From: firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
      
   Di Monbak wrote:   
   > In article <4037AE50.7050006@texas.net>, firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
   says...   
   >   
   >   
   >>But, if you can get the "smell" of the time and   
   >>place through research, you'll get the correct tone that will show   
   >>thoughout your work.   
   >   
   >   
   > My point was, I don't know how anyone unfamiliar   
   > with a place can get the "smell" of it without   
   > actually visiting the area. I'll use an example   
   > here that may or may not be valid. Let's assume   
   > our poster lives in Germany, where there is a   
   > great deal of interest in "old west" lore. Let's   
   > assume that this German wishes to write about   
   > the "old west" without ever having been there.   
   > The reasons for their interest has much more to   
   > do with reading about it, or more likely having   
   > seen "oaters" over time, than it does with their   
   > having any factual information. In which case   
   > they might just as well "invent" a fantasy world   
   > that is purely fictional rather than try and   
   > construct a "quasi-real" world based on answers   
   > to questions posted to this forum.   
      
      
   It is difficult to richly describe an unfamilar landscape without   
   visiting the place, but visiting tourista versions of "old west towns"   
   will hardly provide anything but a look at objects and silly skits that   
   are of little use to a writer.   
      
   It's true that if one wants to write something styled on bogus "oaters",   
   the "research" may be done at the local movie rental shop. But, if one   
   is serious, acquiring a personal vision of how life was lived, how and   
   why things happened, and how people responded won't come from movies,   
   and it won't come from hanging around modern El Paso.   
      
   That kind of "smell" comes from reading old works of folks who had   
   sufficient insight to comment usefully on their own times and lives and   
   from modern works by those who have worked to construct a reasonable   
   vision of past times. (There are many other useful sources, photo   
   collections, for one.)   
      
   And it's entirely appropriate to look for advice on references on a   
   newsgroup with a primary interest in the subject. From looking at past   
   postings on soc.history, that's not the place to ask about the old west.   
   (And that includes pre-Civil War Chicago, which is indeed of interest in   
   a general view of 19th century western America.) If nothing else, SH   
   requires considerable tolerance of ranting to read. I will be trimming   
   my replies about the west to AOW.   
      
   Becoming a writer of historical fiction means really to become something   
   of an expert at historical research. AOW isn't such a bad place to   
   include in the effort. Aside from considerable knowledge of facts,   
   tales, and sources, many here have studied fictional accounts of the   
   historical west and may have things to contribute about what made them   
   good or bad.   
      
      
   --   
                          Gerald Clough   
       "Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)