Forum Back in the day...

This may be more appropriate to the Fantasy column, but I did not see anybody discussing anything like this over there, so I came here...so here's my issue/question/concern. Has anybody ever written historical fiction, and dealt with the question of what life was like back then? In this particular case I will have to say my story leans more towards fantasy, since I have fantastical creatures (dragons, demons, warlocks and witches, etc), but it will be based in basically the world of the roman empire. Any thoughts? I am mainly concerned with making the world seem authentic, always a concern of mine.

I write historical fiction. The answer is research, research, research. Read and, while reading, picture it all in your mind's eye. Then, research some more. It's time consuming, but well worth it for the authentic flavor.

Research till you puke and then research some more... History Channel and sometimes Discovery are good additions to reading. Rent videos both fiction and non-fiction about the era you want to write about.

ditto

research is key - and sometimes you find out interesting facts. i've researched the victorian-era for ages and i still do not know much XD

good luck!

The wonderful thing about fantasy is... it's YOUR world. Definitely do the research, but if there's something you want to add that wouldn't have actually been in Roman times, add it anyway. If it's a fantasy world you basically have the last word on everything in it.

I'm a great fan of Mythologies. But I haven't writ about one yet. I think it needs hell lot of research. You can always paint the future. But you can't fake the past.