Period Pieces

I don’t think it was until I began to really play around with the many spinoffs surrounding the “Gone From Daylight” vampire mythology (https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/world/gone-from-daylight/) that I found a true love for the challenge in writing stories that don’t all take place in the current day. It’s something that I think every author should probably try, at least once or twice, just to get a feel for the skill behind it and see if they like the idea or not. There’s a completely different ‘feel’ to it that I don’t experience when I’m writing my other stories. So...seeing as this was something that was a little off center for me personally as a writer, I began to take a few moments to shuffle through my own feelings about different periods of time and figure out what it is that I find so appealing about how they work from a storytelling aspect.

I’ve been this doing for quite a number of years now, and I’ve collected a bunch of ideas and inspiring thoughts about the practice of writing something outside of my own growth experience and how and why it’s a cool approach to take in my work from time to time. You know, if for no other reason than to change things up every once in a while. And now...I share some of that writer experience with all of you. Ready? Good! Hehehe!

I believe that my very first attempt at writing something that took place in ‘the past’ wasn’t that much of a leap of faith. I did it for the sake of the story, and I was trying to rebuild the current world that I was living in at the time with a world that existed a full decade earlier. Not a BIG difference that would come off as being all that radical or even noticeable in many ways...but it was my first few baby steps. Hehehe, give me a break. That story was “Taryn’s Song” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/tarynssong/), which actually acts as a prequel to the “Gone From Daylight” series (Read “GFD” first though. It’ll be better that way!). The main love interest is a vampire, and had already been living in darkness for ten years before running into my protagonist in the first chapter. Now...as the story began to move forward, a lot of readers began to ask questions that weren’t really covered in the original story itself. I mean, there’s a rich backstory involved with Taryn’s life, who he is, what kind of life he comes from, and why his heart reached out to main character, ‘Justin’, in the first place. I allowed some information about his past life unfold little by little through their interactions in the story, providing a few glimpses into his memories...but it wasn’t enough to truly embrace the drama and intimate nature of what really happened to bring him towards the decisions he made, leading him to leave the daylight behind him forever. So I was caught in a bit of a dilemma...

I didn’t want to leave those parts of his backstory out of the series, because a lot of those elements come into play in future chapters. I didn’t want to draw it out for too long and affect the pacing of the story when it’s obvious that two boys who were so in love would probably be talking to each other on a personal level all the time without restraint. It wouldn’t be believable to think that these major issues simply never came up in their late night conversations. At the same time, I didn’t want to deliver Taryn’s whole history as a huge info dump of exposition, weakening the reader’s investment in Justin, who’s supposed to be the main character of this story. So I grabbed my notebook and a few pens, and I began to make plans on how to structure and tell Taryn’s story in full. Or at least enough of it to be really intriguing to readers and fill in some of the missing pieces of the puzzle that a great deal of my audience was looking for. These were details that I always had sort of swimming around in the back of my mind when I first created the character, but didn’t have any plans to develop on its own as a separate story. That was going to take more depth and insight, and...most importantly...would take a time machine back a decade to when these events originally happened.

I know that ten years doesn’t really seem like that much of a jump, and that the world wouldn’t be all that different...but as I began thinking more and more about it, ending up with quite a few scratch outs on the page and having to think about replacing certain elements of the story with something more ‘time appropriate’, I began to understand that the presentation of the time period was just as much of a character driven part of the story as the character himself. And it was going to take a bit more work than I thought it would.

Technologies advance and evolve, so does speech and slang, so does music and entertainment, and media and the world at large. Also, certain jokes or sarcastic quips wouldn’t work anymore. How could they? They’re making references to events that haven’t happened yet. The style of dress was different. The view of public opinion changes as well. And since I started “GFD” waaaay back in 1999...then that meant going back to the late 80’s early 90’s. A time period that wouldn’t work now...if I was going to try to keep things consistent. So, just like in the science fiction movies...you have to be careful when you play around with time travel. Hehehe, it can end up being a problem if you’re not constantly monitoring it in your fiction and keeping a keen eye on whatever details you use to build your story. Writing period pieces can be both a blessing and a curse at times. And I’ve found that the closer the era is to current day...the more difficult it is to distinguish the two from one another.

We’re talking about period piece writing this time around! Let’s get into it! And please feel free to share your own experiences with this down below if you like. It might be of help to us all in this arena!

