Yes, that’s me.
Complaining again. I go crazy when I read a novel that has its historical facts
wrong. Because if there’s one fact wrong, you will generally find more as you
go along.
My mom used to
say if there’s a penny off in the checkbook, you still have to worry, because
if it’s a penny, it could as easily be a hundred dollars, and there’s no way to
know for sure unless it completely balances.
It’s how I feel
about historic facts. A penny’s worth of errors could easily be hundreds of
dollars’ worth.
Why is it
important to have all of the facts correct? Because your book may be the only “history”
that someone reads. Say you have a person who hated history class but for some
reason is an avid reader. YOU might be the one to make that history come alive,
and you don’t want to impart bad or lacking information.
So, yes. I’m
griping again. I read historic novels that have women baking chocolate chip
cookies before there was such a thing. UGH! Or a guy saying, “Dude” in the
1800s. Perhaps a woman wearing a bra in the 1700s. Really?!? Come on! In today’s
easy access to information, it’s not difficult to know find out what was and
wasn’t correct for nearly any time period. Take the extra effort to make your
novel truly teach history as it tells a story.
6 comments:
I agree Linda. It drives me crazy when I see slang that wasn't used during a certain time period.
I agree too, Linda. There's no reason why, in this technological day and age, a writer can't be 100% accurate with his/her historical facts. That's one of the very good things about the Internet!
Bravo!
Thanks, all. Good to know I'm not the only one. LOL
Glad to know I'm not the only one who hears fingernails screeching on the chalkboard when a writer or speaker does this.
haha great way to say it!
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