I was thumbing through a book called Life in the Middle Ages as an exercise in research for this article. Reading about the vocabulary, dress, and customs of that day, I was stirred to write a sample of a period piece. What I ended up with, to my astonishment, is a viable first chapter of a novel.
Historical romance is my favorite genre of fiction. Before I became persnickety about reading nothing steamier than G-rated romance, the early works of Kathleen Woodiwiss captivated me. Favorites included Ashes in the Wind and The Wolf and the Dove. But the Christian-flavored Janette Oke series Love Comes Softly is more like the book series I dream of writing. A secret to success I learned from local author Judson Roberts is to write what I most like to read while making the enjoyment of the reader the motivation for my work. Historical Christian romance is the natural choice for me (I’m so excited about my chapter set in the Middle Ages!) and doing research is essential.
How blessed we writers are in this age of the internet. With an on-line computer, which is a resource offered at many public libraries, we can quickly find common names from a given era, historical facts, and much more.
Life in the Middle Ages, along with numerous books on writing not found at the local library, is available for checkout through membership in the Bay Area Writers League. I urge writers to make use of the wealth of available research material and study about whatever captures their interest. You never know. It could lead to the spontaneous dawning of a captivating novel.
(published March 3007)
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