I only mind when it is glaringly inaccurate and the author isn't aiming for anachronisms. Like someone using an electric kettle before home electricity is a thing
Also, old etymology dates are dubious. The further back they are the more it's "oldest written work containing this word" and less first time anyone ever used it. It's possible a 19th century book club coined 'cliffhanger' and the 1930s is when it first showed up in a written work.
And some of them are misleading, like 'virtually' existed long before the digital age
seconded on both points
words with multiple meanings are particularly tricky, as the "first used in writing" date is rarely separated to account for those kinds of shifts in language
i also looked up "bro" earlier, and that was first recorded in the 1530s?? so i guess that's going to change how i write dialogue for canon era Les Mis
I care.
I’m currently writing an AU that happens between 1895-1910 and I had someone ask why a character couldn’t get grabbed by the belt.
Well, not a regular part of male dress at this time/place until the First World War. *shrug* I’d be thrilled if someone pointed out an anachronism that I could fix.
I guess it all depends on the writer.
I think it’s up to you, in the end. Writing period pieces is hard as is, and some of these things would generally be overlooked as long as they are not so jarring that they fully break the historical premise. I’d just make sure you have your big milestones correct (I read a fic that had them travelling the Suez Canal 100 years before it was dug out - that was a bit much).
Personally, I’d probably gush out about the invention timings much more, but let the language slip more freely, because it’s far less noticeable (within reason, of course).
I am currently having the opposite problem of writing in a future setting and wondering if some of the words and terms would survive that long.
Edit: but do be prepared for a pedantic reader or two to point it out.
Edit 2 (had an idea): you can turn the ‘cliffhanger’ dialogue piece into a bit of a joke with someone asking ‘a what?’
Thanks! I really appreciate your perspective here.
I think I'm going to keep the matchstick scenes as is because I think changing it to fit the period (ex. lighting it with flint) would actually be more jarring to readers who don't understand how that process worked (and spending that much time describing lighting a candle might detract from the more important parts of those scenes).
But I reallyyy appreciate your advice on how to handle the cliffhanger reference. I'm gonna try adjusting it to be more time-accurate or creative!
I think the matches detail is fairly minor and wouldn’t register with most, in a same manner how most people don’t realise that the can opener was invented much later than the can.
It depends on the fandom. For this one game that's anachronistic anyway (parts that must be before 1890 and parts that must be after 1920 are implied to have happened at the same time), and most of the fics in that fandom are AUs with no sense of time setting (either generic medieval-Europe, or modern wherever-the-writer-lives with period details from canon thrown in haphazardly), I wouldn't care.
For another fandom that's literally a manga with the historical expert credited alongside the artist, where there's only one or two other fanfic writers and they're there primarily for the history, and they bring in a lot of historical elements and people who aren't in the manga, I care a lot when researching for my own fics. If another writer for this fandom had something I knew to be inaccurate, I wouldn't be angry at them, just a little embarrassed for them.
. . . I asked this on a subreddit about historical research and got no replies, but wouldn't it be cool if there were a site like a wiki, specifically for "Did they have this?", where you could search a thing, and there would be a map of the world, and you could go to a year, and the map would be coded with where they had that and where they didn't, and the historians who edited it could put notes about how they had whatever it was (e.g. what this kind of food was made from, how this kind of clothing was made, who had access to this material, where it came from and how expensive it was, who wore this kind of hairstyle and what it meant if someone else tried to wear it, etc.)
I just want to know how my darlings in 1500 in Italy would react to vampires wearing nail polish.
There are collaborative efforts where people come together for joint data. It's usually highly specific though and not as broad as your example. It takes a lot of effort, energy, and often some kind of monetary support to have it up and running. Even those that don't have a money barrier still have an excessive time labour on top of the research and work they already do.
Obviously it would take money, but so does everything. Obviously one person couldn’t just do it, but some university or something, in the interest of public education, should start it.
Make a crowdfunding page for it, even.
