Her parents didn’t understand how their independent successful daughter with a bright future had changed so drastically. It was like anxiety had taken over her whole body. She started wondering if she would ever feel normal again. After about a month of feeling anxious, and reading that medication was the solution to her problem, she decided medication was not for her. She decided to tackle her anxiety head on with a method called Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. This method is based on 3 key facts to reduce anxiety. The first is the Relaxation technique. Learning how to relax can be a helpful part of therapy. Whenever our bodies react to anxiety, our muscles tense and our breathing gets shallow. This is where the panic usually sets in for people like Alessandra suffering with anxiety. Calm breathing which involves slowing down the breath helps regulate your

Excellent paper writing is real with us!

Excellent paper writing is real with us! Writing an Excellent Paper – You Need a Blueprint Constructing a bridge without a blueprint would constitute stupidity, because it would result in a faulty structure that would probably fail. And making an attempt at writing a paper without a blueprint that outlines the steps is just as ridiculous. Just as a blueprint guides a construction crew through a step-by-step process, so does one for construction of a scholarly research paper. You can’t skip any of the steps and still expect an excellent result. Step One: Pick your topic. While this may seem like an easy step, you may actually end up feeling like Goldilocks in the home of the three bears. One will be too broad and another will be too narrow. You will have to find one that is â€Å"just fight† for the length parameters your instructor has given. One way to do this is to take a look at sample papers on the internet, in your broader content area, that meet the breadth and depth of what you need and that interests you. And do pick a topic you like – the entire production process will be drudgery if you don’t. Step Two: The research. Your search for appropriate resources can begin on the Internet, using specific keywords related to our topic.  Now here is the thing about resources. Your instructor or professor will want a variety – one or two books, two-three journal articles, and the perhaps one or two sources solely available on the Internet. You will not have a problem finding resource titles, but you do have to sort the â€Å"junk† from the respected sources. Check out the authors of any source you are considering, so that you know they have credentials to be considered authorities on the topic. Since most campus libraries are online, a lot of current resources are accessible from your home or dorm room, but you may have to actually enter the structure and check out a book or two! Be careful as you take notes, so that you have your resource information included for citation later on. And, if you have a good app for doing so, you can organize your notes by sub-topic, and the combining of different resources on one sub-topic is done for you. If you are unsure about sub-topics to include again, look at a sample paper or two online, and see what sub-topics others have used. Step Three: Get a thesis. What is the purpose for you writing this paper? If your writing paper assignment is to persuade, then you probably already have a thesis – your opinion. But, once the research is done, what do you see as important for a reader to learn about this topic? If you are writing about artificial intelligence, for example, what are the great benefits and what are the potential dangers? If you are writing about the Vietnam War, was it worth the cost in lives and money? You need to make a point with your paper, and your thesis statement comes from your response and your reaction to what you have researched. Step Four: Paper writing cannot begin until you have the most important part of your blueprint in place – your outline. Now, this does not have to be a formal one. In fact, remember how your organized those subtopics? They really are the basis for your organizational structure, so look at them and determine the sequence in which they should be presented. Now, take each sub-topic and read through the information and/or data from your research. Combine pieces of information that are related, and these â€Å"sub-sub topics† will be your paragraphs for that section of your paper. Step Five: The writing. You’re now ready to write the rough draft of the body of your paper. Be considerate of your reader, and use headings for each sub-topic – it keeps his/her thoughts organized (and your professor will be impressed). If you have not yet bought a style-check app, you should do so. It does much more than just a simple Word grammar check, and it will help you â€Å"clean-up† all those poorly structured sentences as you write. Here’s a few other tips for your writing: Don’t use a vocabulary that is â€Å"beyond your years,† and don’t try to impress with lengthy and highly complex sentences. Pretend that you are writing this paper for a fellow student. So, if there are terms that are not commonly known, define them. Don’t use slang and jargon unless it is in a quote. Don’t use contractions as I am using here! They are not appropriate in formal writing. Limit the direct quotes you use to those that are really impactful. Step Six: The Final Draft. Editing and proofreading is a task best accomplished in two ways. If you are doing your own proofreading, put the paper aside for at least 12 hours and do something else (like sleep). This will allow you to be more objective when you do review it. The other and better option is to have someone else review it – you can trade-off with another student and edit each other’s papers, if you are both pretty good writers. The paper has to flow logically, and someone else will pick up issues with coherence that you will not. Step Seven: The Style Format. Your in-text and end-of-text citations must be according to the required style, so do not get sloppy with this. And be certain that your title page, pagination, font, margins, etc. are in compliance. It’s those little things that keep a professor happy! A paper that is worthy of a good grade can only be produced by using all of these steps. You really cannot â€Å"cut corners,† and that is why paper writing consumes so much time. If you don’t have the time or if you really dislike your topic, you will not prepare a scholarly piece of writing. In these instances, you are probably better served contacting a custom paper writing service and getting some help.

