Historical Stuffs

Being a great writer and being a great historian are not exactly the same thing, barely even close. Unless you're a historical fiction writer, then it's a different story altogether. However one thing that will never serve a writer ill is a decent grasp of history. So why is that?

Well for starters let's take a look at phrase you've probably heard before, "Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it". It's quite a cheerful phrase that at first glance seems to have little to do with writing, but think about what it's saying. History follows certain patterns and if one doesn't learn what those patterns are they will end up making the same mistakes as other people who were similarly ignorant.

 Okay but what does this have to do with writing? Well let's just put it this way, history follows patterns, and those patterns don't change because human nature doesn't change. Whether you are creating a world or writing in our one, studying the patterns of human nature will always come in handy.

Thinks of it this way. Artists often study anatomy and the human form in order to draw humans more realistically. Writers similarly should study history in order to draw the human soul more realistically. Now I'm not talking about a dull and dry memorization of dates and battles, that's not going to get a writer anywhere. Instead the writer must treat history as a character study. Keep in mind, that people such as Richard Lionheart, George Washington, St Thomas Aquinas, Anne Frank and David Livingston were all real people. And Real People are the source of inspiration for our fictional characters.

Which is why, every so and so often on this blog I'll be pulling out odd historical events and talking on how they can apply to novels! And yes. It will be fun.