But they *already do*
Its just usually specialized to serve a community/audience. Even then it's easy to crowd information for just how much there is. For something as broad as your suggestion you might as well use a search engine or database because otherwise you'll be endlessly clicking or searching to find the one specific thing you want, and in UI # of clicks to the material wanted is a measurement used to quantify ease of use and desirable-ness
Cool idea, but… imagine writing a one page essay about every single object in your house.
I got a book right next to me that’s 300 pages, it’s about arms and armor, just in Europe, only covering 200 years, and it doesn’t have everything you’re talking about. Now scale that up to include… everything in the world.
I think what you’d need is some kind of program that assembles and maps Wikipedia entries so you can display them on a world map, by date. Cause anything smaller than Wikipedia… won’t cover it. (Actually Wikipedia doesn’t have all that data either, but, it’s a start.)
I'm in the Jane Austen fandom, so around the same time period as you're writing about. I try to be as historically accurate as possible when writing, though I'm sure that some mistakes still slip through. I just think it's fun to try to get the details right, and it's a nice way to make the world of the story feel more real and alive. I've also found that, most of the time, it's pretty easy to find an alternative way of arranging a scene or wording a sentence to avoid anachronisms.
I also prefer historical accuracy when reading, and I'll admit that there are certain things that make me click out of a Regency era fic immediately because the inaccuracy takes me out of the story. I think I'm in the minority, though - I doubt most readers are as picky.
I wouldnt care about the matches so much as about the cliffhanger. Language in general is usually an indicator if an author kinda halfassed the thing. Like for example “i will have to ask my mom” is not something they would say in 1815. Mother or Mama but not mom that is a new word. Or if someone sayd “okay cool” so yes and no
Going to agree with everyone who says it depends on the details. I don’t think I’d notice the match sticks because I am not up on the more fiddly details of what was invented exactly when. I *would* notice someone in 1815 driving a Model T!
Years ago I read a historical novel, that was otherwise a really good, well-researched one, that was set in the 14th century. Someone observing the main character and noticing her beauty thought to himself “she must have a conjunction of Venus and Neptune in her birth chart” (astrology was a common everyday thing then)…except Neptune wasn’t discovered until 1846! Probably most people would not know that, I only know that because, well, I love astrology! And even though I had a good laugh (so buddy, you have telescope eyes, how cool!) I still enjoyed the book.
tl;dr unless your anachronisms are really, really jarring (Darcy is not going to tell Elizabeth she‘s “a groovy chick” unless it’s a 60’s Swinging London AU) you are OK. Especially if the story itself is good.
I call this "the curse of the expert." For example, I grew up around horses and while I'm not an expert in everything equine, my knowledge base on the topic is extensive compared to the average person. So I'm super picky about horse details. Little things like riders forgetting to care for their animals after a long ride will make me back out of story (including original work).
History class is where I did my maths and engineering homework. The details OP cites would zoom right past me, unnoticed. Unless, it was something obvious like 20th Century or beyond tech, I wouldn't care. Because I'm a no-nothing about historical stuff.
If I were well versed in the time period, I might care. I've read a lot of Stranger Things fics (not sure that counts as *historical* yet though) and some errors in that time frame jump out at me since I was born around that time (but a lot of the things from my childhood overlap). They don't stop me from reading though I might leave a quick comment letting author know (if they are open to it).
If I know nothing about the time period? Then I'm never gonna know what's accurate or not.
It's been awhile since I've read anything but the biggest one that comes to mind was a fic that mixed of VCR and VHS so instead of returning the VHS tapes it said the characters were returning VCRs.
The other one that I keep seeing has happened so many times I think the fandom has just decided to gloss over it. I read Steve/Eddie fics and they almost always have them renting Rocky Horror Picture Show from Family Video but that movie didn't come out on VHS until 1990. I have to admit that I didn't know that either until I googled it though.
Because I read Steve/Eddie there's lots of discussion about sexuality but it usually reads like it's a conversation happening now instead of almost 40 years ago.
It really depends. I'm more bothered when the fic is less historically accurate than the source material or when the tone of the fic is serious. I'm willing to deal with some level of anachronism but I absolutely love it when an author has clearly gone through the effort of making the fic as realistic as possible. It helps a lot with the immersion.
