Today, in Caithness, the sun is shining and the air is clear. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog that, certain weathers and certain times of the year ignite certain music in me. And, on late winter days which are filled with sunshine, I am usually to be found singing the songs of The Spinners . Inevitably, I start humming different ones of their songs (and of course adapting them to be about Orlando and Jess) as I go around doing different things. But I remember almost all the words to them. I haven't heard a lot of them in years, but they are all there, rooted in my memory. It is truly fascinating to think about how these songs have passed through history. They are part of my own nostalgia, which is why crisp sunny mornings make me incapable of ignoring the temptation to sing them, but they are part of something much bigger. There are songs amongst them which are a newer step in the folk music movement. Songs like Silver in the Stubble are amongs...
Did you ever play that game where you have to avoid the cracks on the pavement? The original version of it seems to be:
Tread on a crack, break your back
although we used the slightly milder version of:
Step on a crack, marry a rat
With hindsight, its more a cautionary piece of advice than a game, but it certainly was a fun game to play as a child, trying to gauge how many times to put your feet down on each flagstone. But the warning remains in place. Don't fall into or over the cracks...
...unless you're a historical fiction writer!
At the moment, I'm writing a book for Sapere Books' Writing Competition. I have to admit, I originally recoiled from the idea of writing to someone else's brief, but I am putting together a submission for Brief 5 as a way of encouraging my sister to put in her entry for Brief 4! And I'm thoroughly enjoying the challenge. [It remains to be seen as to whether or not we submit our entries but, either way, I intend to take my characters on their complete journey!]
One of the things I'm enjoying so much is the mystery surrounding the underhand events in Renaissance Italy. Here, there are so many cracks to delve into. These are gems to historical fiction writers. One of the skills in creating stories set in the past is not to change the past but to add to it. We fill in the cracks with adventures of those who you can never be entirely sure did not exist.
Research is crucial - of course - but you don't have to rub your readers' noses in how much you've done. One of my favourite reviews of The Year We Lived mentioned the importance and imparting of research like this:
The old "show don't tell" comes into play here and, I have to mention here, how significant editing is! But that's a blog post for another Thursday. For now, go back to a favourite event in history and find the cracks which are around the edge. Fill them in with your own take on the event, change nothing, but add in the mortar.
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