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How do you define the genre?

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writerinthenorth
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How do you define the genre?

Post by writerinthenorth » Fri November 25th, 2011, 9:54 am

I'm inclined to describe my forthcoming novel as historical fiction in that it is based on real people and events (the Stephensons/the coming of the railways) and contains many imagined scenes, but is it properly described as historical fiction? How does one define the genre?

Writer in the North

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Mythica
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Preferred HF: European and American (mostly pre-20th century)
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Post by Mythica » Fri November 25th, 2011, 10:43 am

I don't see why it wouldn't be historical fiction. Personally, I define historical fiction as any novel which is set in the past. How to define "past" is another issue but I have no doubt everyone would agree your time period qualifies as "past". Some people also define historical fiction as being based on real historical people or events but again, your novel qualifies.

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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Sat November 26th, 2011, 1:07 am

I say it counts as HF.

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