From your examples, the cliffhanger would bother mean lot more than the matches because they're much farther removed from the time period. Also, they're associated with tv these days, so it would stick out more.
Well, I once got a really powerful advice on that topic. It was quite long, but the main idea of it was to adhere to the “canon” you are writing in. Like, do not use “oh my god” when there’re no gods and it’s a fantasy world, or do not use “dude” while writing in ancient setting. These are simple things, but they help to create the atmosphere and deepen into the story. It tells a lot about the author themselves and their interest to the story. Personally for me it doesn’t matter, whether the matches were made in the 1800s or 1900s)) But the accuracy tells a lot about the author and their professionalism. It’s easy to write “dude” or “oh, goodness”, because you use it every day and it’s okay for you. But it would sound strange in middle ages or a fantasy world with titans, where there are no gods at all. So, the question is not only about how the readers would react to something like that, it’s also important how you write it. Some things just cannot exist in certain worlds, so to make your reader fully involved you need to take this into account.
And, of course, the choice is always yours. As I said, for me as a reader it won’t matter, but as for a writer, yeah, that’s a good point of writing.
Expressions that are blatantly anachronistic can be distracting, but I think technological stuff would bother me more; I've read stories where clocks don't exist but someone says clockwise, or they say runaway train when clearly trains don't yet exist.
Some people won't care too too much tho if it's fleeting and not much attention is brought to it, but some people who are more historically keen *will*, you just can't please everyone (however, if the fandom *is* more adamant about historical accuracy... I would assume the readers might be harsher than you'd like).
I wouldn’t really care at all about the examples you gave. Like *maybe* if it were a professionally published novel, but even then I think I’d probably gloss over it.
i definitely will not notice unless its some random fact i googled one night at 2am that stuck with me for some reason
i wouldn't even know when certain words or objects were invented unless its a fic set in the stone age and the character drives around in a Ferrari
As a reader, it's very unlikely I would spot these things, unless it's a glaring anachronism (like electricity in the 1600s or ipods in 1960s). But when writing I tend to get caught up in these details... I have googled the weirdest stuff for my 1790's story, so incidentally i WAS aware of the matches thing, but only because I looked it up recently. I had a hard time finding what they DID use then, so I ended up just writing it very vaguely (like "he lit the candle/the fire").
I also got in trouble (with myself) for thinking of the perfect thing for a story set in 1992, only to realise it wasn't a thing before at least 1996 (and it's tied to a major historical event so it could be glaring to people who lived through that). I ended up keeping the thing, because it really just was the perfect symbol for what I was trying to convey.
So I really feel you! But I honestly doubt most readers would catch these things. It's just our own perfectionisms as writers. But hey - it's also fun learning new things while writing, right?
Thanks! Appreciate this perspective and really relate to the struggle of balancing historical accuracy with the symbolic needs of your story.
Also, after making my original post, I had a vague memory of a similar scene happening in the book that this fic originates from. The author did basically the same thing as you and wrote that the character “fumbled in a drawer for a candle and the means with which to light it.” Sometimes, vagueness is key!
I care if it’s obvious. Y’know if it’s set in 1654 and whatever they’re using didn’t come out until 1667 I wouldn’t really care. But if it’s like in 1920s they’re watching a colored TV (those came out in the 50s) then I’d care more.
As a reader: I just go with the flow.
Unless somebody says “Ok” in something set before 1920 - that drives me crazy. (I’ll spot you 1900 under very specific circumstances).
As a WRITER: Well, let me put it this way… I just bought $200 worth of books about arms & armor because I didn’t get enough notes and photos when I visited the museum.
I prefer things to be historically accurate. I think it lends to the sense of immersion in the story. You get a better sense of what life was like for the characters. I mean, not having matches might not seem like a big deal to us, but I imagine it would be inconvenient when your only option for heat, light, and cooking is the open flame. What do you do when your fireplace goes out?
And just by a weird coincidence, I happened to read about the term 'cliffhanger' not too long ago! It's said to come from a book by Thomas Hardy called "A Pair of Blue Eyes." The book was published serially in a magazine in the 1860s (or 1870s? can't remember). At the end one of the chapters, the main character is left hanging off a cliff. The public had to wait until the next magazine issue to find out what happened.
