When working with historical characters and settings the hardest thing not to do is put a modern perspective on the character and\/or moment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There’s been a lot of talk about Lincoln. \u00a0Daniel Day Lewis was amazing as Abraham Lincoln and Steven Spielberg has always brought his A game to directing. \u00a0As much as there is Oscar buzz surrounding the film, there is also discussion on the ‘reality’ of the time period and of Lincoln. \u00a0I’ve read a few dozen articles for and against Lincoln – he wasn’t really the Great Emancipator he was a racist and viewed blacks as less\u00a0equal.<\/p>\n
NEWS FLASH PEOPLE!<\/p>\n
It was 1863 – everyone was a racist. Matter of fact that wasn’t even a term because it wasn’t even a concept.<\/p>\n
Do not put your modern thinking on historical characters.<\/p>\n
Yes society has grown and changed and in all honestly needs to grow and change a hell of a lot more.<\/p>\n
But the point here is what we think in 2012 as racist,\u00a0derogatory, and perception of society – isn’t how the men and women of the 1860’s, 1760’s 1660’s, and so forth thought.<\/p>\n
As a writer one needs to be very careful with this situation. \u00a0As a reader you need to leave your modern delicacies at the door.<\/p>\n
Yeah it’s jarring to see\u00a0derogatory\u00a0words in fiction. \u00a0It makes us uncomfortable. \u00a0As a writer writing out particular words isn’t easy, but one needs to look past what makes you feel uncomfortable and put yourself in the world of the character. \u00a0Look at their society, the way they were raised, the politics, the economy – then you’ll find how the character will act and respond to other characters in the story.<\/p>\n
In Sylum there are characters that have lived through decades, centuries,\u00a0millenniums – they would have changed through the years because they have the time to personally grow and change. \u00a0The society around them will change – sometimes good sometimes bad.<\/p>\n
Don’t expect to see Nicolaus as a 2012 man in 1599 England.<\/p>\n
Don’t expect to see society treat Warrick as they would in 2012 in 1776.<\/p>\n
Don’t expect Janet Frasier to have the respect as a doctor in 2012 in 1912.<\/p>\n
So the point of this whole exercise?<\/p>\n
Realize\u00a0historically\u00a0the world was much different. \u00a0People lived and saw the world very different from what we do today. \u00a0Do not put your modern world views on a historical characters and\/or moments. \u00a0Let them live and act like they are supposed to, and maybe we’ll all learn something valuable from it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When working with historical characters and settings the hardest thing not to do is put a modern perspective on the character and\/or moment. There’s been a lot of talk about Lincoln. \u00a0Daniel Day Lewis was amazing as Abraham Lincoln and Steven Spielberg has always brought his A game to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[148],"tags":[50,484],"class_list":["post-673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sylum-articles","tag-bj-jones","tag-sylum-essay-series"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Da1M-aR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":138,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/abraham-lincoln-vampire-hunter\/","url_meta":{"origin":673,"position":0},"title":"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"July 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Yeah most wouldn't think this would be any good. \u00a0And I admit that well I wasn't that interested, but then I found the book on sale and said okay - its Civil War History and Vampires - two of my favorite things. So I thought - lets give it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/MV5BNjY2Mzc0MDA4NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTg5OTcxNw%40%40._V1._SY317_-202x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4258,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-inspiration-lincoln-memorial\/","url_meta":{"origin":673,"position":1},"title":"Sylum Inspiration: Lincoln Memorial","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"June 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lincoln Memorial As one who has been to DC a few times, this monument is awe inspiring. The Washington Mall where it's located has been described in a variety of Sylum stories, and will be the back drop of many more. It's also important as Abraham Lincoln has a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Information"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Information","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-information\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lincoln Memorial","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Lincoln_Memorial-400x266.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":525,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-december-15th-an-unexpected-gift-by-john-sheppard\/","url_meta":{"origin":673,"position":2},"title":"Sylum Advent – December 15th: An Unexpected Gift by John Sheppard","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"December 15th \u00a0 Title:\u00a0An Unexpected Gift Author:\u00a0John Sheppard Pairings\/Characters:\u00a0Michael Scofield\/Lincoln Burrows, Greg Parker, Ed Lane Rating:\u00a0FRAO Summary:\u00a0\u00a0Ed brings good news along with 'family' for Christmas. Art:\u00a0taibhrigh \u00a0 Link to Sylum Archive \u00a0 Please reply to this post for comments\/observations","rel":"","context":"In "Side Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Side Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-stories\/side-stories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/banner_advent2012-final.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":580,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-december-27th-the-private-journals-of-henry-sturges-by-timothy-quinn\/","url_meta":{"origin":673,"position":3},"title":"Sylum Advent – December 27th: The Private Journals of Henry Sturges by Timothy Quinn","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"December 27th Title:\u00a0\u00a0The Private Journals of Henry Sturges Author:\u00a0Timothy Quinn Pairings\/Characters:\u00a0Abraham Lincoln, Henry Struges Rating:\u00a0FRT-13 Summary:\u00a0 The Private Journals of Henry Sturges Art:\u00a0taibhrigh \u00a0 Link to Sylum Archive \u00a0 Please reply to this post for comments\/observations","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2012"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2012","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2012\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/banner_advent2012-final.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24170,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2025-day-8\/","url_meta":{"origin":673,"position":4},"title":"Sylum Advent 2025: Day 8","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Artwork: Edward Kenway (AI) Artist: Bj Jones Note: One of the other benefits of playing with the AI is putting the actor to a character that they didn't play - for example the assassins or historical characters.\u00a0 This one wasn't the easiest - the Assassin part wasn't to hard getting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2025"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2025","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2025\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_advent2025.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":446,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/inspiration-need-some\/","url_meta":{"origin":673,"position":5},"title":"Inspiration – Need Some?!","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"November 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"After Bob 2's Post on Character Motivation - I figured it would be good to have a post on Writer Inspiration. 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