One of the advantages of writing historical fiction is that you don’t have to generate a new world from scratch, unlike, say, science fiction or fantasy genre. You can weave your characters into a ready-made reality and in so doing help to give their psychology and behaviour greater credibility. While this is in many ways a blessing it also has its downside. For Dave, of course, the task of depicting this world is pretty straight-forward, so long as he avoids language which sounds overly modern or anachronistic. For Kev, however, the task is a lot more daunting, as can be imagined with a graphic novel the size of ours, encompassing the best part of 2000 panels and a very wide range of settings. When Dave refers to a boy in a wheelchair, well, what would a wheelchair look like in the eighteenth century. In fact, did wheelchairs even exist? What does the inside of an apothecary look like? What kind of seating could you expect in an eighteenth-century theatre? Then there are kitchens, living rooms, horse-drawn carriages, ships, ports, bridges, architectural styles, food and drink, clothes, accessories, formal gardens, a menagerie and on and on. The list is never-ending. Fortunately, Kev’s into history and enjoys a challenge.
‘Casanova in Paris: The Shadows of the King’ is freely available here.
Long form articles on Casanova’s life and times are freely available here.
#behindthescenes #storytelling #graphicnovel #history
