Ten of My Favourite James Alexander Thom Quotes
Love reading? Then it’s likely you will love a good quote from your favourite author. This article covers James Alexander Thom’s Top 10 Popular and Famous Quotes that we at Australia Unwrapped have collected from some of his greatest works. James Alexander Thom quotes to remember and here you will find 10 of the best. A memorable quote can stay with you and can be used along your journey. Choosing James Alexander Thom’s top 10 quotes is not easy, but here they are:
Popular Quotes
“Once upon a time it was now.”
― James Alexander Thom, The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction
“A novel, or so-called “fiction,” if deeply researched and conscientiously written, might well contain as much truth as a high-school history textbook approved by a state board of education. But having been designated “historical fiction” by its publisher, it is presumed to be less reliably true than that textbook. If fiction were defined as “the opposite of truth,” then much of the content of many approved historical textbooks could be called “historical fiction.”
But fiction is not the opposite of truth. Fiction means “created by imagination.” And there is plenty of evidence everywhere in literature and art that imagination can get as close to truth as studious fact-finding can.”
― James Alexander Thom, The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction
“Most historical accounts were written by fallible scholars, using incomplete or biased resource materials; written through the scholars’ own conscious or unconscious predilections; published by textbook or printing companies that have a stake in maintaining a certain set of beliefs; subtly influenced by entities of government and society — national administrations, state education departments, local school boards, etcetera — that also wish to maintain certain sets of beliefs. To be blunt about it, much of the history of many countries and states is based on delusion, propaganda, misinformation, and omission.”
― James Alexander Thom, The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction
“In my long career in this historical fiction business, though, I’ve found that the most effective storytelling concept is this: Once upon a time it was now.
That has become my credo and my method as a longtime historical novelist.
It’s quite simple, if you see as Janus sees:
Today is now.
Yesterday was now.
Tomorrow will be now.
Three hundred years ago, the eighteenth century was now.
You, as a historical novelist, can make any time now by taking your reader into that time. Once you grasp that, the rest is just hard work.
Stay with me, and you’ll see how such work is done.”
― James Alexander Thom, The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction
“Some writers don’t believe they’re ready to begin writing the story until they’ve finished all the research they can think of to do — until they’re sure of everything. That’s a logical approach, of course. The more factual knowledge, the less likelihood you’ll have to throw out a lot of glorious prose when you find out that something you assumed to be true wasn’t.
But one problem with delaying your start until the research is all done is that the research is never all done.”
― James Alexander Thom, The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction
“But then he remembered what George had told him about pain. You know what you can do, even if your body says quit. It’s only pain.
“It’s only pain, he thought, hearing George’s voice and seeing his eagle-face. If anyone would know, George would, he thought. And truly, he thought, it’s the most useful one thing a body can know.”
― James Alexander Thom, From Sea to Shining Sea
“He remembered another one of his mother’s saying. It was back when she’d birthed Fanny, her tenth. Someone had siad it was about time she gave up mothering and rested. “Nay,” she had said. “I’ve started something, and now I wouldn’t stop if I could, and I couldn’t stop if I would.”
― James Alexander Thom
“you come to understand that history might be, as Thomas Carlyle put it, “a distillation of rumor,” or, as Napoleon said, “a set of lies generally agreed upon”
― James Alexander Thom, The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction
“Any marnin’ th’ good Lord lets’ee open your eyes, that’s a day he’s got somethin’ f’r ye t’ do.”
― James Alexander Thom
“May we be strong by doing what is right,”
― James Alexander Thom, Panther in the Sky
10 Famous Quotes by Author James Alexander Thom
10 quotes by James Alexander Thom there you go! It’s never an easy task picking the best quotations from great writers, so please if you disagree or have more to add, please comment and share your opinions. My 10 greatest James Alexander Thom quotes will likely be different from yours; however, that’s the best thing about them, each quote can mean something different to each person. So don’t wait, comment and shares your best James Alexander Thom Quote.
One Final Bonus – James Alexander Thom Quote
“Lucia Robson’s facts can be trusted if, say, you’re a teacher assigning her novels as supplemental reading in a history class. “Researching as meticulously as a historian is not an obligation but a necessity,” she tells me. “But I research differently from most historians. I’m looking for details of daily life of the period that might not be important to someone tightly focused on certain events and individuals. Novelists do take conscious liberties by depicting not only what people did but trying to explain why they did it.”
She adds, “I depend on the academic research of others when gathering material for my books, but I don’t think that my novels should be considered on par with the work of accredited historians. I wouldn’t recommend that historians cite historical novels as sources.”
And they sure don’t. They wouldn’t risk the scorn of their colleagues by citing novels. But, Lucia adds:
“I think historical fiction and nonfiction work well together. … I’d bet that historical novels lead more readers to check out nonfiction on the subject rather than the other way around,” she says, and then notes:
One of the wonderful ironies of writing about history is that making stuff up doesn’t mean it’s not true. And obversely, declaring something to be true doesn’t guarantee that it is. In writing about events that happened a century or more ago, no one knows what historical ‘truth’ is, because no one living today was there.
That’s right. Weren’t there. But will be, once a good historical novelist puts us there.”
― James Alexander Thom, The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction
