It is with pleasure to have author Denise Weimer visiting The Mimosa Blossom again.

Today Denise has written a guest post for us as she talks to authors about avoiding historical fiction and she even has a tip, or two, for readers as well. Denise, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with your readers today.

Avoiding Historical Inaccuracy

At a 1700s Virginia house party, the heroine is whisked into the arms of the hero for a spotlight waltz.

Sounds lovely, right? Well … as the former leader of a mid-1800s dance group, I knew that waltz had not been introduced to America until roughly the 1830s. As a reader, I found what was supposed to be a riveting ballroom scene jarring instead. It was hard to trust the author as I moved forward.

(Caption: Denise Weimer dancing with her husband)

As writers of historical fiction, while we can sometimes ask an expert in a certain field to proof our book for accuracy, ultimately we’re the expert. We should do our due diligence in research rather than trusting that our editor will know or investigate every nuance of our book’s time period.

Some areas we want to watch for include:

• Inventions. This is the obvious one. And probably the easiest to check.
• Practices. Not only do we need to be sure a custom or tradition or way of doing something was in existence by the date of our story, but that it would have been common in the area and social class we are depicting.
• Phrases, words, diction, and contractions. When we catch ourselves throwing modern-sounding lingo into our historical characters’ conversations, we should consider how we might throw our readers off or fail to do justice to our character. Consider that character’s social class, nationality, and age. This doesn’t mean we should make our story unreadable with multiple apostrophes and antiquated phrases. But with the right approach to historical research, we can write even challenging emotions like anger or sarcasm effectively.

Readers, give your favorite writers some grace. As much as we try, some things will slip by us. For all our research and knowledge, it’s impossible for any one person to be an expert in all things. Someone out there will always know a little more on a given subject.

Writers, if someone points out a historical blooper in your book, no need to beat yourself up. We fix it, learn from it, and move on, just like with anything in life.

What about you? Have you found some effective ways to double check your historical facts? Are there other areas we need to be watchful besides inventions, practices, and phrases?

Author Bio:

Represented by Hartline Literary Agency, Denise Weimer holds a journalism degree with a minor in history from Asbury University. She’s an editor for the historical imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and the author of The Georgia Gold Series, The Restoration Trilogy, and a number of novellas, including Across Three Autumns of Barbour’s Colonial Backcountry Brides Collection. A wife and mother of two daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses! Connect with Denise here:

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