Writing Tip #5 Anachronisms

Anachronisms (especially in language) 

What is an anachronism? 

Simply, it is something that is out of place for the time and/or place that it is occurring in. 

In literature, this most predominantly affects historical fiction. It can occur in many forms, such as a piece of technology or type of medicine appearing in a story set two years before such a thing was discovered in real life. It can be the usage of calling Russia “Russia” in a story set during the country’s time as the USSR. It could be setting your story in 1954 in the US and failing to acknowledge that segregation was still in effect. It could be your character mentioning that she saw a Siberian Tiger while in India. It could even be as slight as using slang that wasn’t popularized yet during the time period of your novel, or not regionally correct. (If your story takes place in the Southern US, your characters should probably be saying “y’all” not “you guys” and if it’s set in the UK, you should be saying “chips” not “fries.”) 

The thing about anachronisms is that these are sometimes hard flaws in your writing to find. At best, little nuisances aren’t anything that necessarily weaken the quality of your story itself—an anachronistic story can still be fantastic—but they do irk a lot of readers. Personally, I couldn’t get over Rebecca Yarros’ use of the slang term “freaking” in the popular fantasy novel Fourth Wing. The inclusion of such modern slang in a novel not set in the modern 21st century grated on me every time it occurred. It didn’t hurt the quality of the story, but I detested it, nonetheless. 

At worst, however, bigger anachronisms can harm your credibility as an author. If you’ve set your story in 1850 and don’t know the social norms, laws, major religious practices, technological advances, and slang from that time period, critics are going to say that your historical fiction piece doesn’t really feel like it belongs in the place it’s set in, even if the plot is immaculate, and you—the author—will catch the flack for that. That’s why it’s best to research the setting of your story before embarking on something that is set in a time gone by. Obviously everything won’t sound truly authentic a lot of the time—none of us were alive in the 1800s to know for absolute certain—but you should still do your best to make it as genuine as you can. And when it really comes down to it, if you can’t nail down the cultural aspects of a certain time and place well enough, you probably need to reconsider if it’s your strongest card to write a story set there. You might excel somewhere else better. 

So what about, say, fantasy books that aren’t set in a real place or time period? It’s impossible for them to have anachronisms right?

Yes and no. 

If you’re setting a story in your own made up universe, then obviously you get to decide what the culture is like, the laws, the social norms, slang, the flora and fauna that exist in its climate, etc. As long as you can keep track of your own lore, it won’t be anachronistic. But the trick is keeping track of it all. If you can’t keep track of the climates of all these made up kingdoms you created, you might end up like George R.R. Martin, and half your fanbase will be questioning if lemon trees can actually grow in Braavos when it’s a sea-faring climate. 

As far as dialogue and wording goes, I mentioned disliking the usage of modern slang like “freaking” in Fourth Wing. Granted, Fourth Wing is set in its own universe, not the real world, there’s no specific rule that says the word “freaking” can’t be slang in this universe. But my reason for disliking it is because it gives a book not set specifically in the 21st century and very 21st century-esque feel to it. 

Obviously if you’re writing a book that takes place in 2023, you shouldn’t shy away from using modern colloquialisms and slang from 2023. Yes, in ten or twenty years it will date the book and the slang will be obsolete. But since it’s meant to take place in the year of 2023, it will reinforce the setting (time and place) for future readers. The same principle applies when reading historical novels that were written in the 1800s. The way the characters talk may be dated now, but it reinforces the time period the book takes place in, as well as when it was written. 

When writing a book (particularly a fantasy) that takes place in a universe outside of our own, one of the benefits is not being constrained by the culture, customs, and languages of any particular existing time period. This is why it could maybe be considered a soft anachronism to include anything that is very specifically tied to a very real period in time (Rebecca Yarros, I’m looking at you). So while anything is possible, and I suppose the saying “horny on main” could exist in the universe you’re writing, it’s hard to separate that phrase itself from feeling very 2023-ish. And it may put off readers (especially future readers, when the verbiage stops being relevant) because it feels like they’re reading something set in the 21st century when they aren’t. You’re just dating your own writing by making it sound that way, not cementing the time period of your story. The same principal applies to old slang too, not just modern slang. You wouldn’t catch a fantasy novel using the phrase “putting on the ritz” would you? No, because it makes it feel like the story takes place in 1950. So you should probably reconsider the modern slang and keep it more neutral (to the best of your ability) as far as dated expressions go, to keep a story that exists outside our timeline feeling like it exists outside our timeline. Some authors accomplish this by creating their own slang terminology specific to their universe for the characters to use. You can’t date something that never existed in our history!

Obviously there are exceptions to every rule. Sometimes “medieval fantasies” (or fantasies that are technically set in their own worlds but are meant to play off the dark ages) will use similar language to that real time period in history to evoke that sort of feeling in readers’ minds. Young adult or children’s fantasies may also rely more heavily on modern language to make the stories feel more accessible to younger readers. 

The biggest exception to these general rules is to keep book readable to the audience of your time period. Obviously hundreds of years ago, the word “thou” was being used quite frequently. But I wouldn’t expect a 21st century author writing a historical piece to start throwing in thous, even though it’s historically accurate to do so, because this is not longer a function of modern English. Most people don’t event know the grammatical rules to use “thou” pronouns consistently, and it would make the work quite difficult for current readers to comprehend. So, you can skip thou-ing for historical accuracy. 

And if you really, really feel that having a 21st century vibe is what your high fantasy universe requires, then go ahead. You created this world, you know better than I do what works in it. Just keep track of where the lemon trees grow.