If you were to look at yourself in the mirror right now...you may not see anything all that unfamiliar than what you’re used to seeing every morning when you wake up or every night when you go to bed, right? When you were a teenager, you might not have noticed how many inches you’ve grown in such a short amount of time. If you shave, you may not notice how much scruff you’ve got under your chin, or how long your hair has gotten until you are actually due for a haircut. These are changes that happen gradually, and can easily be worked into a story without you having to put much of an adjustment in how you create your current world and how your characters interact with it. However...the further you get away from your current state of mind...the more the world seems to change, and the more you have to pay attention to what you’re doing and what choices you might be making to make the whole ‘time’ aspect of your story seem authentic and true to form. You know?

It’s not just about how the people walk, talk, and dress. Always keep that in mind, and try to remember the culture and the world as it was during that time. The characters that you’re creating for your period piece are going to be more than just an existing member of your personal cast of characters...they’re going to be living, breathing, products of their environment. Not your currnt environment...but theirs.

There a few videos down below that I want you guys to take a good look at as examples of how many things have changed, and how many have stayed the same.

Hehehe, now there’s nothing really malicious or insulting about what’s being said in this clip when you place it in the appropriate period of time. This is what the world’s perception was like as far as he was concerned. So, if you’re going to write a story that takes place in the early to mid 60’s in suburban America...a lot of your ideas and approaches to certain situations may have to change in order to fit the time period that your characters exist in. The era is now an active participant in your ability to build your world around it. If that makes sense.

Now...if we jump ahead about ten to fifteen years...times have changed again. And you’ve got an entirely different framework to build off of, even with subjects and feelings and arguments that feel familiar. When writing a period piece, you have to keep that in mind. There are core bits and pieces of all of us that exist in everybody. Parts that we can all recognize and identify with in some way...but the era is different. Which means the conversations, approaches, and solutions to conflict, are all different as well. Take a look.

Hehehe, have we really been having this same conversation for THIS long?

Different, yes...but still dated. Something else goes into a period piece that goes beyond some fashion and hip lingo for the times. The entire environment is a factor. To be effective at writing something from a certain era in history, this should always be top of mind for any author looking to do it right. Even if you have no personal experience in that time period yourself...some research is definitely needed.

One thing that I think the series “Stranger Things” (especially in the very first season) got absolutely perfect was capturing the 80’s in it’s purest form! Hehehe, I was blown away, like, “Omigod! I remember that!!!” And the references were always there, but were never overdone in my opinion. The nostalgia was overwhelming. But even though that series could probably have taken place in any current era of time...the 80’s nostalgia was the perfect touch that set it apart from everything else that everybody else was doing at that time. So that was a definite win.

Yeah...the 80’s was a very specific time in history. Hehehe, sorry to all of you younger guys who missed it. (Then again...there are college kids who don’t even remember 9/11...so what am I even talking about right now?)

The key is to have just enough era influence to give your story a certain flair and dated feel...but still keep those unifying core elements of storytelling present that will appeal to anyone watching, whether they have a personal attachment to the time period or not. Imagine all of the stories written about Al Capone’s Chicago, World War II, Ancient Rome, or during the building of the pyramids in Egypt! You’ve got thousands of years to play with...just make sure that you stay true to the customs and beliefs of that piece of history if you want it to feel legit.

Me, personally? I always do some research, but I’m sure that I slip up from time to time. And sometimes I’ll catch it in an editing marathon...but sometimes I won’t. So be careful of that. The civilizations that came before us weren’t as advanced as we are now, but they were nowhere near being savages either. Like I stated above, events that happened just fifteen to twenty years ago may seem completely foreign to the younger generation today. They’re looking at these past events almost as if its fantasy in some cases. But you can bond the current day readers with stories from the past by simply relying on staying true to those core elements that keep us all united as human beings. Finding love, securing shelter and a dependable food source, protecting our friends and family from harm...envy, joy, vengeance, loneliness...the entire human experience revolves around these things, no matter where you are or what era you lived in. Take those core elements and practice feeding them into the mindsets of different cultures and time periods to examine what’s different...and discover what’s the same. Cool?

I hope this helps you guys out when it comes to branching out with brand new stories of your very own! Give it a shot. It’s a lot more fun than you may think it is. Especially when you play around with more than one era, or with one or more genres. I get a kick out of it, myself.

Take care, you all! And stay beautiful! Seezya soon!