Revamping a Highwayman themed story

[Betty_Rage]

So one of the very first things I ever posted here was a very short (as in 1 lit page) Highwayman tale, there were a lot of things I liked about it, but I ended up deleting it because the comments/messages I was getting were people saying it was a good non-con/dub-con story and that wasn't at all what I was trying to do.*

Anyway. I want to rework this story into something I'll actually feel good about and expand it into something that's more of a story than a scene. So what I'd love some input from other people on is:

- What category do you think would suit a highwayman themed story? (Where do people post pirate stories? I don't bump into them much!)

- Would you rather read a story like this from the perspective of the highwayman or the damsel?

- Do you find anti-heroes who are good deep down a bit obvious or annoying?

- Same as above for helpless maidens turned improbable badasses.

- Does it bother you when stories aren't historically accurate?

I may well still suit myself in spite of the answers here, but at the moment my head is full of fog and I think this will help un-wooly it!

*(All of those commenters were correct btw, I meant it to have a charged D/s power dynamic for sure, but was basically in denial about what a protagonist waving a gun about would feel like for a reader. "Stand and deliver your body or your life" felt campy and tongue in cheek to me, but like, is plainly not going to read that way if the rest of your story feels like a historical drama. It's the biggest learning experience I've had writing on this site by far.)

Thanks in Advance, Betty X

 

[AlinaX]

I had fun with this in my Bellway series:

"Unhand me, sir," I cried. "I'm a maid!" But my protestation earned me only laughter and a brutal kiss. His breath stank of apple and onion, and his beard of mud and sweat, and it so distracted me that his hand was between my thighs before I realised it. "Stop!" I begged him, though my legs parted as if with a will of their own.

Non-con, yes, but also fun.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

First, write it for yourself. Once you have it written, then decide where you think it should go. Nobody ever erected a statue in honour of a critic.

Highwayman tales could, I think, be of almost any flavour. Non-Con certainly works. There were definitely female highwaycritters, so Lesbian would work. Ditto gay male. I could easily see it being Romance or Erotic Couplings or even Group Sex. Heck, they all work, depending on your skill and aim.

POV? In my case, I would prefer the damsel’s, but would rather have a well-written tale from his POV than a lame one from hers.

Personally, I prefer at least some attempt at historical accuracy. On the other hand, the dashing, bold highwayman with ‘a French cocked hat on his forehead and a bunch of lace at his chin’ is pretty much a myth. Many were thugs and many were dead drunk from start to finish.

Good luck.

 

[bettiezyx]

Julie d'Aubigny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QaBYLAOaSY

 

[SisterJezabel]

First, write it for yourself. Once you have it written, then decide where you think it should go. Nobody ever erected a statue in honour of a critic.

Highwayman tales could, I think, be of almost any flavour. Non-Con certainly works. There were definitely female highwaycritters, so Lesbian would work. Ditto gay male. I could easily see it being Romance or Erotic Couplings or even Group Sex. Heck, they all work, depending on your skill and aim.

POV? In my case, I would prefer the damsel’s, but would rather have a well-written tale from his POV than a lame one from hers.

Personally, I prefer at least some attempt at historical accuracy. On the other hand, the dashing, bold highwayman with ‘a French cocked hat on his forehead and a bunch of lace at his chin’ is pretty much a myth. Many were thugs and many were dead drunk from start to finish.

Good luck.

As always top advice from TP. I often find stories written by men from a female POV jarring, but don't seem to have the issue with women writing from a bloke's POV.

 

[Thefireflies]

In Australia we over-romanticise our highwaymen, our ‘Bushrangers’, despite them being violent armed robbers. BUT, there was one such infamous bushranger, Ben Hall, who with his gang, held up a small town in central New South Wales (Canowindra), locking the police in their own cells and treating the townsfolk and visitors to drinks, blankets and entertainment in the local pub for several days. Story goes they reimbursed the publican, paying all the expenses of their hostages. They did this to embarrass the police.

