Historical Writing Category
The Writer’s Guide to Women in Combat
Posted on February 25, 2022 3 Comments
Writers have had a fascination with women warriors for centuries. The ancient Greeks wrote about the Amazons, a fierce tribe of female fighters. The main event in many Roman gladiatorial games were the gladiatrices, female gladiators. In our modern stories, we have quite the league of combat heroines, such as Eowyn, Arya, Katniss, and Wonder […]
Writer’s Deep Dive: Horse Bits
Posted on February 18, 2022 1 Comment
Most people know that the primary way that a horse is steered is by using a bit. However, there is a lot more to it. Now, let’s dive in! The Basics First, the bit is not the only way a rider communicates with their horse. Weight shifts, leg cues, verbal commands, and sometimes whip cues […]
The Writer’s Guide to Ecclesiastical Titles
Posted on February 11, 2022 6 Comments
Besides royalty and nobility, members of the clergy also have a rich history of titles and forms of address. Since religion, especially Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, played such a large part in European society throughout much of history, it is important for a writer who is setting their story in this period or one drawing […]
The Writer’s Guide to Noble Titles
Posted on January 28, 2022 110 Comments
Today I will cover the titles and forms of address for members of the nobility. Collectively, the nobles of a country or kingdom are known as the peerage. There was a strict pecking order within the peerage during much of European history and it still exists in a form today in the United Kingdom and […]
Writer’s Deep Dive: Aiming a Bow
Posted on January 21, 2022 3 Comments
Bows show up a lot in books, from Robin Hood to Katniss Everdeen. Of course, one of the keys to being a good archer is hitting what you’re aiming at. Unfortunately, unless you have shot a traditional bow, most people do not know what that involves. Let’s dive in! The Basics There are two schools […]
The Writer’s Guide to Royal Titles
Posted on January 14, 2022 7 Comments
Fantasy writers have a love affair with royalty, with kings, queens, and princes littered across the genre. Yet royals and nobles appear in other genres as well, such as science fiction. But unless you interact with a real royal court or a group playing one at your local Renaissance faire or SCA event, most writers […]
Writer’s Deep Dive: 18th Century Pockets
Posted on January 7, 2022 26 Comments
For the past 17 months I have been putting out Writer’s Guides in an attempt to provide writers with accurate information. However, I have received several requests to do a deeper dive into my topics. Starting this year, I will be putting out Writer’s Deep Dives every other week. However, I will continue to put […]
The Writer’s Guide to Castle Myths
Posted on December 17, 2021 6 Comments
Over the last five weeks, I’ve been providing information to give you a basic understanding of castles. Today, we are tackling the most common myths. Since castles are popular, they are depicted a lot in movies, TV shows, video games, and books. But there are several things that are often shown incorrectly. As always, magic […]
The Writer’s Guide to Siege Engines
Posted on December 10, 2021 7 Comments
Besieging a castle or a city inherently has a great amount of built-in tension that a writer can use to fantastic effect. If you want to read besieging a castle, I recommend my last article, The Writer’s Guide to Besieging a Castle. Today, we are focusing on siege engines, a general term that includes catapults, […]
The Writer’s Guide to Besieging a Castle
Posted on December 3, 2021 51 Comments
Even though castles could be easily avoided by an invading force, it was often a bad idea. Attacks could be launched from them, with the soldiers retreating to their safety. During much of medieval Europe, if you wanted to take territory you had to deal with the castle of its king or lord. This usually […]
Rebecca Shedd - Author 