historical fiction

[jana_denardo]

I got the first scene of the new Demon Hunter short story done and I'm running into a couple of issues. One, it's very hard to make the dialogue not sound like 2011 and it's also too tempting to use so much 30's slang that it sounds like a bad Maltese Falcon rip off. I think I'm going to just write it and tweak the dialogue after the fact.

Secondly, it's hard for me to put descriptive scenes in my head without having a visual reference. I can not find references for 1930's hotels, the run of the mill type. I can find examples of the amazingly expensive ones but what about the more every day ones? Did they have two beds to a room? If so were they twins or doubles? I've stayed in historic hotels that have had doubles with these horrible metal headboards that remind me of hospital wards (which is what I went with). Did the rooms have their own bathrooms or is it communal? I know at least adjoining rooms existed.

And since racism/prejudice isn't the main point of this story, it's another fine line to walk between acknowledging it exists and going too far either direction (too accepting, too hateful). I've made the Soldiers of the Sun and their order accepting of all races/religions though I would think that even there, the boys need to keep their sexuality low key.

Some days I wonder why I don't just do pure fantasy and make stuff up as I go.

Comments

[silvrethorn.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember that the movie _Paper Moon_, with Ryan and Tatum O'Neil, was set in the 1930's and had a segment that took place in a small-town hotel. You might check that out. It's a fun movie anyway, and very period-correct for the 1930's.

I would stay away from period slang, for the most part. A few common expressions of the era, sure, but only a small segment of the population has ever used lots of slang in any period, usually lower-class, urban, and/or criminal folks.

The acceptance issue is probably less thorny than you think. The only profound difference between now and the 1930's, or the 1880's for that matter, is that people kept their private beliefs private and very divided from their public personae. Just because people seemed homophobic on the surface doesn't mean they actually felt that way. Until recently, our culture was two-faced in a way we can't imagine today, when everything is out in the open and TMI is the rule. Sure, blackface was still considered entertaining and "pansies" were comedy fodder, but people were also a lot more naive, and most of the American population of the 1930's not only wouldn't recognize homosexual behavior, they didn't even know such a thing as homosexuality existed. Your boys could pass for business partners or just close friends in most places, as long as they avoid cosmetics, mincing, cross-dressing in public and ordering pansies on their birthday cakes.

[jana-denardo.livejournal.com]

i've not seen that movie

as for the slang,usually i just pepper in a few words, mostly crap like doll face and stuff like that

this is also true. All of the boys are smart enough to keep their private lives private. Their boss knows and he's about the only one. Temple is very much bi (which is mentioned but never seen given the publisher), he's known as a womanizer. Most people would have no clue he's just as happy sleeping with his male partner.

[silvrethorn.livejournal.com]

The boys, being products of their time, would be very familiar with all the steps in the dance of being closeted and gay. That could be an interesting area of research, come to think of it--how the gay underground operated in the first half of the 20th Century. I suspect gay bars have been around for a very long time, but I'm not sure how gay men found them, especially men who are new to town.

[jana-denardo.livejournal.com]

I do know they were around in Victorian times, the gay gentlemen's club. I also know that here in the states in this time there were policemen who went undercover in gay bars to make arrests since it was against the law in so many places.

I'm sure there are books out there about this. hmmm

[silvrethorn.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I've probably said this before, but you _need_ the _This Fabulous Century 1930-1940_ book from the Time-Life series. Besides lots of pictures to spark inspiration and remind you of 30's-era stuff you might not think of on your own, there's a short dictionary of "jive talk," radio program listings, a whole panel of various items and what they cost back then, and a list of professions and the wages they earned annually. Not stuff you would actually use front and center, but useful to throw in here and there to give a better sense of the era.

[jana-denardo.livejournal.com]

no you haven't mentioned that book and that is one i do not have in my collection.sigh. most of my books on that subject are either roman, medival or victorian

[silvrethorn.livejournal.com]

I'll get you a copy. I'm sure lone volumes are out there, since it was such a popular set. I've used our set till the pages frayed. They're really useful books for historical-research quick fixes.

[jana-denardo.livejournal.com]

oh cool. I'll look for it at half price books here