Our three winners on the Harlequin Historicals Silk & Scandal posts are–Kirsten, Barbara E, and Louisa Cornell! Please send us your snail mail info at Riskies AT yahoo.com, and thanks for visiting!
Our three winners on the Harlequin Historicals Silk & Scandal posts are–Kirsten, Barbara E, and Louisa Cornell! Please send us your snail mail info at Riskies AT yahoo.com, and thanks for visiting!
As our and future generations dive further into the electronic technological age, some folks worry that good grammar, spelling, etc. will suffer.
And yes, it is true that 1 is frced to shrtn cert. wds in order to fit them into Twitter or a text.
But as long as there are writers, there will be attention to writing’s form.
And one thing I am Very Fond of is Random Capitalization. I use it in my own writing, particularly the humorous Regency-set stuff I write (I just finished one project this week, woot!). I believe I first encountered it in reading P.G. Wodehouse and Georgette Heyer; I’m not sure if the latter intended to Make a Point with her capitalization, but I know the former did. Wodehouse was excruciatingly particular when it came to his writing, including the capitalization.
I love it. It makes a normal sentence POP and SHINE, and really adds a dry wit (my favorite kind!) to the prose.
Capitalization is used in SF/F as well, only it’s not Random; it usually signifies a specific place (like Chaos in Meljean Brook‘s Demon series, or idea that is particular to the book, and of course I can’t think of an example, only I know they’re out there).
But when applied with a deft touch, and to Make a Point? Sublime perfection. And if authors and readers appreciate it–and other nuances of writing–I don’t think we’ll have to worry too much about how our language is getting degraded. It’s changing, for sure, but that’s not necessarily a Bad Thing.
Do you have a new favorite thing to write, read or say? What’s the best and worst part about new ways of communication?
Inspired by discussion on various loops and at History Hoydens…
The London residence of the Duke of S– was raided by the Regency Police and a large number of items, including a quantity of white powder in the kitchen, was seized. The Duke is subject to various offenses covered by the Regency Anachronism Act.
Mayfair, London
Sirs,
I wish to complain about the recent Regency Police raid on my property. My household is in an uproar and I have scarcely been able to escape to my usual dens of vice for entertainment. I wish to know the whereabouts of various items of clothing and, frankly, since the baking powder and whiskey were seized, breakfasts have been hell.
My mistress skulks around the house, furious that her red silk nightgown and her gown with the tiny buttons down the back, both of which we enjoyed immensely, have been taken. I am immensely distressed that, barring extraordinary circumstances and an appeal to the courts, I cannot propose marriage to her, which I wish to do following more mutual psychological torture to prove that I am indeed worthy of her.
My housemaid, who has lost the prestige of opening the front door wearing a black silk gown and white cap, skulks downstairs in her shift. Furthermore, my formerly doddering butler, who had forty years lopped off his age, seems more interested in exploring the fleshpots of London than attending to household duties.
On the other hand I must commend the police for removing all of my skintight breeches which means that for the first time in years I can sit when clothed, and do not split them every time I ride. You need not return these, or the implement (the “can opener”) which was necessary to their removal. My thanks also for reminding me that there is a war on, and I believe I have some younger brothers involved therein; also for the reminder that if they return pathetically scarred in mind and body, my fraternal advice will be to get over it.
The business of the shirts, however, is problematic. Since they all opened the wrong way, to my astonishment, and naturally I own no nightshirts, I am to all intents completely unclothed in my house. Despite assurance that I am now properly heroic, I find the continual attentions of my mistress exhausting. Following your advice, I am applying lemon juice daily to remove the tan and allowing my chest hair to grow back.
I remain, sirs, your most obdt. servt.,
Slut
What else did the Regency Police seize?
A Damned Good Contest continues; enter to win Jane and the Damned stuff!
OK, so I had this crazy idea and I’m going to try it out on you guys.
I’m going to cobble together a brief Regency-set story using (practically) nothing but the comments to this post, which story I will post next Wednesday unless the whole thing turns out to be an embarrassing fiasco, in which case I will um … do something else unless they kick me out of the Riskies for having dumb ideas and then carrying them out.
