: Re: If my story is about fandom around 1920, how necessary is slang to convey the feel of fan conversation? My idea for a novel about baseball is simple. This story is about being a baseball

@Murray165

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This is a common problem for period writing. You are writing about 1920, so your only problem is a slang. Imagine if the English itself was different in your period.

You will need to strike a balance between linguistic accuracy and readability. Fiction writers usually prefer readability over accuracy, because most of their readers prefer that too. So, you cherry pick a few slang terms and use them throughout your book, giving it certain "flavor". You do need to explain those terms, though, and using too many may distract some readers.

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