Writing Right with Dmitri: Exercising Your Historical Imagination

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Writing Right with Dmitri: Exercising Your Historical Imagination

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It has taken about a hundred years, but historians have finally established what they do as an academic discipline. Academic snobs, however, keep arguing about whether 'history' as a field of study belongs under the Social Sciences or merely the Humanities. The idea behind that, of course, is that anything with the word 'science' behind it is real, and not a bogus waste of time like art, music, or literature. Nobody takes cinema studies seriously, so that is relegated to Arts & Humanities. You get the idea.

Historians think they're scientists. They insist on using charts and graphs to prove it. They also invent their own jargon, because if you don't have your own jargon, you can't be taken seriously at the postgraduate level. Fair enough. But some of the jargon sounds pretty risible. I mean, 'Change Over Time'? That's a bit obvious, isn't it? Writing down educational goals can make a writer blush. That said, my absolute favourite educational goal is, 'The student will learn to use historical imagination to understand the War of Jenkins' Ear'. Or similar1. I love historical imagination. It gets my writing juices flowing.

Using historical imagination means learning to put yourself in the place of the people who lived in the past. Boy, is that useful. Not only does this technique help you to figure out what their options were, and how they coped, it teaches you a life skill, as well. You learn to walk a mile in the other person's shoes. That shift in perspective can open up a whole new field of vision for a learner. Hurrah for historical imagination.

Historical imagination can be a great writer's tool, as well. It can help you put new life into your narrative, and elevate the level of discussion from mundane plotting to real insight.

But wait! I hear you shout

I know what you're about to say. But wait! I don't want to write historical fiction, for two reasons:

  1. I fell asleep in history class.
  2. I hate, loathe, and despise doing research.

See? You tell me, that's why we write so few Guide Entries. All that research gets in the way of our imaginations. Pah. Bah and humbug. Let me explain why, for a fiction writer, historical imagination has nothing to do with the past.

Because everything you write is in the historical past. Stop and think about it. What tense do you usually use? I mean, 99% of the time? The simple past, right? Only there's nothing simple about it. Whether your story has a contemporary setting, or takes place in an imaginary future, or a side-stepping parallel universe, when you tell it, you're describing the past. That's the convention.

So be patient with me for a moment, and let me get on with explaining why historical imagination is a great tool to use – even if your story takes place among the Techno-Worshippers of Planet Alpha.

So, where was I?

Ah, yes. Historical Imagination. An historian of my acquaintance taught me to think in terms of Agents and Goals.

  • Agents = Actors in the story. Not everybody fits in each story.
  • Goals = What the agents want to achieve. What do they want? Can they get it? Why or why not? What strategies do they use?

You see? That's a good place to start, no matter what story you're using.

Can God make a stone he can't lift?

That's an old philosophical conundrum. A better question for the writer is, how do you make a stone you can't lift? After all, in the little universe that is your story/poem/novel, you're playing God. And, like any neophyte deity, you run the risk of 'god-moding' your story. Stop that. Figure out what you can't do, and you'll have a more creative story.

Two recent British television productions will serve as examples of what I mean. One is the ongoing series Dracula. The filming is rather lushly beautiful, but the violence level might be a bit high for some tastes. The acting's rather arch. On the whole, though, the series will not hold together. Why? The writers' historical imagination fails abysmally.

This isn't because we can't believe in a parallel-universe version of the 1890s in which:

  • Nicola Tesla's theories are put into practice, resulting in Early Wireless.
  • There are Anne Rice vampires all over the place.
  • Ancient conspiracy cults abound.
  • Dracula and van Helsing are allies in finding a cure for the Count's solar allergy.

No, all that is fine. The villains are evil, the heroes deliciously flawed, and there's a lot of sex and eye candy. No problem. What makes the story fall apart is the inconsistency of the women. On the one hand, Mina Murray is now a medical student, and nobody blinks an eye. On the other hand, she's all soft and womanly and in her place at the most inappropriate times. Then, naturally, turns around and goes out on the town with Lucy, hanging out in an opium den… The viewer's head begins to swim.

Create one set of values, people, and stick to them. Otherwise, the story is not earned. And don't try to make us believe that 1890s Jonathan Harker is a 1990s kind of guy.

Now for the other British series, the three-part story called The Bletchley Circle. Not only did the producers capture the material culture correctly (how? They weren't born yet), but the dialogue is note-perfect. The writer even worked in the word bumf, which I haven't run across for ages. What made the story sing, though, was author Guy Burt's use of historical imagination.

You see, these women live in a post-World War II conflict of their own. During the war, they employed their genius to save civilisation. The problem was, they did it in secret. Now, they dare not tell anyone about their accomplishments. Worse, their husbands think they did nothing but file papers, while the manly types went out and got shot at.

The women are bored and unhappy. Then, they spot an opportunity to be useful, by solving a serial murder case. To solve the crime, they use their Bletchley skills, forming an ad-hoc forensic team. In the process, the women encounter opposition from the men, who really don't understand why they care so much.

As you can see, this sort of story provides a writer with a grand soapbox for dilating on women's issues. Guy Burt makes full use of his platform. The thing is, that only works if it's dead-on accurate, as The Bletchley Circle is. Your characters need to be unable to lift any unbudgable stones. You need to accept, and believe in, the limitations of their world. Then you can go to town on the issues.

By the way, Burt uses other historical skills beautifully. He's done his research, of course. He knows how to read maps – they play a big role in the story. He's right there on 'Change Over Time'. The social changes between the 1930s and 1950s in the UK are there for all to see, described with empathy and sharp insight. The result is that we all learn something.

And that, my friends, is why I think you need to hone your historical imaginations. Try it out on your next project:

  • That science fiction story on Planet Alpha. How many genders do you have? What are their roles? Oh, they're 'enlightened'? What does that mean? Come on, who does what, when? What are the consequences?
  • Your mainstream novel about a woman in a strange country. How do her previous experiences add up to assumptions about the situation she finds herself in? What are her expectations of the people around her? Do they meet these expectations? Is it possible for them to meet them?
  • Your next Guide Entry. (Come on, the research won't kill you.) Never mind the facts, who are the players in your story? What? You're writing a recipe for rabbit stew, and there are no characters? PAH! You've got a whole cast there: onions, carrots, greens, seasonings, and above all, the poor bunny you just slaughtered. (For shame!) Not to mention the implied instructor, the imaginary cook, and the putative consumers of this feast. You've got a lot of agents to consider. Get to work.

History class is now dismissed. Go out and flex your imaginations.

Writing Right with Dmitri Archive

Dmitri Gheorgheni

06.01.14 Front Page

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1The War of Jenkins' Ear really happened. Don't ask.

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