I’ve thought this would make a great historical fiction (and I personally like my historical fiction as accurate as can be, but liberties with the inconsequential details is fine...you know, because maybe everyone was drunk and can't remember what exactly happened ), thus imagining boisterous activities that may or may not have ensued. After all, if the bushrangers were charming enough, perhaps there was an opportunity some romance.

The scenario could be adopted in a Robin Hood-esque tale (there’s an idea for you Betty, since you’ve already written so well of an archer!).

But do your anti-heroes have to be good deep down, or perhaps just relatable? I personally think relatable is more important.

Oh, and there were a couple of women who turned to the bushranging life, so having a maiden turn to highway robbery might be a fun idea to explore! I’ve read women have joined armies of old, disguised as men (for example, Joan of Arc), so why not have a woman who disguises herself as a highwayman…a noble woman perhaps, getting her kicks from thieving, and maybe she takes a liking to a handsome hostage of hers? Or something like that

Then there was bushranger Captain Moonlight, who was, by all accounts, in a romantic relationship with one of his gang members, James Nesbitt. While waiting in prison to be executed, Captain Moonlight wrote deeply moving letters to his ‘…Dearest Jim’, and was heartbroken when his friend was shot dead by police. Then when he himself was sentenced to death, Moonlight expressed a desire to be buried with his lover. Now that might make a great romantic historical fiction if someone were to adapt it!

Just a quick edit, reading the Wikipedia article on Captain Moonlight, apparently Nesbitt was shot in an attempt to lead the police away from Moonlight, and according to the newspaper reports at the time, Scott (Moonlight) openly wept at the loss of his dearest and closest companion. As Nesbitt lay dying, ‘his leader wept over him like a child, laid his head upon his breast, and kissed him passionately’.
If there was ever a highway robbery romance needing to be told, it’s that one!

(sorry Betty, I hope I haven't hijacked your thread!)

 

[bettiezyx]

Bushrangers..good point! Another famous one is: Ned Kelly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1WmidFwFzY

 

[Thefireflies]

Bushrangers..good point! Another famous one is: Ned Kelly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1WmidFwFzY

I’ve never found Ned endearing and can’t find much romance about his story, though he (debatably) made a few good points in pointing out the corruption of the system. That YouTube cartoon was cute though! I love how they portrayed bushranger Harry Power.

 

[Betty_Rage]

I had fun with this in my Bellway series:

"Unhand me, sir," I cried. "I'm a maid!" But my protestation earned me only laughter and a brutal kiss. His breath stank of apple and onion, and his beard of mud and sweat, and it so distracted me that his hand was between my thighs before I realised it. "Stop!" I begged him, though my legs parted as if with a will of their own.

Non-con, yes, but also fun.

Thank you for sharing, I'll be certain to give it a read. I avoid non-con generally, but the "apple and onion" part is such an interesting detail that I think there's a good chance I'll enjoy your writing style.

 

[Betty_Rage]

First, write it for yourself. Once you have it written, then decide where you think it should go. Nobody ever erected a statue in honour of a critic.

Highwayman tales could, I think, be of almost any flavour. Non-Con certainly works. There were definitely female highwaycritters, so Lesbian would work. Ditto gay male. I could easily see it being Romance or Erotic Couplings or even Group Sex. Heck, they all work, depending on your skill and aim.

POV? In my case, I would prefer the damsel’s, but would rather have a well-written tale from his POV than a lame one from hers.

Personally, I prefer at least some attempt at historical accuracy. On the other hand, the dashing, bold highwayman with ‘a French cocked hat on his forehead and a bunch of lace at his chin’ is pretty much a myth. Many were thugs and many were dead drunk from start to finish.

Good luck.

Thank you so much for this answer. You're right of course that writing for yourself should be the first priority, but I find a bit of feedback helps grease the wheels. =)

I hadn't given a lesbian coupling too much thought for this one, but yes that would be delightful!

