Monroe Update 1 (xposted from Monroe Wordpress)
Summer research stuff. About prewriting, basically. Moar under cut.
My project timeline technically doesn’t kick off until Monday, but I’ve already been stalking through JSTOR in the wee hours of the morning and tracking down anything and everything that could be remotely helpful. Historical fiction (even as fantasy) is something I’ve never tackled before, and I want to avoid anachronism as much as possible. Everything from “The American Academic Library Building, 1870-1890″ to “The Geography of Witchcraft Accusations in 1692 Salem Village” to the GURPS High-Tech rulebook (just as an overview and for the bibliography) is shoved in an ever-expanding folder on my desktop. Also growing at ridiculous speed is “EVERYTHINGCROSSRADS.docx,” a.k.a. the outline and questions and “things-to-do” regarding the writing itself.
In terms of fictional sources, I’m currently reading anything featuring a wizarding school (yes, that means skimming Harry Potter again) or an academic conspiracy. I’m slightly disheartened, though, to find that my concept so similar to one of my favorite books – except replacing MONK DETECTIVES with WIZARD STUDENTS. Still, once I’ve finished skimming slash rereading The Name of the Rose, I’ll hopefully have some ideas on how to differentiate my themes and subject matter more.
And also, concept art. Definitely a way I solidify characters’ appearances. Strewn around my writing corner (the part of my room with the comfy chair and bookshelves) are various half-finished sketches of buildings and faces and appropriate 1880s clothing. I’m pretty thankful that I took a costume history class in the fall – at least I’m somewhat familiar with period attire.
At some point this summer I need to head back to the College (to access the Career Center, and hopefully find out What One Does For A Year With A B.A. In English), so I may (if possible) poke around some academic buildings. Strictly Ancient Campus, mostly Wren, and some of the more Colonial stuff. Even though the fictional Crossroads College is in Massachusetts, it’ll be enlightening to take a deeper look at a roughly contemporary school.
Are we allowed to have more than 3 blog posts? I’ll probably find somewhere to dump the rest, since I intend to post frequent updates (even though few people will actually read them). Probably my tumblr. Who knows?
