What Teaching Composition Has Taught Me About Writing Fiction

By: Macy Harrison

When I left graduate school, I thought I knew a lot about reading and writing literature. After all, I had a fancy slab of vellum that said as much, right? That confidence spurred me on as I applied for my first solo teaching job at my local community college, carried me through the interview, and followed me about up until the time I first set foot in the classroom that was to be mine, and mine alone. That was when the bottom fell out of the bucket.

Okay. Maybe that’s a little dramatic (sometimes it’s hard to turn off that old story-telling feature in the brain). My point is that I, like many fresh-out-of-college teachers, realized that I hadn’t actually thought about basic composition skills in a while, graduate school having taken me further and further into the realms of high conception, as opposed to fundamental knowledge. What was I supposed to tell the twenty-five faces peering up at me from their desks? Okay, class, today we’re going to discuss Barthes’ conception of semiology and how it relates to a post-postmodern world? Obviously, that wasn’t going to fly (though, regrettably, I’ve noticed the tendency for some first time higher ed teachers to do just that—but that’s an article for a different day).
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8 Tips To Write Excellent Historical Fiction

Historical fiction is a type of literature where the story takes place in the past. Writing historical fiction provides writers with a fabulously rich backdrop to work with. 

Authenticity is the main characteristic of a quality historical novel. You shouldn’t include interesting, but unverified facts in the book but work hard with sources to check information.

1.       In addition to information from books and the Internet, use documents from archives, as well as special libraries (universities and museums). It takes some work to gain access to those resources, but the results are worth it. You can incorporate into your novel facts found in parish records, copies of ordinances, and even in ancient records of traders’ deals. Use a whole variety of sources.
2.       A lot of useful information can be provided by enthusiastic experts – scientists, ethnographers, history teachers, as well as guests of thematic events. If you have already written the text but still want to double-check it, you can use external help. For example, resources, like Write my paper, can check your text for historical accuracy and help to collect needed information.
3.       It is very helpful to take a tour of the places in which the events of your book unfold. The deeper you will dig into the plot, the more precise you will describe the historical era.

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