How do you write a story set in the mid 1980s?

[SS100]

Like how do you show that the story takes place in the mid 1980s with all the values and technology of it? I'm interested in writing a mother/son or brother/sister which takes place in this time period and I'm really open to learning about how to show this.

 

[MKvDeepSea]

You could start with something like: During the late summer of 1985...Or, Bill's mother purchased a brand-new car (washing machine, new colored TV, etc.) on a cold December night in 1985... That'll set the date.

 

[Wonderer67]

Maybe references to music, movies or popular culture. Google what was popular back then.

Same for current events - pick a date and see what news and trends were big.

You can describe the fashions and social preferences of the time (big hair, trans ams, cutoff t shirts etc.

 

[Acktion]

Maybe references to music, movies or popular culture. Google what was popular back then.

Same for current events - pick a date and see what news and trends were big.

You can describe the fashions and social preferences of the time (big hair, trans ams, cutoff t shirts etc.

Pretty much exactly this.

As examples and points of discussion, I did this a few years ago.

It started with Heatstroked, the only story of mine my late wife even read, much less helped me with. And continued with Thankful, my first attempt at getting back to writing (for a little while) after her death.

The malls. Oh my God, the malls! Walkmans (as opposed to earbuds). Books instead of eReaders. A couple of specific songs and movies from the years the events were supposed to occur. Specific news items (Iran Contra and Star Wars) that were ubiquitous as well as some lesser-known items that only people specifically interested would know (first female powerlifting at Daytona beach and the encroachment of water parks into the area of the swimming pool).

What you don't want to do (at least as I understand it) is to bludgeon the reader with it. "This is here as a Rod Sterling signpost that you are in a different time!" Less is more. Just, you know, fly casual. What I mean is that unless you have a specific reason (characterization of a nerd), an 80s child isn't gonna think too much about how slow the computers were as compared to what we have now. Nor are they going to be thinking about how different many of the social mores were unless they were one of the foundation-laying activists.

It's just my thought, but I think what is more important is what you leave out. These infernal nets, for example, that are so common in our daily routine just weren't even a thing for any but the basement dwellers who were busy creating them. The only people talking to people on the other side of the world were ham operators and a few (a very few) elite MIT and Berkley ubergeeks. Long-distance was pretty much relegated to letters through the postal service since there were exorbitant fees for even calling on the phone to the next town over. So, unless you have a specific reason for the character to call attention to something, just make the substitution (cassettes rather than CDs, much less Spotify) of things that were common and then ignore them.

**shrug** I lived through it and still catch some places where I missed something, inserted a 90s anachronism, in a draft (since I haven't completely managed to shed this muse yet). If ya haven't seen it, the show Stranger Things is one of the better ones I've seen set in the 80s. and even they occasionally slip. Nothing big, really. Nothing jarring. Not the central plot points. But, the little unimportant stuff that was supposed to be just scene-setting until some rando Gunter picks it apart on their search for James Halliday's bequest.

The less you stress the scene (as opposed to characterization and plot), the less chance an anachronism will slip in.