Timelines

There are certain events in history about which people say, “I remember exactly where I was on that day,” or “I’ll never forget what I was doing when…”  In this way, their personal timeline was lined up with a historical event.  That event overlapped into the person’s life and affected feelings, actions, and decisions.

As readers of historical fiction, we must be aware of two timelines at the same time: the personal timeline of the character and the historical timeline that is happening right along side of it.  The historical events directly influence what happens with the character.

If I think back to the Quilt Walk, I can quickly list the events that have happened to the main character, such as “Summer 1862: Emmy and her family make the long, difficult journey from Quincy, IL to Golden, CO.”

Now I’ve got to think about what is happening at the same time on a historic level.  Refer to a timeline.  Gold was found in 1848. Then in 1849, masses of people were moving west toward California in search of gold.  This time period is known historically as the Gold Rush, and the people who were after the gold were known as ‘49ers. 

I look at these events and think about how they are linked, and, more importantly, how history is impacting the character.  If we look at the dates, we can see that the Gold Rush had already happened before Emmy and her family decided to move west.  Her father had been out there previously to try to find gold but was unsuccessful.  Many people still moved west after the Gold Rush to try to profit from the prospectors.  Emmy’s father hopes to build a business block and make a new life in Golden.