Hey friends, I wonder if you know some tricks if you want your vocabulary in a specif area like architecture or fashion. I want to improve my descriptions specifically in historic settings, Does anybody some good ressources for such stuff? Thanks in advance!
I'd recommend reading books (fiction or non-fiction) that cover those areas. But be careful; if you delve too deep, you might end up with a vocabulary that contains words so specialist that most people don't recognise them.
Another take is, if it's only a fleeting visit into a niche subject, to consult someone in the field. You'd be amazed how helpful some folk can be when asked about their passion. I've gotten quite a rundown on plough use in the Midlands before mechanisation, and chapter + verse (by a bonafide show pilot no less) on how to steal a WWII aircraft.
You should watch documentaries related to that particular subject. For example, I have watched many National Geographic and Smithsonian documentaries about nature and I've learned many useful vocabularies in that context. There are many documentaries about architecture and in them you would learn words like "aesthetically pleasing" or "architecturally flamboyant". Try this one to expand your vocabulary about architecture and building design: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3864582/
Research. I had no idea about nautical terminology.... Fashion of a certain time period..... Or weapons (a gun is a gun, to me). I looked up nautical manuals, historical fashion journals, and the encyclopedia of fire arms for terminology.
Wikipedia is a surprising trove of vocabulary. Hit up a relevant page and surf on. Take this quote from the renaissance architecture page ... not even the details, but from the summary:
I suppose it's dependent upon your inherent learning style, I remember something about it being taught in school at one point. Some learn through doing and others do through watching/being tutored or studying/repeatedly revising etc. I like making handwritten notes that are colour coded from written sources, it satisfies me. Each to their own. Everyone learns in their own way. If you put time into the presentation of handwritten notes, I feel like the slow pace ensures you absorb information to a greater extent. I was researching specific species of animals whilst writing my second novel and ended up knowledgeable about every stage of flea metamorphosis. It took a very long time, then I decided to finish editing my first story. There's a big difference between using a terminology as baseline description compared to moulding your research capably into a storyline. But I suppose with specific aims a setting will be easier to create than a storyline humanising parasites into communicative entities worthy of empathy. Wikipedia leads you down rabbit holes. It's good to find one website at a time that's reputable and absolutely comprehensive, depending upon your ambitions. Sorry for the rambling!
