So I've finished writing my first book which takes place during Medieval Times. Now I'm onto book #2 which takes place in the year 1781 at the very end of the American Revolution. And all I can say is...
What Have I Gotten Myself Into???
Here's the thing- I'm Canadian. I never studied the American Revolution in school. Sure, I did do two years of High School in Connecticut and during that time I took a US History Class. But we started at Reconstruction. For all you Canadians out there- that means the end of the Civil War. Almost a whole century later!!! So I know ZIP about the American Revolution. Basically, all my knowledge comes from the movie The Patriot. Yikes.
This leaves me in a bit of a fix. Especially since getting a hold of books about this topic is very difficult here in Canada. The tiny Crossfield library has next to nothing, and neither does the local Indigo. My brother- who lives in the prime area of Pennsylvania- was kind enough to lend me a book called 1777, about the beginning of the war. Unfortunately, it's kind of the wrong year for my book. So I'm left with reading everything I can over the internet (thank you Wikipedia). The problem with that is that I barely retain any information so I find myself reading and re-reading and re-reading. Which takes a lot of time. And even with all that- I still make mistakes.
For example, I had written a scene a couple of days ago where the main guy mentions how hard it would be to find a couple of swords. Last night, right before bed, I had this epiphany: The British soldiers have swords right on their uniforms! And this guy talking is- yep- a British soldier. So he's saying he could never find a sword when he's wearing one right at his waist!!!
D'oh. So I had some changes to do. At 11pm. Right when I had just gone to bed. So up I went, in my undies, to sit at the computer and change the glaring mistake I had made. Then I went back to bed only to get up about two minutes later to make more fixes.
I just hope I know what I'm doing. Because I want to be accurate. I don't want to make hugely obvious mistakes about that time period, thereby making me look like a complete idiot, thereby insuring that not one person will want to publish and/or read this book.
What have I gotten myself into?
What Have I Gotten Myself Into???
Here's the thing- I'm Canadian. I never studied the American Revolution in school. Sure, I did do two years of High School in Connecticut and during that time I took a US History Class. But we started at Reconstruction. For all you Canadians out there- that means the end of the Civil War. Almost a whole century later!!! So I know ZIP about the American Revolution. Basically, all my knowledge comes from the movie The Patriot. Yikes.
This leaves me in a bit of a fix. Especially since getting a hold of books about this topic is very difficult here in Canada. The tiny Crossfield library has next to nothing, and neither does the local Indigo. My brother- who lives in the prime area of Pennsylvania- was kind enough to lend me a book called 1777, about the beginning of the war. Unfortunately, it's kind of the wrong year for my book. So I'm left with reading everything I can over the internet (thank you Wikipedia). The problem with that is that I barely retain any information so I find myself reading and re-reading and re-reading. Which takes a lot of time. And even with all that- I still make mistakes.
For example, I had written a scene a couple of days ago where the main guy mentions how hard it would be to find a couple of swords. Last night, right before bed, I had this epiphany: The British soldiers have swords right on their uniforms! And this guy talking is- yep- a British soldier. So he's saying he could never find a sword when he's wearing one right at his waist!!!
D'oh. So I had some changes to do. At 11pm. Right when I had just gone to bed. So up I went, in my undies, to sit at the computer and change the glaring mistake I had made. Then I went back to bed only to get up about two minutes later to make more fixes.
I just hope I know what I'm doing. Because I want to be accurate. I don't want to make hugely obvious mistakes about that time period, thereby making me look like a complete idiot, thereby insuring that not one person will want to publish and/or read this book.
What have I gotten myself into?