Historical Fiction: Embellishing the Facts

Historical fiction is truly an interesting genre. It is meant to be a way to tell historical stories in an interesting way. It is a sort of dramatization of things that actually happened. Usually the events of a historical fiction book are all documented by history, and mixed with things that could possibly be true. Others completely re-invent history, or look at what would happen if things had gone a different way. These books are usually very interesting to read, since they give us a new viewpoint of historical figures that may have seemed impersonal before. Are you interested in writing historical fiction? It isn’t as hard as it may sound.

First, you will need to figure out a historical person or event that truly captivates your interest. If you can honestly say that you are intrigued by something or someone, you will be more able to reach into the depths of your imagination and pull out more fictional events that can coincide with the real ones. Once you have your event picked, you can begin to add the human emotions in. A war may have started in this year, but how did this emotionally affect everyone involved? By adding the human side to history, you will be creating something that really interests those who read it.

Once you have decided the event you will write about and the angle you will take on it, you can begin to actually write your masterpiece. You will start with some sort of important event that leads up to the main story, and gives you a feel for the motivation of the characters (or at least your interpretation of their motivation). From there you can simply use a history textbook as a guide, and all the while infuse your own characters, emotions, and interpretations. Writing historical fiction is the #1 use of artistic license, and you can hardly beat it for the creativity it requires.

Therefore, if you want to start to write historical fiction then you should first consider the time period, the characters, and the event that you will be dealing with. All of these things are extremely important when writing your book, and you will have to deal with them for the whole story.