PSA: Historical Writing

[mrissa]

If you are writing an historical story -- alternate history, secret history, straight-up historical, whatever -- please, please, please refrain from having your characters describe a current technology in clunky antiquated terms and then proclaim that sort of crazy thing impossible.

Please. Really. Maybe it was clever the first two times, but it passed into the realm of terminally lame well before I got to kindergarten.

(This means you, Harry Turtledove!)

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

People banging two rocks together? Impossible. One rock is all you need for smacking anything. These kids and their extravagant modern ways.

[songwind.livejournal.com]

That's a little further back in the historical novel closet than even Mr. Turtledove usually ventures. :)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Consider yourself lucky I didn't go back to mitosis.