Artistic license: thoughts?

[analect]

All righty... in the interests of leaving some discussion open for those who want it, I have a question. How far do you take artistic license when dealing with something in a fictional context, and how much knowledge - either of the thing itself, or in terms of acknowledgement of the license you're taking - do you expect your audience to have?

I'm sure we all have different approaches here, so I'm curious.

As a kick-off point, I recently posted a story of mine that's been kicking around for a while to my journal. The Red Man is a horror short that involves references to Celtic druidism [click to read]. Though I researched a bit for the story, I don't know a lot about either historical or modern practice - however, I do have a few druid friends.

Their religious/philosophical slant is very different to the angle the story explores (notions of Awen and bardic tradition, while awesome, are not terribly horrific). So I guess you could say, here, I've taken the same kind of artistic license that The Wicker Man (the proper film; let's pretend the 2006 remake never happened) took with ideas of preserved pagan practice; i.e., it could have happened that way.

Is this something you do with different ideas? Or are you a stickler for realism and research? Does artistic license always (or ever) mean pandering to stereotypes, or is it a useful tool for playing 'what-if' with?

Comments

[fannyfae]

I will draw from a great number of sources, both from historical, real life and other fictional or mythological inspiration. I really like things to be rooted at least believably in history in order to make the reader ask themselves, "what if it really did happen closer to this?"

This is especially true with pieces I write set in antiquity, particularly Ancient Egypt. I have very solid background in the study because of my own independent work and the work of a family member and friends who are professional egyptologists at the university level. Take it for granted that some of us have spent decades studying the language and culture, so if you're full of it, you won't be able to fake it. Sorry.

From this, I believe, is my biggest pet peeve and that is just plain sloppy scholarship and applying certain judgements and modern day morality to a completely different culture and mindset. It's one thing to ask the reader to suspend disbelief and then tell them a good story for the favour they have granted. It's another thing entirely to insult their intelligence and assume no one is going to know the difference from when you actually did the research or just "channeled it". ;))

[analect]

Oooh! Egyptology! And welcome!
No, that sounds really interesting. I've had a thing on the backburner for about two years that I wanted to do based off some of the material in the Leyden papyrus, and haven't got around to doing enough research for yet.

Absolutely - it's that modern mindset thing that really annoys me. It's not just anachronistic, it's a fundamental misunderstanding of the time and people you're working with... and there does seem to be a lot of it about.

[fannyfae]

Thank you for the very warm welcome. :)
Leyden Papyrus! Sounds fascinating! That is my area of personal interest and study - AE medicine with an emphasis on the herbalism, etc. I would love to read some of what you have written. :)

Have you ever read anything by Pauline Gedge? To me she is the is the Gold Standard in the fictional realm of Ancient Egypt and her research is impeccable.

A co-writer of mine and I are actually putting together a writer's guide for ancient Egypt. There seems to be plenty of interest, but I think that sometimes bad research materials and previously published and poorly researched works cloud things up a bit.

I read this horribly written paranormal romance that dealt with Ninja trained vampires teaming up with buff Fallen Angels inhip hugging Levis. I didn't know whether to fling the book across the room or fall out of my chair laughing! ;)

[analect]

Ninja vampires and... oh, dear. Yes. o_O
I usually try to go with the laughing. I suspect it's better for me.

I haven't read Pauline Gedge (yet), but I will definitely check the books out! Thanks for that. And oooooh yes! If you would take a look - once I'm a bit nearer actually having something readable properly beaten out of my notes - I would be very, very grateful.

At the moment, it's a case of knowing what I want to incorporate, but trying to find the time to blindly absorb enough to understand how it's all going to come together. Nebulous is not the word!

The writer's guide sounds like a fabulous idea. Definitely, it's one of those areas where *good* research material is hard to come by, as well as accessible information on aspects of daily life and culture. Sounds promising!