I have an article in today’s Tor/Forge newsletter about the use of historical language in fiction. And I’ve already annoyed one reader — go me! — who thinks that the way I paid attention to the language is “the writer playing head games with him/herself.”
Which I have to say is true. And it’s not a game that everyone needs to play. I find it useful and fun though.
The goal, with any novel, is to keep the reader engaged in the story. Beyond writing a story that is compelling in the first place, you also have to avoid doing anything that will throw them out of the story. For a novel like Glamour in Glass, which is set in 1815, one of the additional challenges is the use of language. It is very easy to use the wrong word and make a reader pull to a complete halt.
via Historical Language Can Be Electrifying « Tor/Forge’s Blog.