 

[Betty_Rage]

Bushrangers..good point! Another famous one is: Ned Kelly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1WmidFwFzY

Thank you for the links! I hadn't heard of either of these figures so that's an exciting couple of rabbit holes to tumble down!

 

[Betty_Rage]

As always top advice from TP. I often find stories written by men from a female POV jarring, but don't seem to have the issue with women writing from a bloke's POV.

Yes this is so interesting! I fully expected when I posted my first male POV story that I would get a stack of comments expressing frustration that the voice wasn't convincing, or was otherwise unbelievable; but no one mentioned it at all.

 

[Betty_Rage]

Would you rather read a story like this from the perspective of the highwayman or the damsel?

The perspective of the damsel

- Do you find anti-heroes who are good deep down a bit obvious or annoying?

Annoying

- Same as above for helpless maidens turned improbable badasses.
Yes a thousand times yes

- Does it bother you when stories aren't historically accurate?

Yes it does

Succinct answers, thank you.

 

[Betty_Rage]

In Australia we over-romanticise our highwaymen, our ‘Bushrangers’, despite them being violent armed robbers. BUT, there was one such infamous bushranger, Ben Hall, who with his gang, held up a small town in central New South Wales (Canowindra), locking the police in their own cells and treating the townsfolk and visitors to drinks, blankets and entertainment in the local pub for several days. Story goes they reimbursed the publican, paying all the expenses of their hostages. They did this to embarrass the police.

I’ve thought this would make a great historical fiction (and I personally like my historical fiction as accurate as can be, but liberties with the inconsequential details is fine...you know, because maybe everyone was drunk and can't remember what exactly happened ), thus imagining boisterous activities that may or may not have ensued. After all, if the bushrangers were charming enough, perhaps there was an opportunity some romance.

The scenario could be adopted in a Robin Hood-esque tale (there’s an idea for you Betty, since you’ve already written so well of an archer!).

But do your anti-heroes have to be good deep down, or perhaps just relatable? I personally think relatable is more important.

Oh, and there were a couple of women who turned to the bushranging life, so having a maiden turn to highway robbery might be a fun idea to explore! I’ve read women have joined armies of old, disguised as men (for example, Joan of Arc), so why not have a woman who disguises herself as a highwayman…a noble woman perhaps, getting her kicks from thieving, and maybe she takes a liking to a handsome hostage of hers? Or something like that

Then there was bushranger Captain Moonlight, who was, by all accounts, in a romantic relationship with one of his gang members, James Nesbitt. While waiting in prison to be executed, Captain Moonlight wrote deeply moving letters to his ‘…Dearest Jim’, and was heartbroken when his friend was shot dead by police. Then when he himself was sentenced to death, Moonlight expressed a desire to be buried with his lover. Now that might make a great romantic historical fiction if someone were to adapt it!

Just a quick edit, reading the Wikipedia article on Captain Moonlight, apparently Nesbitt was shot in an attempt to lead the police away from Moonlight, and according to the newspaper reports at the time, Scott (Moonlight) openly wept at the loss of his dearest and closest companion. As Nesbitt lay dying, ‘his leader wept over him like a child, laid his head upon his breast, and kissed him passionately’.
If there was ever a highway robbery romance needing to be told, it’s that one!

(sorry Betty, I hope I haven't hijacked your thread!)

I don't think a highwayman thread is one where you can complain about a hijacking!

I think I would be out of my depth trying to write about Australia - I'm just not familiar enough with the way that people speak! - but there's very rich vein of story inspiration here for certain.

I would like to get to better grips with the idea of writing something historical. I always chicken out and go for a fantasy setting, (even non-magic ones) as a sort of acquiescence to knowing I will get something about my time period setting wrong. Still, nothing worth dong is easy, so I should just give it a go really.

And I do love an archer! I've thought about doing a Robin Hood story A LOT, but I don't have much care for the other standard characters. If you edit the Marion and the Merry Men out of your Robin Hood tale, are you even writing a Robin Hood tale anymore?

Thanks for all the food for thought in your reply. =)