For This Historical Novelist Writing About Gilded Age New York, There’s Always More Research to Be Done ‹ CrimeReads

I'm guilty. Oh, am I guilty. For anyone working in the Gilded Age, research is a marvelously effective means of procrastination. There's just so much fascinating historical minutia available from the period. Photographs, letters, dinner menus, personal diaries, and even telephone directories are all there for the perusing. I sit down to write, then convince myself that I desperately need to locate and study an antique transit map or check the newspaper headlines for a particular week. Before I know it, hours have gone by and I haven't written a word.

But even though it lowers my wordcount, I can't say I regret the time I've spent immersed in the history of Gilded Age New York City. After all, I wouldn't write in the period if I didn't love it. And it may make me a slower writer, but I also believe it's made me a better one. I'm proud of the level of historically accurate detail I include in my novels (hopefully without detracting from the story). And the research I do frequently gives me new plot ideas.