How specificity can elevate your writing

How specificity can elevate your writing

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

Specificity in writing is about using precise, sharply defined words that convey your unique story. It is particularly useful in historical fiction because being specific, rather than general, conjures vivid settings and character, with economy of words. Here is an...
You are what you wear: the role of clothing in historical fiction

You are what you wear: the role of clothing in historical fiction

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

Oscar Wilde suggested that ‘You can never be overdressed or overeducated’, but the first part of that statement is wrong, especially if you’re a character in historical fiction. As an English Literature graduate, I have spent the past few years jumping between...
Foreshadowing: what it is and how to use it in your writing

Foreshadowing: what it is and how to use it in your writing

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

If you’d met her that day, you too would have thought her a good person. There was nothing to suggest otherwise. Welcome to foreshadowing: a literary device that’s used to hint at what’s to come. It’s designed to increase tension and keep us turning pages. As a...
Five tips for eliciting emotion from your readers

Five tips for eliciting emotion from your readers

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

When we pick up a novel, we do so because we want to feel something. We want to have an emotional experience – to go on a journey alongside the characters, and within ourselves. The stories that stay with us long after we close the pages tend to be those that speak to...
How we stayed in touch: communication through history

How we stayed in touch: communication through history

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

Since man first scratched his thoughts into stone, humans have found ways to connect with each other. From word of mouth to the written word and the telephone, here we will take a sweeping look at how people kept in touch through the ages (mainly in England) and how...