Image courtesy of Phil_Bird at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
A Post About Anachronism by David B. Coe is over at Magical Words. You know I had to be all over that one.
Anachronism is something out of time, such as my linen aprons with drawn thread embroidery circa 1530 being worked on 2019.
Mr. Coe warns about bringing anachronisms into a fantasy piece, which will throw a reader out of the story. The areas he focused on are worldbuilding, language, and dialogue. I’ve talked about this sort of thing before, mainly in Editing Rants complaining about fact-checking; Mr. Coe discusses it from the creative standpoint from inconsistent technology levels and POV observational limitations. Take a gander at it. (“Take a gander” being an early 20th century phrase and should not be in a fantasy, an example of anachronistic language.)
Again, the link is:
This post can also be found at Mr. Coe’s website: https://davidbcoe.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/a-post-about-anachronism/