Case Analysis (Legal Methods) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case Analysis (Legal Methods) - Essay Example The plaintiff sustained injuries as a result of the crash and attempted o claim compensation from the defendants on the grounds that they owed him a duty to ensure that the animals could not escape and get onto the highway where they might cause an accident. The area where the horses were kept did have a fence around them and it was not possible to reach a conclusion how the horses has managed to escape from the field. The fence had been flattened by the exiting horses and the judge came to the conclusion that the horses must have become frightened by someone or something and had bolted through the fence. The judge came to this decision despite lack of any concrete proof that this might be the case on the basis that the horses had never attempted to escape previously. Initially the plaintiff asserted a claim in negligence and under the Animals Act 1971. The negligence claim failed on the grounds that the animals were usually docile and the fence under such circumstances was adequate for its purpose. Judge O’Malley felt that the defendants had maintained an adequate state of repair to the enclosure and that the fencing was not below the standard required of a ‘reasonably careful and prudent owner’. It was therefore necessary for the plaintiff to rely on the strict liability for the damage under the Animals Act. Given that the defendants had been found not guilty of negligence the plaintiff had to rely on proving the horses were dangerous. The difficulty with this was that the horses were generally docile and had never previously escaped nor injured anyone. As the Act does not list horses as a dangerous species then the reliance was on Act which states "(2) Where damage is caused by an animal which does not belong to a dangerous species, a keeper of the animal is liable for the damage, except as otherwise provided by this Act, if-(a) the damage is of a kind which the animal,

