dragonlady
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Registered: 04-2003
Location: England
Posts: 214
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Research
I haven't been writing much recently. I'm not sure why because I have ideas, I just haven't been getting them down much. However I've used this dry period to good effect by doing a bit of research, which I'm finding quite interesting.
I have a story set in a 1950s English country house. There are a lot of stereotypes and general knowledge about this kind of setting and the people you would find there, however I realised that my specific knowledge was a bit sketchy. I wanted to know what the characters would be wearing/driving/eating/doing, so that the story would feel more connected to its time period.
I read Past Imperfect a novel by Julian Fellowes, which is set in 1960s, but has a lot about the upper classes and looks both backwards and forwards in time.
Then I read The Last Curtsey by Fiona McCarthy. It's about her time as a debutante in 1958, which was the last time that the Season was initiated by the debs curtsied for the monarch at Buckingham Palace.
I've also got a few books about 50s fashion. These are useful as I think I was picturing my characters a bit wrong. Not that it's easy to totally change the picture in my head, but I can fit my descriptions to reality a bit more.
I'm hoping I can get back to writing soon. Although with my wedding coming up I'll probably be a bit busy until mid-September. Still at least I feel like I'm doing something useful.
---
"Why sometimes I've believed as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast" -- Red Queen, Lewis Carrol
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8/1/2009, 4:07 pm
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QS2
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Registered: 03-2006
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Re: Research
Good luck with that, the 50s is really quite different from the current age. Now and then I see little glimpses of how that time was, via bits and pieces of information I come across on the internet. The differences can at times be surprisingly large really, not to mention how different the attitudes could be back then...
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8/3/2009, 9:48 am
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Reythia
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Registered: 11-2005
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Re: Research
I wish I could help, Dragon, but all I know is from fiction novels and so on, and I've got no idea how accurate any of that is. That's always the trouble with fiction!
---  -- YAR! |
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8/3/2009, 4:04 pm
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dragonlady
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Registered: 04-2003
Location: England
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Re: Research
It's so true QS.
I studied ancient history so you'd think modern history would all seem very similar, but I see the differences very strongly. I think it's because it isn't really that long ago and because the attitude changes are so great, even if basic ways of life aren't.
I know Rey, it is difficult to figure out how much is stereotype and which bits are true.
A lot of my characters are upper class so I can't really quiz my older relatives, as they would have had a very different experience.
One thing I noticed is there were great differences between the US and the UK, at that time American food still seemed exotic and new in Britain.
---
"Why sometimes I've believed as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast" -- Red Queen, Lewis Carrol
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8/3/2009, 7:14 pm
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Pastor Rick
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Registered: 07-2005
Location: Texas Country
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Re: Research
All I can think of when it comes to the 50's (besides the TV sitcom "Happy Days") are the novels on Billy Graham and Peter Marshal... wait one... The Hardy Boys were based in the 50's (#32 The Crisscross Shadow and #33 The Yellow Feather Mystery) then all of the older books were "updated" to the 50's era starting in 1959 so that may help...
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8/24/2009, 2:59 am
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