It doesn't have to be accurate right now, does it?

I hope so! I'm a fisrt timer and I'm trying to be accurate, but I'm also feeling the pressure to just get words out. As my research is ongoing I'm certain I'll turn up things that need changing, but editing is not really the point of this game! The tidying up can be done afterwards. If what I've written turns out to be worth the effort of carrying on!

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Yes the pic is a stavechurch, in case anyone wondered!

No, it doesn't have to accurate right now. Just be sure that you make yourself notes as to what you have to research and what you have to double check for accuracy in December. Right now, just get it written.

When I get to a part that I know I will need to look up later, I write what I think I should be using and then put a note like (Look up to see exactly where the cathedral is in city) or (find out the name of the county) and keep going.

Julie

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Julie
When you're going through hell, keep going.
Winston Churchill

Accuracy regarding speech and life and work in 19th Century Scotland have gone flying out the window for me. I guess the story and the quality writing matter right now than niggling details. Sometimes it's the details that hold me back because I spend ages researching usually.

My Hubby got on to me yesterday when he found out I was researching food/kitchen types instead of writing. Told me that wasn't the point, I just needed to get the words out and I could fix it later. He then continued to brainstorm with me for about twenty minutes about what my characters kitchen should be like. Finally, he asked me if I got any good tips during my research on how to make better Gumbo. LOL!

Oh, wow--your husband is a keeper, Quills! Good on him (and you)!

As to historical accuracy--not now when your story is spilling out and you're getting that word count up there. Just keep the story fluid enough--make notes on the side (or just indent)...I've been researching my book for over a year now...and I still have to put elipses and notes in. Yes, I've gotten lots of ideas from the research...but now that NANO has started--Just say "no!" and write the story.

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I agree with pretty much everyone else--it definitely doesn't need to be accurate now. I think it was helpful for me to do some research about the period before I started writing, because it gave me a lot of ideas (and because my story is loosely based in historical fact, it gave me a greater understanding for why some events took place). But this month I feel like I just need to write and not spend my time researching. The heart of the novel has to be the story, not the historical accuracy--no one wants to read a novel that's the other way around. (I admit I do kind of flip through my research materials from time to time, but that's mostly for inspiration rather than for specific details--I find it helps me to think of things that could happen or back-stories for new characters.)

Ditto! I researched for a year before November, and realized that I could research for five more years and it wouldn't matter if I never got the story down. Am telling the tale, as it were, and looking forward to the time when this first draft is finished to read again, and fill in all the gaps I've left. You can't revise something you haven't written. Have fun writing the story!

Lisa G

I agree with all - write it now and worry about the detail later. I am doing the best I can and putting an * by anything I need to add/check. I have loads of books here for research but if I'm reading I'm not writing so they are definitely for the editing later.

I'm so trying not to research any more until after November, but the books, they call to me.

I think I know my epoch well enough, but I do have a terror of putting something in that will be totally wrong and fixing it will then break the plot.

Yeah, I am queen of catastrophic thinking. :P

Gah.

I know exactly how you feel. I'm bogging myself down with trying to be historically accurate as I go, even though I KNOW that's what December is for.

"November is for WRITING!"

Still. The perfectionist in me is writhing in pain. X-|

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Details later! I always add in parenthesis and capital letters what needs researched in a certain area.

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I find that some occassional reaseach can be quite a muse. Just poke around the Internet and see what you can find.

I sidetracked myself earlier today for about 20 minutes, trying to figure out toileting systems in early 1800s Louisiana.
Sheesh.

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I am but mad north, north-east. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.

I distracted myself for a whole hour yesterday looking up etymologies of 14th century Mongolian names. Yeah.

I find the research can inspire me to write new sections, and gets me excited to dig deeper into the story (but then, i'm a nerd for research). But, it can be such a diverting time suck that I'm trying to stay away from the books as much as I can. And by that I mean, restrict myself to an hour or so a day. :)

Yuppers. My book is set in 1851 Oxford, but since I already know a lot about 1870 Oxford I'm just rolling with that info -- I figure I can always do my fact-checking during hack 'n' slash time.

Now, granted, you do sometimes need to take a break and do some research just to make sure that you're not wandering down a totally anachronistic path (e.g. you can't have a character wander into a hat store in 1851 and walk out with one of those huge My Fair Lady confections -- that type of hat won't come into style until the late 1870s, and sticklers for historical accuracy will then point and laugh at you in the streets).

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We're soul siblings or something. I spent 45 minutes staring at different pictures of the same stele, trying to see if different lighting revealed any new detail.

Earlier this afternoon, I got lost in descriptions of 19th century card games...I was trying to decide which one a wealthy quadroon girl would most likely be playing.

If my word count doesn't pick up tomorrow, I am threatening myself with the full inclusion of Whist rules and by-laws.
Ugh.

Here's hoping that word count climbs quickly.

So did the lighting affect the stele's detail after all? :)

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I am but mad north, north-east. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.

lol! I agree with a lot of you.

November is for getting the story down, and
December is for making the story right.

I am writing a historical novel about El Cid,
Spanish hero from the 11th century through the
eyes of his wife. I knew almost nothing about him
when I started and he has pretty much turned into
a Robin Hood type of legend, so facts are very limited.
Plus there isn't a lot of detailed info about that time period anyway.

So there are lots of things in my book that I am going
to have to adjust. But that's why its FICTION, it doesn't
have to be completely accurate (even though I so desperately want it to be).

Still, NOBODY gets to read my novel until I am done editing!
Now, that being said, I need to get back to writing :p

Not a bit.

Whist? Really?" Some friends and I learned to play that a while ago and I think it might possibly be the most boring game on earth. But I'm not good with card games, so I might be biased.

Ooh El Cid! Fun. Is he contemporary with that king Alfonso that wrote all the cool music?

EXCELLENT! I wrote it as being incredibly boring in the scene, so that's perfect!

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I am but mad north, north-east. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.