By which I mean, you-all will have written the story whilst I do the cobbling and rearranging of your Regency Group Write sentences.
So, a few parameters (watch out! I’m making this up as I write!).
- The hero’s name is Colin Exeter-Smith, the Duke of Hartley. He is 27, unmarried and looks EXACTLY like Alexander Skarsgard, only possibly he is not a vampire. His close friends and enemies call him Hartless.
- The heroine’s name is Jessica Darby. She is 24, plays the piano and is a mathematical genius who hates cooked carrots. Her friends call her Darby.
- The hero’s best friend is William FitzAndrew, 28, the earl of Featherlock.
- The heroine’s best friend is Sally Elizabeth, 23
- There is a dog named Fred.
- The antagonist is Sir Waverly Scott, 30 and he may well be sequel bait.
- There is a mysterious castle
Choose from the following for your comment. Please limit yourself to 1-2 sentences per response. You can leave more than one comment, or put in the same comment if you want, just make it clear there’s more than one.
Go.
Last weekend, I spent some time digging through my Big Research Box, looking for info for the RomCon workshop I’ll be taking part in at Denver in a couple weeks (“Stripping the Heroine,” all about what the historical heroine would be wearing!). My Big Research Box is, well, just what it sounds like–a big plastic storage tub with folders holding notes and articles and inspirational images. I try to be organized and divide them up by era and subject, i.e. “Regency–Architecture” or “Elizabethan–Music,” but often I get lazy and stuff things in wherever there’s room. So there was info on Regency fashion in several folders, and hours had gone by before I knew it!
It made me think about the importance of fashion and style to character and story. Even when I don’t describe what characters are wearing in a scene or what they have in their armoire, I can see them in my mind. What people choose to wear says so much about them–whether they know it or not. (One of my favorite style blogs, formerly-known-as-Project Rungay, have been doing an in-depth study of the costumes on Mad Men and how they delineate a character’s progress and state of mind. Great stuff!)
I also thought of this recently when I saw a great exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, “From Sketch to Screen,” featuring a lovely selection of film costumes, from an elaborate court dress worn by Greta Garbo in Queen Christina and a white Givenchy suit worn by Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face, to superhero outfits from X-Men and Superman, it covers a wide spectrum. This concept of costume=characters is, of course, totally vital in a visual medium like film. Here are just a few of the costumes that were there (photos weren’t allowed so these are just movie stills; there are a few pics of the exhibit itself at the museum’s site):
This purple gown from Elizabeth: The Golden Age
This little beaded leotard from Moulin Rouge (plus the hat and shoes!)
This dinner gown from Titanic (even more gorgeous in person! They also had the blue velvet suit)
Three costumes from Gone With the Wind, including this one (though they are reproductions; the originals didn’t survive)
The famous green dress from Atonement, one of my favorites! (It wasn’t displayed very well, though, at least not for people who want to see details of design! The straps are too fragile for a mannequin so it was just sort of pooled in a little glass case with only the bodice able to be seen clearly. I wish it had been laid out full-length)
Some sparkly jumpsuits from Mamma Mia!
One of Renee Zellwegger’s sequined dresses from Chicago
Two of the little sailor suits from The Sound of Music (so wee and cute!)
The white furred cloak Vanessa Redgrave wore on her way to Camelot
You can see how clearly these costumes represent the characters wearing them (and not just how annoyingly skinny Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett are!). Elizabeth I, Rose from Titanic, Guinevere, Scarlett, Cecelia from Atonement, are all right there in these garments, wrapped up in lace, beads, and silk. I found it to be a very helpful lesson in my own search for my characters. (And even though I would have loved to see a Regency movie included in the selection, I also liked the variety!)
What are your favorite movie costumes, or memorable clothes read about in a book? (I always think of Villiars in Judith Ivory’s Untie My Heart and the scene in the bank–that has to be the sexiest coat ever!). What do you think clothes say about characters?
(And if you’re in Oklahoma City before August, I highly recommend a look at this exhibit!)