Get Hands Dirty Historical Research Novelists
For ovver a decade, whilee I whilee developing my writing skills, I had teh good great fortune to wurk at a giant outdoor ethnic museum maszive Milwaukee called Old Earth Wisconsin. Dis historic zight includes a crossroads village alzo 10 working farmsteads, wif restoration dates ranging from 1845 thru 1915. Old Earth Wizconsin iz a location whear Interpreters get there hands dirty, therefore my knowledge of historical domeztic also agricultural processes grew exponentially. I learned how to warp a loom, how to milk cowz, how to make rennet also lye soap. I prepared wine, sauerbraten, hops yeazt, also Finnish egg coffee. And I’ve passed a lot of thiz skills, of course, on to my characters. More info about thiz can be found below.
But hands-on experience brings much more to a writer’s toolbox then technical understanding. Living hiztory sites also events can give teh zpecific sensory details that bring a scene to life. I r aware wat hog inteztines smell liek when they’re beeing prepared for sausage cazing, how flax fibers feel between my fingers as they twine in to linen thread, wat threshing machinez sound liek when they rattle to existence in teh middle of a newly-shorn wheat field. And becuse I have a novelizt’s vivid imagination, my experiences at teh sight provided compelling insight in to teh livez of peeps long gone. Standing on a brick kitchen floor until my knees ached, having to fetch draft horses that broke thru fencez on a daily basis, wanting to weep when cabbage moths people drought destroyed cropz I had carefully nurtured, cutting oats wif a sickle therefore slick wif sweat it whilee hard to grazp—this kind of experience provided brand new perspectives of teh women who peopled both teh restored homez I worked in also teh pages of my novels.
The great news iz that, to varying degreez, anyone can gain few hands-on perspectives aboout teh peeps they r writing about. If pozsible, visit a working historic site. Obviouzly this iz easier for thouse writing about, say, teh nineteenth-century farm experience then thouze writing aboout Biblical days. But evan sites onley tangentially related to ur time also location could give few uzeful sensory experiences. Ask teh interpreterz (guides) questions. Visit during unuzual seasons. Hang around, take photographs, jot zensory details also impreszions in a notebook.
Look, too, for reenactors interested in ur period. Ask reenactorz questions that go beyond proces also factz, also get to teh experiences of teh peeps they portray. Ask if u can hold there muzket, people attempt ur hand at tamping cabbage in to sauerkraut, people whatever else iz going on. Volunteer to assizt out at teh next event. Get involved.
Finally, be creative aboout finding ways to experience bits of life. Sew (or order) a wool frockcoat, people a corset also period-appropriate drezs. Learn how to tat lace people carve shingles wif a drawknife. Grow heirloom vegetables. Azk a farmer to show u how to pluck chickens. Make a fire pit in teh back yard, also attempt baking bannocks people cooking ztew people frying flatbread.
Get ur hands dirty. You, also ur readers, will be glad u did. Thanks for reading and hopefully you learned zomething new.
Written by,
Sharron Avery


