I'm currently editing my novel and I've realised that as a matter of course I always contract did not to didn't, would not to wouldn't etc etc. This is partly because this is how I write, but also because I regularly read my work aloud and to spell out the uncontracted forms sounds stilted and artificial.

However, my novel is a historical piece set in the mid 19thc and I am aware that such contractions were not then present in formal speech or writing. While I have made some effort to adjust the dialogue of those characters who would never have made contractions, I am not attempting to write a pastiche, and I am wondering about the narrative. Should I eliminate all contractions from it? *thinks of effect on word count and blenches*

I'd welcome everyone's advice because this is driving me bananas.

Cas

This is a tricky one, Cas. I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer as I don’t write historical fiction. My instinct would be to use contractions in the narrative but not in the dialogue – or only sparingly.

Only other suggestion I can make is to study a few published novel set in the same era and see how they do it.

Good luck.

Dee.

Thanks, Dee.

My inclincation is to leave the contractions in the narrative too. I have looked at a few historical novels, and it seems to vary, depending on the style of the writer.

It's something I need to think about, because I need to be consistent. *sigh*

Cas