3 Great Resources for Writers
Last month, I traveled to Nashville to attend the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Conference where the keynote speaker was Debbie Macomber, a #1 New York Times bestselling author. While I don’t usually read Debbie’s genre, I know from my days working at the Colorado library that her books FLY off the shelves and I’ve read a couple excellent interviews with her from Writer’s Digest and other places.
Along with Debbie, there were countless authors in attendance that I have read and admire. There’s nothing quite like a going to a writers conference and meeting your favorite authors while in line, or happen to sit at the same table for meals or even spotting them in the hallway and fangirling inside.
Besides meeting favorite authors and having a fantastic keynote speaker, there were a lot of classes available for writers of all stages and I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite classes, a Historical Fiction panel led by Karen Witemeyer, Carrie Turansky, Sarah Sundin, Melanie Dobson and Rebecca DeMarino.
In this class, they answered any questions from the audience and the one question that stuck out to me the most was: What are your favorite resources? My pen blazed across the page as these wonderful authors all shared their favorite resources, which I have compiled here for your use!
3 Favorite Resources of the Greats:
- Hands-On. Meaning, you actually go to the location of your novel, but in order to get the most out of your time and your money, it is crucial to plan.
- Pick a house for your heroine to live.
- Find at least one historical restaurant for your heroine to eat.
- Visit a place your hero would go on a daily basis or somewhere special.
- Be sure to take notes on taste, touch, smell and, of course, sight while exploring!
- Go to the local museum and find out about the town’s history and while there, be brave and SPEAK to the curator for expert information and interesting tidbits that you may have missed in your research. (As a shy person myself, it takes a ridiculous amount of courage to even call an expert at the museum, but for the sake of my story, I do it.)
- Online. If you can’t physically go to the onsite location, here are some great resources:
- Pinterest: Collect your photos in one easy location to access.
- YouTube: While I have only used YouTube occasionally for a resource video, it is a great place to get expert advice from curators. Just be sure to verify they are experts though.
- Use Google for images of location. Ex: want to set a tea party in an English garden, but can’t quite picture it? Google a famous historic cottage for a picture.
3. Hardcopy Must-Have:
- The Montgomery Ward Catalogue of 1895. I ordered this one at once and it is an AMAZING resource. Wow. You want to know the price of a button or a book in 1895? Check the catalogue! You want to know the price of a harness or a writing desk? Check the catalogue. My husband laughed at how excited I was over this little gem, buuuut I was too excited to even care haha. It really is a historical fiction writer’s dream resource.
Hope you enjoy this list of resources as much as I have and seriously, if you write stories around 1895, you have to get the Montgomery Ward Catalogue. They also have “newer” ones from the 20th century.
Happy Writing!
