Encountering the diction fairy
And what exactly is a diction fairy, you might ask? And how does the diction fairy differ from a good, old-fashioned dictionary?
The use of appropriate diction in The Brantford Wagers and other regency stories helps immerse the reader into a setting that feels like an authentic replication of early 19th century society. You may have read my first blog entry titled “The old book in the attic ploy.” My hope is that readers experience the feeling that they have been transported back to an earlier time.
One of the ways to achieve this, without resorting to the use of fully out-of-date language, is to sprinkle in period language structure and diction of the time and avoid the use of modern terms. What did words mean? How were they used? Which words from the current time period were also widely in use in the early 1800s? And how does one go about determining and checking these things?
Besides heavy use of the etymology search function online, I think it calls for one’s very own word wizard team – friends with expertise on whom we can faithfully rely for input – and, over time, the development of one’s own diction fairy, that highly resourceful, witty, imaginary being who scours the manuscript for words to tweak and cull.
During the pre-publication period, a professional reviewer, thankfully, flagged the use of the word “okay” in the story as an example of where my diction had faltered. For those who read historical fiction, this is almost like a code word to express that some inappropriate modern words were in use in the story. Fortunately, I had enough time (and fortitude, let me add, as it takes energy to edit again just before going to print) to correct what I hope to be most of my errors in diction. This reviewer, fortunately for me, introduced me to the notion that I could use, for lack of a better term, my own diction fairy.
Let me share a little fun with you on this topic. I’ve provided two short lists below with words and expressions. See what you think of these examples – were the words and phrases in these lists likely to be in use in 1813, the opening year of my story, or not?
Words: all right, backdrop, breakneck, broadcast, chesterfield, chocolate, culture, fireworks, industrial, notebook, okay, repast, smug, tidbits, tiff, vehicle, and yard.
Phrases: tide over, out from under, attention of the house, buzz of conversation, lashing out, for the life of me, and I can handle it.
After close review, I replaced these words in grey ink as being too modern for the period: all right, backdrop, chesterfield (the chesterfield design was in use, but it was not yet named as a Chesterfield), chocolates (the word was in use for hot chocolate drinks, but not yet as in the meaning of a box of chocolates), culture, industrial, okay, yard (the word was in use but not yet as a residential yard); and I kept breakneck, broadcast, fireworks, notebook, repast, smug, tidbits, tiff, and vehicle.
From the list of phrases, I removed getting out from under, attention of the house, lashing out (it was in use but it overstated the intended emotion) and I kept tide over, buzz of conversation, for the life of me, and I can handle it.
There were some words that I debated which version to use – my use of ridicule over reticule is an example. I think readers may be more familiar with reticule as the name for a women’s small purse. My research indicated that ridicule was likely the word more in use in the Regency period. Reticule seems to have been introduced a bit later as the purses became larger. I decided to use the earlier word and hope this doesn’t cause confusion for readers.
In writing historical fiction, it takes an ongoing learning process to represent the nuances of the words in the era in which they were used. I certainly plan to rely on the experience of others, like the skilled professional reviewer who offered valuable feedback. And, eventually, I will create my own personal diction fairy to help convey the pattern and rhythm of period language.