The Effect of Sildenafil on Embryo Development Literature review

The Effect of Sildenafil on Embryo Development - Literature review Example To increase the success rate of IVF, the clinical and laboratory procedures were enhanced in order to reduce the risk of side-effects on the part of patients (Gupta and Agarwa, 2010). Despite the effort to improve the use of IVF, Diedrich et al. (2007) revealed that successful pregnancy rates remain low. The common problems encountered with the use of the IVF procedure includes: (1) inadequate supply of nutrients and oxygen necessary to make the embryo implant itself in the endometrium lining (Forbes and Westwood, 2010; Raine-Fenning et al., 2004a; Kennedy, 1997); (2) lack of endometrial receptivity (Forbes and Westwood, 2010; Kennedy, 1997); (3) failed ovarian responses to the IVF protocols (Oudendijk et al., 2012; Tarlatzis et al., 2003); and (4) uterine blood flow abnormalities caused by poor angiogenesis or vasculogenesis (Satterfield et al., 2010; Huppertz et al., 2006). Due to the failure of the embryo implant itself in the endometrium lining, women can either experience a misc arriage, a recurrent miscarriage, implantation failure, or a recurrent implantation failure (Christiansen et al., 2006; Margalioth et al., 2006; Tomassetti et al., 2006). Based on the study of Achache and Revel (2006), approximately 2/3 of failed IVF is caused by the inability of the embryo implant itself in the endometrium lining. One of the pharmacological drugs that are being considered in treating problems related to the endometrium lining is the sildenafil citrate (Hattori and Tabata, 2006). Through the use of this particular drug, the presence of nitric oxide can will not only create a positive effect on the endometrium lining during the implantation stage but also help in preventing the presence of intrauterine adhesions during menstruation and maintain normal blood pressure during pregnancy (Nakatsuka et al., 2002; Sher et al., 2000; Norman and Cameron, 1996). Based on the study of Sher et al. (2000), the use of 25 mg of sildenafil citrate vaginal suppository for at least four (4) times each day for a period of one week prior to ovarian stimulation will not only increase the endometrium thickness by more than 8 mm but also improve the uterine blood flow. In a similar study, Paulus et al. (2002) examined the effects of 25 mg of sildenafil citrate vaginal suppository on ten (10) women with poor endometria l response to IVF. After administering the vaginal suppository for at least four (4) times each day, the authors noted a 9 mm increase in the endometrium thickness of nine (9) patients but no such improvements in the patients’ uterine blood flow (Paulus et al., 2002). Aside from having a trilaminar pattern during the ovulation period, Chanona et al. (2004) found that it is possible to increase the endometrium thickness up to more than 10 mm after administering 50 mg of sildenafil citrate vaginal suppository each day between the 9th to 12th day of menstruation cycle.  

Evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Evolution - Essay Example The effects of evolution, while difficult to prove, have left an archeological record that gives us a picture of how and why evolution occurs. One of the most basic and fundamental forms of evolution occurs when a virus or bacterial agent mutates to become immune to the drugs that are developed to treat them. HIV is a particularly challenging agent to overcome through drug therapy. According to Luskin, "HIV is particularly prone to "evolution" (i.e. change) because of its high replication and mutation rate--nearly one mutation per replication". The physical characteristics of the HIV virus adapt to the agents designed to kill it. While we can measure and observe this in HIV, "The amount of genetic informational change between rapidly mutating virus strains, such as HIV, is miniscule compared to the type of informational changes required in the wild to create new body plans or biochemical pathways" (Luskin). This is evolution being accomplished at the most basic level. Just as HIV evolves as a group, higher life forms also experience change over time to adapt to their environment. Ancient environmental events forced animals to adapt to a new environment and nature accentuated the differences.

Stock Investment Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Stock Investment Analysis - Research Paper Example in mid-1995, it has experienced a number of achievement and challenges based on its overall performance which have made it get where it is today (Fidelity, 2014). FLCSX and S&P 500 are companies that offer the similar services to its clients in the United States of America. FLCSX has a portfolio that consists of eleven equities section which include health care, financials, energy, consumer staples, industrials, telecommunication services and utilities. Others include materials and customer discretion. These equities made it possible for the company to be ranked position seven after more than five hundred large companies that perform this kind of duty were evaluated by the United States News organization in 2013 and FLCSX appeared at number seven. This means that the year-to-date performance for this company is promising despite it registered an overall return of 16.24%. There are a number of drivers that made it possible for this company to perform well in the market. The greatest contributor to FLCSX success is the financial equity section because of the of the various portfolio mixtures that it has offers to its clients. These mixtures include Charles Schwab that has offered a return of 55%, JPMorgan Chase that had 29.35% and MetLife that had 48%. Charles Schwab and MetLife from the historical perspective have been performing well, thus resulting to the ever increasing interest rates (Fidelity, 2014). Therefore, both companies (FLCSX and S&P 500) registered a 20% share price increment after thus, taking advantage on speculations that the market’s economy was gradually recovering from the recession. Basing on the evaluation done by US News, S&P 500 is also among the companies that registered an excellent year-to-date return of more than 13.80%. In the first quarter of 2013, both S&P 500 and FLCSX gained more than ten points but during the s econd quarter of the same year, their returns decreased thus the former recording a return of 2.90%while the latter