Time after time

[blamebrampton]

Before I embark on today's chatter, anyone who has an interest in next-generation HP fic should go and read Cal's post here. It's a brilliant new plan that should be supported! And I'm not telling you about it, go and read!

Now onto a little thinky bit. It's not a rant, more a tip. I've been going back over some of the AS/S fest stories I missed, slowly slowly. And something that's occurred to me is that pretty much all of my  favourite stories  had a real sense of time to them. 

The Epilogue to DH is set in 2017. That's eight years in the future. Eight years does not sound like a ong time, but it is. Think about what life was like in 2000: I bet most of you had never heard of Osama bin Laden, the iPod was still on the drawing board, Windows 2000 was cutting-edge and Hillary Clinton was having a year of political successes. Eight years from now, things will have changed just as much.

Now it can be hard to play speculation, believe me that I know this to be true! So I understand why some people choose not to go there. But for stories set in classic HP era, or even Marauders era, why do some people not think back 10 or 20 years to what life was like, what people wore, and how people spoke?

Note that it's some. There are people out there who do an amazing job of researching or remembering their eras. For the rest, the internet is your friend. Vintage television series are easily come by (takes a brief mental pause for visions of a wave of Professionals-inspired H/D, decides that would be quite funny, moves on), and everyone has novels from the 1990s, '80s and '70s on their bookshelves.  Embrace them.

And, there's no gentle way to say this, try and research what was happening in Britain at the time. It's not what was happening in America. Well, except for the fact that Reagan and Thatcher were both making us all very nervous indeed.

Comments

[oddishly.livejournal.com]

I agree with what you've said 300%. I'm just coming to realise exactly how important general setting is in fic, to the extent that it can make or break it for me. It's not so much where and when the fic takes place, but the way it's written into the story - and in the best fics, how it's used to help tell the story. stillaseeker does this wonderfully; the sense of place that runs through all her fics is just as important to the story as characterisation and plot.

I suppose the main difficulty with time in fic comes from the fact that the books are pretty much solely set in Hogwarts: isolated in every sense of the word. We have next to no contact with either the Muggle or Wizarding worlds - outside of school, that is - or anyone past their adolescense, and neither news source (ie the Prophet/Quibbler) is particularly heavy on facts. Harry's life at the Dursleys is not exactly rife with opportunities to demonstrate quirks of the era, and the Weasleys are either too poor or too Pureblooded to be in with the latest Muggle technologies, such as they exist in the Wizarding world.

Anyway, such generalised setting/timing makes it easy to forget that you're writing about a time that isn't today but eight years ago or 17 years in the future, and to adjust for that. Unless, of course, you're going for timeless or similar - amanuensis1's 'What Could Have Been (And What Was)' springs to mind - in which case, you've got to be just as careful with your time work.

I suppose it's always therefore going to be easier to remember, if not necessarily write, the sense of time into both Marauders and Next Gen fic, because they're so obviously from another era. Of course then there's the danger of over-compensating, which brings me on to Snatched - *adds voice to Snatched!verse futuristicness love* - because you hit the balance exactly. As far as I can see the future happening, anyway, which granted is not particularly far. :) Plenty of, hmm, funky gadgetry but without turning into a dodgy sci-fi fic; news outlets developing and expanding beyond that which already exists; and the characters we've known as teenagers becoming convincing adults. (Also an important factor of the sense of time.)

I have a feeling this is sounding more like a plea for time-specific writing than time-correct writing, which isn't what I meant to do. To that end: all of what Bryoney said about clothing, I'll transfer to music choice for the characters. Admittedly, this is normally bad!fic, but setting aside the likelihood of Harry ever being particularly enthused over (Muggle!) rockstars, I always find references to music that's either 5 years old - not yet vintage - or 5 years away - not yet written! - somewhat grating. Especially on top of everything else. :) And again with what Bryoney said about inappropriate details/clutter.

I guess the most important question for me is how far wizards have integrated with Muggles in the fic, for whatever reason - and thank you JKR for providing a war over precisely that; essentially license to write Muggle relations however the hell you want to - because that's how I judge time in fic. Normally. (Snatched a good example of where I'd break with the norm!) EDIT: Muggle props/events etc, I mean, not political/cultural integration. Though that works fine as a time-has-passed technique, too.

(This had a whole lot more point to it in the scribbles in my notebook. Also, I'm basing it on numerous, thorough readings of Books 1-5 versus, er, one or two readings of the last books. Could therefore read a little... outdated. *g*)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It all makes sense! And yes, you see Muggle artefacts in canon rather than a lot of Muggle society, as I said to someone else, if it was all Ford Anglias I'd have no issuse, but it's the language and items and cliches that come from 10 years after a story is set that really annoy me.

Music is an EXCELLENT example. I am working on an R/S at the moment and the firstthing I did was decide Sirius loved Muggle music as part of his rebellion at home, so constructed lists of the albums he would buy, and how he got them. I don't imagine any of that will make it into the story, but I *know*.

And yes, the Muggle integration shifts can be excellent as a source of time reference, too!