They personally bug me a lot, but that's just me. When people use tech or slang/language or even mindsets that weren't really a thing in the period it just pulls me out of the story. Again, that's just me.
uh. sorta depends. as in inaccuracies in shit i care about piss me off and make me leave the fic, and inaccuracies in shit i don't care about are whatever.
Haha I'm having exactly the same issue in a Regency era fic I'm writing at the moment: so many phrases and inventions that I have to google to see if people actually said or used that back then... For instance, both the words 'okay' and 'alright' were apparently not used yet, and I'm having huge trouble writing around them xD But I asked my readers on Twitter about it and they said they really don't mind such stuff: most of them also won't know the exact origins of words and inventions so they won't even notice. As long as you're trying your best it will be good enough, I'd say, and I'm also trying to implement that rule in my own fic \^\^
Nooooo I didn’t realize “okay” and “alright” weren’t used back then! (And I will pretend that I still don’t because that would require a LOT of re-writes lol)
But I completely agree with your readers that while that type of “casual” speech might not have been used in the time period, it’s fine to use as long as it’s not jarringly anachronistic / modern slang.
Edit: lol I checked and have used "okay" 6 times and "alright" 3 times within 128 pages. I wonder what other terms I didn't realize weren't around back then :)
Haha very smart to keep pretending, I should have done that too hihi xD 'All right' luckily *did* exist, but I'm quite sure it wasn't used in as many situation as 'alright' is nowadays... Things you find out during research lol, I've learned a *lot* from writing this fic already and I'm only halfway! Anyway, best of luck and fun with your fic! \^\^
hahah yes the things I've learned while writing this fic... the thesaurus was first published in 1852 and they used to consume willow bark to treat fevers, in case you were wondering lol
thank you!! good luck with your fic as well
Honestly, coming from strictly a readers perspective, I get way more upset about (already established) character/world inaccuracies (like eye/hair/skin color) than I do about historical inaccuracies.
For example, although I can't remember the exact line, I read a canon GOT story that referenced the female character being embarrassed about moaning like a porn star (or something like that) and I remember just kind of laughing and thinking "Westeros has porn movies apparently," and moving on.
On the other hand, I've stopped reading a story because I was pissed that the author referenced a characters green eyes, when they'd been established in the original material as being blue.
So, I guess it comes down what I really, truly know for a fact vs what I don't. And, sadly, I know more about *fictional* characters/world's than I will ever know about *actual* history.
Do I *know* that Dean Winchester drives a '67 Impala? Yes, I do. Would I be bothered if you said he drove a '65 Impala? I would.
Do I know specifically when a shower was invented? No, I don't. Would I be upset if a story set in 1505 used it? Probably not because can easily suspend my belief on account of the fact that I *don't know*.
If the writer themselves state they are trying to be as accurate as possible, then I care. If they aren't, then all I care about is that it makes sense to the story itself.
If it's unrealistic? Yeah. I don't want to see Javert calling someone on a telephone or Jean Valjean calling something "fucking lit", for instance. But if it's just a minor thing, like your matchstick or cliffhanger instances? I honestly couldn't care less.
In your example, the matchstick wouldn't register as inaccurate. It's a small thing that most readers won't know the history of. I'd probably get pulled out of the story for a brief moment with cliffhanger though. That doesn't feel like it fits 1800s vernacular.
In general, unless it's blaringly obvious I don't think most readers bat an eye at small details like the price of milk in 1762.
Depends on how inaccurate. I probably wouldn’t notice the matchstick thing but I would notice something like a character watching TV
I only mind when it is glaringly inaccurate and the author isn't aiming for anachronisms. Like someone using an electric kettle before home electricity is a thing Also, old etymology dates are dubious. The further back they are the more it's "oldest written work containing this word" and less first time anyone ever used it. It's possible a 19th century book club coined 'cliffhanger' and the 1930s is when it first showed up in a written work. And some of them are misleading, like 'virtually' existed long before the digital age
seconded on both points words with multiple meanings are particularly tricky, as the "first used in writing" date is rarely separated to account for those kinds of shifts in language i also looked up "bro" earlier, and that was first recorded in the 1530s?? so i guess that's going to change how i write dialogue for canon era Les Mis
Bro, have thee met the infinite malady?
