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Young Writers Society


Writing Historical Fiction



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Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:30 pm
Fishr says...



Note: Judging from the title, my article is ancient but those of us who like this genre have decided to bring old and new faces into our world. Our being - me, Firestarter, Sam, Writergluver, CL, Sabranan, and others I'm probably forgetting. We're geeks who love all forms of history and spend our time writing in this genre, among others ;) but I think I can speak for the group listed, we'd like to see new faces tackle it! So, this is a brief recap, if you'd like to give it a go.

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Historical-Fiction

Like non-fiction, you must absolutely research! There is no arguing with this matter. If you're desire is writing about history but with some fiction involved, you must know your world and every aspect of it.

I can't stress enough about researching but I'll break down this genre further. This genre is actually pretty broad and an incredible amount of preparation is involved.

To write historical fiction you must first choose three things:

1)The era or time frame you wish to write about. This will directly influence the world you're about to re-create, as well as giving you a direction on what exactly needs to be researched.

2)The people involved. You're writing historic fiction so you have to account for two different groups – fiction and non. One you've decided on a time frame, it's wise to choose exactly who is going to be in your story and the roles they will be playing that would directly influence the plot twists. I highly recommend choosing your non-fiction characters first; research them in depth, and later work on developing their characteristics. Once that's been done, then you can work on your fictional characters. The reasoning for this approach is if you research your non-fictional characters first, they'll be fresh and vibrant in your memory and you should be able to decide how the fictional characters are going to co-exist with them. In my opinion, researching non-fic and developing characters first is easier than jumping the gun and working on fic chars.

For my novel, I'm writing historical fiction. Before I even started, I knew I was going to write in the Eighteenth Century and more so – about the start of the American Revolution. Also, I knew who the non-fictional characters were going to be, their precise roles and how I wanted to achieve their personalities.

For the record, I've been working on this novel for a year and a half, and I am not a fraction of being finished. It takes a great amount of dedication and patience – so be warned before taking on this genre.

3)Speech/dialects, clothing, transportation, technology. This would be the final step. So, you feel you've researched enough and you know your era by heart. You also have a reasonable grasp on your non and fic characters and you're ready to begin writing, right? Sorry to say, but it's a 'no'.

Speech and dialects aren't exactly crucial to master, so to speak, but it does help to understand how those people talked 'back in the day,' especially if you chose an era that isn't modern by our standards today. If the writer decides to write anything that doesn't revolved around the twentieth or twenty-first century, the speech will be different. There's too choices – either attempt to write how these people in your story would have talked in that era (like I have with my novel) or write modern day speech, (like today) which would probably be easier for the reader to understand and follow anyway.

With clothing, transportation and technology, you must take an account how all three will influence your characters and the world you're re-creating. For example, would Columbus be found riding in a Mustang? Though that's an obvious answer, I think my point is clear. This would be the last bit of research - knowing how the people in your story lived. Did they ride on horseback because cars weren't invented? Was the only advanced technology a shock from a key? As for clothing, I can't even begin how much styles have changed. I'll leave it to you to decide.

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[Courtesy of Historic Fiction Writers Usergroup]
The sadness drains through me rather than skating over my skin. It travels through every cell to reach the ground. I filter it yet strangely enough, I keep what was pure and it is the dirt that leaves.
  





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Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:28 pm
magiclukehutch says...



Your right. You could be writing about something that didn't even happen.
Always happy to help!
  





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Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:07 pm
Fishr says...



I think you've misunderstood the genre.

Yes, part of it, (the fictional) didn't actually happen but historicaly (it really did happen) you have to account for actual people/names, wars/battles, dates, counteries, and so forth.

To sum up, there's a certain balence where you must write in such a way that readers will follow and believe within the period you're writing about. Hope that clears up any confusion.
The sadness drains through me rather than skating over my skin. It travels through every cell to reach the ground. I filter it yet strangely enough, I keep what was pure and it is the dirt that leaves.
  





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Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:33 am
Pacific says...



Thanks for showing this! I've been tossing the historical fiction idea in my head for ages, but I've never been brave enough to try to write a hist-fic story.
I have this character that keeps sticking in my mind and wants to come out... I just don't know which era yet.
Maybe I'll break out of my shell and try my hand at writing hist-fic...
-Kiley-
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you. - Rita Mae Brown
  





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Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:15 pm
Myth says...



I've always wanted to write something about Handel, but he kept his personal life private and I have only been able to include him by name, nothing else.

Since I write short stories I don't always need to research much, but for 1934 I had to look at a lot of local history books and the real Troy Town, which isn't as interesting now as it was back then.
.: ₪ :.

'...'
  








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