While looking up a detail about period pianos for Chapter Four of Glamour in Glass, I chanced across a comparison of a 19th century piano and a modern piano both playing the same piece, which was eye-opening in terms of the difference in sound. There’s no reason to convey that in the novel, but it’s still an exciting thing to recognize.
When writing a historical novel there’s a lot of time spent researching the odd bits of details. I tend to write things like, “He declined the opportunity to accompany her saying that he wanted to paint [bridge] and catch the morning light.” Later, I go back, search for the brackets and do spot research to fill in the gaps. In this case, it’s the Battersea Bridge.
Sometimes the detail is a word like “limelight.” If I have doubt, and I did, that the word is in use in 1815, I mark it with brackets rather than stopping the flow of writing. Later, I check the etymology to see if I can use it.
I can’t. Limelights don’t get invented until 1826.