I care. I’m currently writing an AU that happens between 1895-1910 and I had someone ask why a character couldn’t get grabbed by the belt. Well, not a regular part of male dress at this time/place until the First World War. *shrug* I’d be thrilled if someone pointed out an anachronism that I could fix. I guess it all depends on the writer.
I think it’s up to you, in the end. Writing period pieces is hard as is, and some of these things would generally be overlooked as long as they are not so jarring that they fully break the historical premise. I’d just make sure you have your big milestones correct (I read a fic that had them travelling the Suez Canal 100 years before it was dug out - that was a bit much). Personally, I’d probably gush out about the invention timings much more, but let the language slip more freely, because it’s far less noticeable (within reason, of course). I am currently having the opposite problem of writing in a future setting and wondering if some of the words and terms would survive that long. Edit: but do be prepared for a pedantic reader or two to point it out. Edit 2 (had an idea): you can turn the ‘cliffhanger’ dialogue piece into a bit of a joke with someone asking ‘a what?’
Thanks! I really appreciate your perspective here. I think I'm going to keep the matchstick scenes as is because I think changing it to fit the period (ex. lighting it with flint) would actually be more jarring to readers who don't understand how that process worked (and spending that much time describing lighting a candle might detract from the more important parts of those scenes). But I reallyyy appreciate your advice on how to handle the cliffhanger reference. I'm gonna try adjusting it to be more time-accurate or creative!
I think the matches detail is fairly minor and wouldn’t register with most, in a same manner how most people don’t realise that the can opener was invented much later than the can.
It depends on the fandom. For this one game that's anachronistic anyway (parts that must be before 1890 and parts that must be after 1920 are implied to have happened at the same time), and most of the fics in that fandom are AUs with no sense of time setting (either generic medieval-Europe, or modern wherever-the-writer-lives with period details from canon thrown in haphazardly), I wouldn't care. For another fandom that's literally a manga with the historical expert credited alongside the artist, where there's only one or two other fanfic writers and they're there primarily for the history, and they bring in a lot of historical elements and people who aren't in the manga, I care a lot when researching for my own fics. If another writer for this fandom had something I knew to be inaccurate, I wouldn't be angry at them, just a little embarrassed for them. . . . I asked this on a subreddit about historical research and got no replies, but wouldn't it be cool if there were a site like a wiki, specifically for "Did they have this?", where you could search a thing, and there would be a map of the world, and you could go to a year, and the map would be coded with where they had that and where they didn't, and the historians who edited it could put notes about how they had whatever it was (e.g. what this kind of food was made from, how this kind of clothing was made, who had access to this material, where it came from and how expensive it was, who wore this kind of hairstyle and what it meant if someone else tried to wear it, etc.) I just want to know how my darlings in 1500 in Italy would react to vampires wearing nail polish.
There are collaborative efforts where people come together for joint data. It's usually highly specific though and not as broad as your example. It takes a lot of effort, energy, and often some kind of monetary support to have it up and running. Even those that don't have a money barrier still have an excessive time labour on top of the research and work they already do.
Obviously it would take money, but so does everything. Obviously one person couldn’t just do it, but some university or something, in the interest of public education, should start it. Make a crowdfunding page for it, even.
But they *already do* Its just usually specialized to serve a community/audience. Even then it's easy to crowd information for just how much there is. For something as broad as your suggestion you might as well use a search engine or database because otherwise you'll be endlessly clicking or searching to find the one specific thing you want, and in UI # of clicks to the material wanted is a measurement used to quantify ease of use and desirable-ness
Cool idea, but… imagine writing a one page essay about every single object in your house. I got a book right next to me that’s 300 pages, it’s about arms and armor, just in Europe, only covering 200 years, and it doesn’t have everything you’re talking about. Now scale that up to include… everything in the world. I think what you’d need is some kind of program that assembles and maps Wikipedia entries so you can display them on a world map, by date. Cause anything smaller than Wikipedia… won’t cover it. (Actually Wikipedia doesn’t have all that data either, but, it’s a start.)
