The Art of Mixing Fact and Fiction in Historical Novels
When writing historical fiction, where do the facts end and the fiction begin? This is a question most historical authors are asked at some point. The kicker of it is, the answer varies for each and every author. It also varies from book to book.
(5 Research Tips for Writing Historical Fiction.)
The thing is, there’s a huge range of types of historical fiction from biographicals to real events with fictional characters, from historical mysteries or romance, to slice-of-life stories where the only thing fact-based is the world-building. And finally, we have historical fantasy that tends to be rooted in a recognizable era or location and the rest is an invention of the author with the potential for magic, alternate worlds, and more.
So how do you know when you must stick to the facts, or when you can stray from the research? I have my own practices and theories about my work, but I’d say there are a few general principles that historical writers follow.
The Non-Negotiable
There are certain aspects of managing the fact vs. fiction debate that are non-negotiable, regardless of your sub-genre or the percentage of research with which you imbue your narrative. Let’s take a look.
Major Events: This probably goes without saying, but you can’t move wars, battles, natural or man-made disasters, political snafus, and other such set-in-stone dates. These sorts of dates are immoveable and frankly make you look like an amateur if you do. The only exception to this rule is with historical fantasy à la George RR Martin.Lesser Known Dates: If it’s a much lesser event that’s not significant to the historical record, you might be able to wiggle your story around it, but I’d mostly advise against it. If someone can look up the date and pinpoint it and there are enough ripple effects in terms of societal mores and movements from said event, it’s better to stick to the original date.Personalities: If you’re writing about a true-to-life person, it’s important to portray their character traits as they were. It’s certainly acceptable to emphasize certain aspects of a person’s character that hasn’t yet been done, in particular if new research comes to light, but in general, it’s important to be true to who this character was in real life—even if they’re less than likable (which is the real challenge in writing biographicals).
The Negotiable
The good news is, there are also negotiable components of writing a historical novel. These aspects are where the writer can truly play, have fun, and spread their wings.
Dialogue: Go to town! This is where a lot of the fun comes in as long as, again, you stay as close to the true-to-life person’s character, manner of speaking, and other mannerisms as possible.Descriptions: This is one of my favorite parts of writing historical fiction. You can really build out the world, making it as vibrant and sensory-filled as possible. Just remember to ensure the descriptions are colored by the emotional lens of the main character(s).Tone & Mood: This will obviously depend on the sub-genre of historical fiction that you’re writing as well as the setting (wartime, natural disasters, glamorous city scenes, royal novels, etc.). But it also depends on the author’s natural voice and style so again, playtime!Fictional Secondary Characters: Secondary characters are such a great tool to help portray more nuanced aspects of a main character by acting as a mirror or a foil for the protagonist. In particular they’re helpful in biographical fiction when the protagonist isn’t the most likable human being and has some fairly abhorrent traits or habits.Story Scope: Story scope is one of the most important aspects of what makes your novel unique and stand out from others, especially when there are likely other books that center around the same or similar topics as yours.
For example: How many POVs are you incorporating? What’s the story you’re aiming to tell? What themes are you hoping to underscore? What’s the date range for the story? Three months? Thirty years? Three days?
Take my new novel, Queens of London, for instance. Imagine my surprise (and worry) when I discovered that not one but two other novels about my topic (the first all-female crime syndicate in London, the Forty Elephants and their leader Diamond Annie) were publishing within the same 18-month period. The good news is that one of the books covers Diamond Annie’s early years when she’s trying to make it to the top and the other covers her later years post-WWII as a trilogy. Both are very interesting reads about Alice’s struggle for power from two points of view.
My book, however, centers on six weeks in the fall of 1925 London, when Diamond Annie is at the height of her power and goes head-to-head with the first female chief inspector of police at Scotland Yard, Lilian Wyles. It’s from both of their perspectives as well as two others: a 10-year-old, half-Indian orphan on the run with her little sidekick dog and a beautiful but underestimated shop clerk. All four females collide amid a heist. My book is a bit gritty like the other two, but it also has a lot of heart and a very different scope.
In other words, use these negotiable elements to make your story unique.
Check out Heather Webb’s Queens of London here:
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Tweaking the Record
Very occasionally, you may find that you need to tweak a fact to make your story or a particular scene work. In general, it’s best to avoid this and rework your story so that it aligns with the research. That said, if it’s a fairly insignificant detail, you can get away with it on a small scale but be sure to mention it in the Author’s Note at the end of the book.
Author’s Note
All hail the author’s note! This section of the novel is the historical fiction writer’s best friend. Should you need to tweak any facts that arise like I mentioned above, document them here for those eagle-eyed readers who may potentially be experts on your topic.
Bloopers
No matter how many times you comb your manuscript, deciding which research details should stay in the book and which should be cut, no matter how many critique partners and editors have read your book, the fact remains: You will make mistakes.
You will also occasionally have readers email you about said mistakes. But remember, you’re not perfect and you’re not writing nonfiction. You also probably aren’t a historian. So when a mistake is spotted, let your publisher know so you can update it for the next print run, take a deep breath, and forgive yourself. You’re only human.
In the end, it’s your novel so remember that. You can take poetic license where you choose to, just be sure to cover your bases and document any changes or fabrications so the reader will never feel duped.
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