Using Period Slang--Part I

 

I’m currently working on a middle-grade novel that takes place in 1894, and I want to use period slang. So how do I make sure it is true to the time?

First, I checked for Internet resources, but I wasn’t happy with what I found. The best was the Historical Dictionary of American Slang at www.alphadictionary.com/slang. but when I put in 1880 through 1890 as a range, I got some terms that I questioned. For example, it gave me “juice” as meaning electricity and “tube” for the telephone. It also said “live wire” was an exciting, energetic person. While the telephone was invented and electricity discovered before then, neither was available to the average person, and I find it hard to believe that slang words for them were in everyday use.

So then I turned to Amazon to find a slang dictionary. I ruled out a number of choices that weren’t very comprehensive, appeared to concentrate on more recent slang, or came in multiple volumes (with the later part of the alphabet not yet published). In the end, I purchased a used 3^rd Edition of the Dictionary of American Slang (Robert L. Chapman, Ed.) from an Amazon seller. While it is not as thorough as the multiple-volume set might have been, it is good enough for my needs.

A particularly helpful feature in the dictionary are the date references. Although a particular usage may have existed before then, the date tells me when it became common. Since my characters wouldn’t have said it before it was in common usage, that ruled out a number of words I might otherwise have used. And if there is no date, that means the editors either couldn’t find one or that the slang is more recent, so I know not to use those terms, either.

Some of the entries are surprising. Words I don’t even think of as slang include “hi,” and “okay.” Both were in play by 1894, but “hi” didn’t come into common usage until 1862. Hopefully I didn’t use that word in my previous works that are set before then, although I wouldn’t have even thought to check. Another surprise is that “rat” and “fink” were both in use by 1894 to mean a despicable person, but the combined “rat fink” came later. It’s amazing what you can learn about language from a slang dictionary.

Next week I’ll talk about some of the dilemmas I face when having my characters use slang. And if you want to know how I came up with the slang words in the graphic at the head of this post, I’ll describe that next week, too.

Writing to Attract Boy Readers

 

Now that my murder mystery is with beta readers, I’m returning to middle-grade historical novels. But this time I am trying to attract a male audience as well as a female one, and it will be my first attempt to use a boy as one of the point-of-view characters.

There is no such thing as a “typical” boy reader, anymore than there is a typical girl or a typical adult reader. Every reader is different, and an individual may even find enjoyment in a book he or she would never have expected to like. For example, a boy who won’t normally read books without a male protagonist may make an exception o\if the story is interesting enough.

I know I can’t reach everyone, and I’m not trying to. Still, I would like to expand my audience to reach more boys.

Conventional wisdom says boys are attracted to bathroom humor and high adventure, and my book will have neither. Fortunately, I have a number of books on my shelves that attract middle-school male audiences without using those techniques. And it isn’t that my book will be totally devoid of action and adventure, but the situations they face will be the type that boys often encounter in their everyday lives rather than the Robert Lewis Stevenson sort.

I also have to stay true to myself. My personality and abilities inform my writing and my style. I will never be as quirky as Lemony Snicket or Roald Dahl, as intriguing as Louis Sachar, or as suspenseful as Rick Riordan or J.K. Rowling. And that’s fine. My goal is simply to capture my audience’s attention and make them keep reading until they reach the end and close the book with a satisfied sigh.

With rare exceptions having nothing to do with genre (unless 007 is a genre in itself), unrealistic POV characters don’t attract readers. I’m going to make my male POV character more authentic by using period slang, and my next two posts will talk about the challenges that imposes.

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The picture at the top of this post is a painting by Italian artist Gaetano Lodi, who was born in 1830 and died in 1886. It is in the public domain because of its age.

Searching for Beta Readers

 

I am looking for volunteer beta readers for a murder mystery that is a blend of police procedural and women’s fiction. Although I don’t plan on paying for the service, I will include my beta readers in the acknowledgements if the book is published, and I would be happy to return the favor for beta readers who are also writers.

The ideal beta reader would be:

·       An avid reader

·       Who enjoys police procedurals and women’s fiction, or at least one of the two genres;

·       Someone who is honest and won’t worry about hurting my feelings,

·       And, conversely, someone who understands that every reader is different and won’t feel hurt if I don’t take all their suggestions.

I don’t expect to find the ideal beta reader, but one trait is above all others. If you can’t be honest, don’t volunteer. If you don’t tell me what’s wrong, I won’t know what to fix.

Beta readers will have a month the read the manuscript and give me comments. I will email the manuscript and a set of instructions as Word documents unless a particular volunteer asks for a different format or a hard copy.

If you would like to be a beta reader, use the contact tab at the top of this page or message me on Facebook. If you learned of this request through the Chicago Writers Association email group, you can respond to me there. Or, if you know my personal email address, that works, too.

I’ve worked with middle-grade beta readers many times, but now I’m excited to work with adults.

Thank you for considering this request.

Christmas with the Old Masters--da Vinci

 

The Galleria degli Uffizi gives pride of place to an unfinished painting by Leonardo da Vinci, dedicating an entire room to the painting and panels that give its meaning and history. 

Leonardo da Vinci’s “Adoration of the Magi” was commissioned by the Augustinian Canons Regular for the high altar of their church of San Donato a Scopeto, which was located outside the Porta Romana city gate. Leonardo left Rome for Milan in 1482 without completing it.

With Epiphany coming up on January 6, this seemed like the perfect painting to conclude the blog series. The story of the magi is told in Matthew 2:1-12. 

¹Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, ²saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” ³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

⁶‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” ⁹After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. ¹²And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Paintings tell stories. Even when one is incomplete, we can still learn from the Old Masters.

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I took the photo when we visited Florence in 2018. The painting is in the public domain because of its age.