characters

In historical fiction, a story is made up but is set in the past and sometimes borrows true characteristics of the time period in which it is set. That story can appear in movies, novels, even poetry (e.g., Omeros, by Derek Walcott, or Brébeuf and His Brethren, by E.J. Pratt). One of the most succinct blog posts on the elements of historical fiction was written by M. K. Tod in 2015, 7 Elements of Historical Fiction (https://bit.ly/2ChaCo1).

Many of the elements she describes are applicable to all story making–plot, character, dialogue, and so forth–but one is particularly interesting for this story genre, namely “world building.” Of course, all stories have “worlds”, but historical fiction calls for a world that requires extensive research into what Tod says are “the customs, social arrangements, family environment, governments, religious structures, international alliances, military actions, physical geography, layouts of towns and cities, and politics of the time.” She then quotes Harry Sidebottom, author of Warrior of Rome:

“The past is another country, they not only do things differently there, they think about things differently.”

She continues by listing an extensive list of “topics” to consider when conducting research into the period of your story (please see Tod’s post for the list).

Among the comments is one by “jazzfeathers”, who basically expressed concern about lecturing rather than presenting the historical setting, but also commenting that, sometimes, readers would like to be lectured. In response to the dilemma of how much historical “fact” to include, Tod compared Conn Iggulden, who is sparing, to Sharon Kay Penman, who includes extensive historical fact.

Finding the balance in any writing is never easy, but I recommend Tod’s post and subsequent discussion. It may be four years old, but it’s timeless.