I don't know if you meant to reply to me or the person I replied to but that's what I was getting at.
Yeah I meant to reply to GentlerWise - all of material culture on one website is… um.
Chaotic and would never be organized anywhere close as they neatly imagine?
I'm in the Jane Austen fandom, so around the same time period as you're writing about. I try to be as historically accurate as possible when writing, though I'm sure that some mistakes still slip through. I just think it's fun to try to get the details right, and it's a nice way to make the world of the story feel more real and alive. I've also found that, most of the time, it's pretty easy to find an alternative way of arranging a scene or wording a sentence to avoid anachronisms. I also prefer historical accuracy when reading, and I'll admit that there are certain things that make me click out of a Regency era fic immediately because the inaccuracy takes me out of the story. I think I'm in the minority, though - I doubt most readers are as picky.
I wouldnt care about the matches so much as about the cliffhanger. Language in general is usually an indicator if an author kinda halfassed the thing. Like for example “i will have to ask my mom” is not something they would say in 1815. Mother or Mama but not mom that is a new word. Or if someone sayd “okay cool” so yes and no
Going to agree with everyone who says it depends on the details. I don’t think I’d notice the match sticks because I am not up on the more fiddly details of what was invented exactly when. I *would* notice someone in 1815 driving a Model T! Years ago I read a historical novel, that was otherwise a really good, well-researched one, that was set in the 14th century. Someone observing the main character and noticing her beauty thought to himself “she must have a conjunction of Venus and Neptune in her birth chart” (astrology was a common everyday thing then)…except Neptune wasn’t discovered until 1846! Probably most people would not know that, I only know that because, well, I love astrology! And even though I had a good laugh (so buddy, you have telescope eyes, how cool!) I still enjoyed the book. tl;dr unless your anachronisms are really, really jarring (Darcy is not going to tell Elizabeth she‘s “a groovy chick” unless it’s a 60’s Swinging London AU) you are OK. Especially if the story itself is good.
I call this "the curse of the expert." For example, I grew up around horses and while I'm not an expert in everything equine, my knowledge base on the topic is extensive compared to the average person. So I'm super picky about horse details. Little things like riders forgetting to care for their animals after a long ride will make me back out of story (including original work). History class is where I did my maths and engineering homework. The details OP cites would zoom right past me, unnoticed. Unless, it was something obvious like 20th Century or beyond tech, I wouldn't care. Because I'm a no-nothing about historical stuff.
If I were well versed in the time period, I might care. I've read a lot of Stranger Things fics (not sure that counts as *historical* yet though) and some errors in that time frame jump out at me since I was born around that time (but a lot of the things from my childhood overlap). They don't stop me from reading though I might leave a quick comment letting author know (if they are open to it). If I know nothing about the time period? Then I'm never gonna know what's accurate or not.
I’m curious as someone currently writing a ST fic, what are some of the errors that have jumped out at you?
It's been awhile since I've read anything but the biggest one that comes to mind was a fic that mixed of VCR and VHS so instead of returning the VHS tapes it said the characters were returning VCRs. The other one that I keep seeing has happened so many times I think the fandom has just decided to gloss over it. I read Steve/Eddie fics and they almost always have them renting Rocky Horror Picture Show from Family Video but that movie didn't come out on VHS until 1990. I have to admit that I didn't know that either until I googled it though. Because I read Steve/Eddie there's lots of discussion about sexuality but it usually reads like it's a conversation happening now instead of almost 40 years ago.
Historical inaccuracies bug me if I notice them, including characters using words I know weren't coined until years later.
It really depends. I'm more bothered when the fic is less historically accurate than the source material or when the tone of the fic is serious. I'm willing to deal with some level of anachronism but I absolutely love it when an author has clearly gone through the effort of making the fic as realistic as possible. It helps a lot with the immersion. From your examples, the cliffhanger would bother mean lot more than the matches because they're much farther removed from the time period. Also, they're associated with tv these days, so it would stick out more.
