Helpful Hints to Write Historical Fiction
Videos
Interview with Historical Fiction Writer: (2 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxNgkxYNvsE
Writing Lesson: (2 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDTryMGQz0E
How much fact do you really need?: (2 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMTdKEdchdA
“A Research Primer for Historical Fiction Writers” by Erika Dreifus
http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/histres.shtm
Writing Historical Fiction Novels
VERY helpful website with TONS of useful articles from a variety of published authors of historical fiction. http://writinghistoricalnovels.com/
Historical Fiction Genre
The genre of historical fiction in the field of children’s literature
includes stories that are written to portray a time period or
convey information about a specific time period or an historical
event. Usually the event or time period is about 30 years in the
past.
Some well-known examples are Karen Cushman’s Catherine,
Called Birdy and The Midwife’s Apprentice, and Christopher Paul
Curtis’s The Watsons go to Birmingham—1963 and Bud, Not
Buddy.
In historical fiction, setting is the most important literary
element. Because the author is writing about a particular time in
history, the information about the time period must be accurate,
authentic, or both. To create accurate and authentic settings in
their books, authors must research the time period thoroughly.
They must know how people lived, what they ate, what kinds of
homes they had, and what artifacts were a common part of their
lives.
Historical fiction books—whether they are picture books,
transitional books, or novels—may have characters who are
either imaginary or who actually lived during the time period.
Settings also may be real or imaginary. The plot events may be
documented historical events or they may be fictional. If they are
fictional, it means that the author created the events for the
telling of the story. The fictional characters, settings, and plot
events must be portrayed authentically as if they actually could
have happened.
A classic example of historical fiction is Johnny Tremain, a 1944
Newbery Medal book. The primary setting is Boston in 1773. The
book contains both real and fictional characters, real and fictional
settings, and real and fictional events. The book is successful
because of author Esther Forbes’s extensive historical research
and knowledge of the time period and her skillful blending of
history and fiction into a believable story.
includes stories that are written to portray a time period or
convey information about a specific time period or an historical
event. Usually the event or time period is about 30 years in the
past.
Some well-known examples are Karen Cushman’s Catherine,
Called Birdy and The Midwife’s Apprentice, and Christopher Paul
Curtis’s The Watsons go to Birmingham—1963 and Bud, Not
Buddy.
In historical fiction, setting is the most important literary
element. Because the author is writing about a particular time in
history, the information about the time period must be accurate,
authentic, or both. To create accurate and authentic settings in
their books, authors must research the time period thoroughly.
They must know how people lived, what they ate, what kinds of
homes they had, and what artifacts were a common part of their
lives.
Historical fiction books—whether they are picture books,
transitional books, or novels—may have characters who are
either imaginary or who actually lived during the time period.
Settings also may be real or imaginary. The plot events may be
documented historical events or they may be fictional. If they are
fictional, it means that the author created the events for the
telling of the story. The fictional characters, settings, and plot
events must be portrayed authentically as if they actually could
have happened.
A classic example of historical fiction is Johnny Tremain, a 1944
Newbery Medal book. The primary setting is Boston in 1773. The
book contains both real and fictional characters, real and fictional
settings, and real and fictional events. The book is successful
because of author Esther Forbes’s extensive historical research
and knowledge of the time period and her skillful blending of
history and fiction into a believable story.
A Short Story Should Include . . .
- setting details woven into the text
- development of at least one character through the character’s words, thoughts, and actions and through the words of other characters and/or the writer
- a problem/conflict which is developed as the story
- (plot) progresses
- a resolution of that problem/conflict (climax)
- a conclusion (what happens after climax)
- snapshots/imagery (things for the reader to visualize)
- thoughtshots (characters’ thoughts)
- dialogue (optional)
5 TIPS FOR WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION
Here are a few points that writers of historical fiction might consider as they sit down to work:
1. Fiction = Friction. Regardless of your time period, regardless of all the in-depth research you’ve done, you must remember that you’re writing fiction first, and historical fiction second. In other words, don’t forget that it’s action and conflict that moves the book forward. The historical details enrich the work, but detail for detail’s sakes will sink you.
2. Avoid history lessons. It’s hard. You know your period of history so well, but you must assume that your reader does not. So, it’s tempting to fall into the habit of giving history lectures for a few paragraphs. This can sink you as well. Educating your reader may be necessary, but it works best when the history comes across as part of the action. And when some small history lessons are unavoidable, try to camouflage them.
When I was writing City of Women, I was well aware that most readers would not be scrupulously well informed about the course of the Second World War, especially from the perspective of women in Berlin. So when I did have to indulge in a few paragraphs of historical explanation, I always tried to tie it into the characters in some personal way. I made them react to the history lessons that were discreetly disguised as radio broadcasts. I inserted a line of dialogue to comment on a particular happening, and made sure that it was dialogue that also defined the character. That way readers get the information they need to understand the historical timeline, without a time-out from the action.
3. Using your research. You’ve done your homework, and compiled a mountain of historical detail concerning your time period; details about the fashion of the time, or the food, or social oddities. All very interesting stuff, but possibly more interesting to you than your reader. I, for instance, have an interest in uniforms, and was very meticulous in my description of the decorations worn by an officer on his uniform tunic. But if I had simply had him stand there while I described this medal and that medal, I would have lost most of my readers.
Don’t invite them to start skipping paragraphs. I incorporated the decorations into the action of the book by having some of the common soldiers respond to them. They do an inventory of the officer’s medals, which determines how they interact with the character. Don’t paint historical pictures without making them a part of the drama of your book.
4. Building a Setting. I’ve always found that an effective way to build a setting is not simply to describe the landscape, but also to make the setting part of your character’s journey. Personally, I like to start by using street names, and train lines to do this.
In writing City of Women, I employed a Baedeker’s Berlin travel guide from the 1920’s as a blueprint. I knew where my characters lived, I knew how they traveled to get to get to their jobs, and I used that to enrich the story. When my protagonist, Sigrid, leads a Gestapo watchdog on a merry chase through the Berlin “U-Bahn” system, I name the stops as if the reader could see the signs passing by them through the subway car windows.
5. Using languages or accents. For a novel written in English, there are plenty of German words in City of Women, but I was always careful not to use words that took too much space to translate. The basic rule of thumb, I think is, if you want to use a foreign word for effect, then look for those words that are close enough to the language of your book that the meaning is obvious.
Or, if you must translate, but you can’t do so in a few words, then consider forgetting the foreign word all together. In the same way that too much explanation of 19th century shoe buttons will slow down the action, so will injecting too much flotsam just to use a word that looks exotic on the page. By the same token, if your have characters from different countries, avoid trying to “flavor” their dialogue by tossing in a lot of foreign words, More often than not it’s distracting, and makes your dialogue sound trite. Use foreign words judiciously, especially in your characters’ speech. Also, if you can imitate the rhythm of a language through manipulation of the syntax in your dialogue, you’ll find that the dialogue will sound more realistic than if you're simply pepper it with lots of language in italics.