#WritersCoffeeClub Apr. 13 – What do you borrow from other fiction (or nonfiction!) genres?

Though I write more #historicalFiction now, I like to borrow from the #fantasy tropes I grew up reading (and writing, mostly as fanfic), creating a sense of mystery and otherness by playing up how different and even alien these people and places can feel. It's been said the past is a different country, so why not a different world?

The past makes this easy by being really weird, what with ritual and magic (exorcising sickness demons with peach branches, praying to trees), surprising facts (a form of Levirate marriage was practiced in ancient Korea, with a widow remarrying her late husband's younger brother), and even unexpected familiarity (a medieval poet celebrating a gay love affair in verse). These devices can give stories set in the past crossover appeal, informing readers about history through emotional and sensory resonance.