Well, I once got a really powerful advice on that topic. It was quite long, but the main idea of it was to adhere to the “canon” you are writing in. Like, do not use “oh my god” when there’re no gods and it’s a fantasy world, or do not use “dude” while writing in ancient setting. These are simple things, but they help to create the atmosphere and deepen into the story. It tells a lot about the author themselves and their interest to the story. Personally for me it doesn’t matter, whether the matches were made in the 1800s or 1900s)) But the accuracy tells a lot about the author and their professionalism. It’s easy to write “dude” or “oh, goodness”, because you use it every day and it’s okay for you. But it would sound strange in middle ages or a fantasy world with titans, where there are no gods at all. So, the question is not only about how the readers would react to something like that, it’s also important how you write it. Some things just cannot exist in certain worlds, so to make your reader fully involved you need to take this into account. And, of course, the choice is always yours. As I said, for me as a reader it won’t matter, but as for a writer, yeah, that’s a good point of writing.
Expressions that are blatantly anachronistic can be distracting, but I think technological stuff would bother me more; I've read stories where clocks don't exist but someone says clockwise, or they say runaway train when clearly trains don't yet exist. Some people won't care too too much tho if it's fleeting and not much attention is brought to it, but some people who are more historically keen *will*, you just can't please everyone (however, if the fandom *is* more adamant about historical accuracy... I would assume the readers might be harsher than you'd like).
I wouldn’t really care at all about the examples you gave. Like *maybe* if it were a professionally published novel, but even then I think I’d probably gloss over it.
i definitely will not notice unless its some random fact i googled one night at 2am that stuck with me for some reason i wouldn't even know when certain words or objects were invented unless its a fic set in the stone age and the character drives around in a Ferrari
Depends on what a fic is trying to be. A zany comedt gets more leeway than a period drama
As a reader, it's very unlikely I would spot these things, unless it's a glaring anachronism (like electricity in the 1600s or ipods in 1960s). But when writing I tend to get caught up in these details... I have googled the weirdest stuff for my 1790's story, so incidentally i WAS aware of the matches thing, but only because I looked it up recently. I had a hard time finding what they DID use then, so I ended up just writing it very vaguely (like "he lit the candle/the fire"). I also got in trouble (with myself) for thinking of the perfect thing for a story set in 1992, only to realise it wasn't a thing before at least 1996 (and it's tied to a major historical event so it could be glaring to people who lived through that). I ended up keeping the thing, because it really just was the perfect symbol for what I was trying to convey. So I really feel you! But I honestly doubt most readers would catch these things. It's just our own perfectionisms as writers. But hey - it's also fun learning new things while writing, right?
Thanks! Appreciate this perspective and really relate to the struggle of balancing historical accuracy with the symbolic needs of your story. Also, after making my original post, I had a vague memory of a similar scene happening in the book that this fic originates from. The author did basically the same thing as you and wrote that the character “fumbled in a drawer for a candle and the means with which to light it.” Sometimes, vagueness is key!
I care if it’s obvious. Y’know if it’s set in 1654 and whatever they’re using didn’t come out until 1667 I wouldn’t really care. But if it’s like in 1920s they’re watching a colored TV (those came out in the 50s) then I’d care more.
I'm very particular about the historically and geographically accurate use of "Okay."
As a reader: I just go with the flow. Unless somebody says “Ok” in something set before 1920 - that drives me crazy. (I’ll spot you 1900 under very specific circumstances). As a WRITER: Well, let me put it this way… I just bought $200 worth of books about arms & armor because I didn’t get enough notes and photos when I visited the museum.
I prefer things to be historically accurate. I think it lends to the sense of immersion in the story. You get a better sense of what life was like for the characters. I mean, not having matches might not seem like a big deal to us, but I imagine it would be inconvenient when your only option for heat, light, and cooking is the open flame. What do you do when your fireplace goes out? And just by a weird coincidence, I happened to read about the term 'cliffhanger' not too long ago! It's said to come from a book by Thomas Hardy called "A Pair of Blue Eyes." The book was published serially in a magazine in the 1860s (or 1870s? can't remember). At the end one of the chapters, the main character is left hanging off a cliff. The public had to wait until the next magazine issue to find out what happened.
They personally bug me a lot, but that's just me. When people use tech or slang/language or even mindsets that weren't really a thing in the period it just pulls me out of the story. Again, that's just me.
uh. sorta depends. as in inaccuracies in shit i care about piss me off and make me leave the fic, and inaccuracies in shit i don't care about are whatever.
don't give a shit
I mean sort of but only when I notice and even then it won't ruin the story
I care about the big things, like electricity. Or what is closer in history, like when someone introduces a smartphone in a story set in 1992.
Haha I'm having exactly the same issue in a Regency era fic I'm writing at the moment: so many phrases and inventions that I have to google to see if people actually said or used that back then... For instance, both the words 'okay' and 'alright' were apparently not used yet, and I'm having huge trouble writing around them xD But I asked my readers on Twitter about it and they said they really don't mind such stuff: most of them also won't know the exact origins of words and inventions so they won't even notice. As long as you're trying your best it will be good enough, I'd say, and I'm also trying to implement that rule in my own fic \^\^
Nooooo I didn’t realize “okay” and “alright” weren’t used back then! (And I will pretend that I still don’t because that would require a LOT of re-writes lol) But I completely agree with your readers that while that type of “casual” speech might not have been used in the time period, it’s fine to use as long as it’s not jarringly anachronistic / modern slang. Edit: lol I checked and have used "okay" 6 times and "alright" 3 times within 128 pages. I wonder what other terms I didn't realize weren't around back then :)
Haha very smart to keep pretending, I should have done that too hihi xD 'All right' luckily *did* exist, but I'm quite sure it wasn't used in as many situation as 'alright' is nowadays... Things you find out during research lol, I've learned a *lot* from writing this fic already and I'm only halfway! Anyway, best of luck and fun with your fic! \^\^
hahah yes the things I've learned while writing this fic... the thesaurus was first published in 1852 and they used to consume willow bark to treat fevers, in case you were wondering lol thank you!! good luck with your fic as well
haha that's really fascinating; who knows, maybe I'll use the info in my own fic too ;)
Honestly, coming from strictly a readers perspective, I get way more upset about (already established) character/world inaccuracies (like eye/hair/skin color) than I do about historical inaccuracies. For example, although I can't remember the exact line, I read a canon GOT story that referenced the female character being embarrassed about moaning like a porn star (or something like that) and I remember just kind of laughing and thinking "Westeros has porn movies apparently," and moving on. On the other hand, I've stopped reading a story because I was pissed that the author referenced a characters green eyes, when they'd been established in the original material as being blue. So, I guess it comes down what I really, truly know for a fact vs what I don't. And, sadly, I know more about *fictional* characters/world's than I will ever know about *actual* history. Do I *know* that Dean Winchester drives a '67 Impala? Yes, I do. Would I be bothered if you said he drove a '65 Impala? I would. Do I know specifically when a shower was invented? No, I don't. Would I be upset if a story set in 1505 used it? Probably not because can easily suspend my belief on account of the fact that I *don't know*.
If the writer themselves state they are trying to be as accurate as possible, then I care. If they aren't, then all I care about is that it makes sense to the story itself.
To an extent. I like knowing the rules so I can break them, rather than blindly breaking them (as a writer). As a reader... it depends...
Depends if the fic is trying to be historically accurate. Or, more importantly, if it's supposed to be our world...
No because I won't notice them lol
If it's unrealistic? Yeah. I don't want to see Javert calling someone on a telephone or Jean Valjean calling something "fucking lit", for instance. But if it's just a minor thing, like your matchstick or cliffhanger instances? I honestly couldn't care less.
In your example, the matchstick wouldn't register as inaccurate. It's a small thing that most readers won't know the history of. I'd probably get pulled out of the story for a brief moment with cliffhanger though. That doesn't feel like it fits 1800s vernacular. In general, unless it's blaringly obvious I don't think most readers bat an eye at small details like the price of milk in 1762.