Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

How far can historical fiction be stretched?

Got a question/comment about the creative process of writing? Post it here!
User avatar
Justin Swanton
Reader
Posts: 173
Joined: February 2012
Location: Durban, South Africa
Contact:

Post by Justin Swanton » Tue May 1st, 2012, 7:39 pm

It might be relevant to mention the distinction between historical and alternate historical fiction. The fact that such a distinction exists seems to imply (at least to me) that there is a convention obliging a writer to be faithful to the important facts in historical fiction, whereas he can play with them in alternate history.

As a reader I make the automatic assumption that the major historical figures, the major events, and the ambiance of the time period such as food, clothing, buildings, etc. - are accurately reproduced in a straight historical novel. If they are not I feel short-changed.
Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus.

Author of Centurion's Daughter

Come visit my blog

Kohadenal1
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: April 2012

Post by Kohadenal1 » Tue May 1st, 2012, 9:39 pm

What I'm going to ask now might seem a little blasphemous to some, but I'm kind of getting desperate.

The book I'm writing, instead of being a book that deals with the major events and people of the time period (The Protectorate), is, instead, a fictional story dealing with fictional characters, set during The Protectorate. As such, the main historical elements I'm trying to focus upon are those that would effect individual people in those times - methods of speech, social etiquette, schools of thought, etc. Other elements, whilst being historically exceedingly important, do not have a need to be mentioned in the book, at least not more than in passing.

I mentioned this by way of introduction to give you some understanding to my question. The book is intended to be a mystery. When I first envisioned the plot, it was before I had anything more than a rudimentary understanding of the time period. After having done some research, I realized that the 'police' system (for want of a better word, considering that there were no real police then) that existed then was such that the basis of my plot won't be able to work. I've been working on this for some days now, and the only solution I can think of is to invent that the system had changed in those days, in a way it really hadn't. I can explain how it happened, and it won't be historically altering, but in the end of the day, it didn't happen. (It would sort of like be saying that the theory of gravity was discovered 50 years before it really was).

As mentioned before, it sounds blasphemous, and honestly, kind of ridiculous, but I'm at my wits end. I don't want to mess around with how things were, even the smallest details, but I don't want to throw months of work out the window either. I don't think this can be called Alternative history, Justin, as to the best of my understanding, alternative history is somewhat more alternative than this. It's sort of like somewhere in between, ending up being nothing.

Anyway, there's my issue. I know boswellbaxter said I can do as I wish, but I have little interest in being burnt at the stake for rewriting history.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks a lot, and I do hope I'm not burdening anyone with my petty issues.

User avatar
boswellbaxter
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3066
Joined: August 2008
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Post by boswellbaxter » Tue May 1st, 2012, 10:42 pm

If you don't want to mess with established history (and as I said earlier, my own preference is not to mess with history), I would either rework the plot to accommodate the police system (or lack thereof) or move the story forward into a time period when the plot would work. It may entail a great deal of rewriting, but it sounds to me as if you'll be happier in the long run.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

DanielAWillis
Reader
Posts: 114
Joined: March 2012
Contact:

A couple of options

Post by DanielAWillis » Tue May 1st, 2012, 10:56 pm

Given this new insight into your plot, perhaps you can have the investigative focus coming from an individual (or a small group of would-be detectives) rather than a police force. This individual would be very forward-thinking, which would cause him/her to seem very peculiar to his/her contemporaries.

I am thinking something like Sherlock Holmes or HGWells' main character in "The Time Machine."

Another option may be to use a guards unit in place of a police force. If your story requires numerous characters this would be one way to do it. The offical gards units af the day were part of the Protectorate's hierarchy. However, there were plenty of former royal guards who were displaced by the rise of Cromwell. It would be believable to have a group of them come together to solve the mystery in your book.

Just some random thoughts for you to consider.
Daniel A. Willis
Author: Chronicle of the Mages series
www.DanielAWillis.com

User avatar
bevgray
Reader
Posts: 113
Joined: February 2012
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Contact:

Post by bevgray » Thu May 3rd, 2012, 2:48 pm

I'm one who thinks a writer should just go ahead and write the story as it weaves. Once you have it drafted, you can then determine if it falls more to historical fiction, alternative historical fiction, historical mystery, historical steampunk or what have you. The important thing is that you stay true to your story. If the historical fact is causing bumps in the road, go ahead and write over and through them. Just be sure, at the end of the day, that you identify the story as close to genre as possible. Where writers come to grief is when they claim a book is historical fiction when it isn't really. There is nothing more aggravating to those of us who enjoy historical fiction then picking up a book and falling over a vampiric Robert E. Lee who wants to unleash his undead army on General Grant. Now, the book may be fun and I might really like it but, I'm more apt to like it if I know going into it that it's not historical fiction but something else.

Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER series comes to mind here. She writes a very good tale, includes some excellent historical elements but she does not write historical fiction. It's historical romantic fantasy because of the element of time-travel and the heavy romance element. Same thing with Martin's GAME OF THRONES. It's not about a a real place. The realm is his own invention and he includes mythical creatures so it's pretty much fantasy (although a lot of folks call it historical fantasy since it reads more historical than heroic fantasy). FATHERLAND is a detective story set in an alternative Post-WWII where Nazi Germany won the war.

The main thing is to enjoy your writing. Historical Fiction is full of plot devices that didn't actually happen. Certainly, I'm sure there were many Cavaliers who would have been quite happy to assist in an assassination attempt against Cromwell. If you wish to keep to the historical fiction side of things rather than go for a suspence story that just happens to be set in Cromwell's England, just test your narrative this way - is it plausible? Could it have happened? As to the failed plot not being publicized, that's not a problem at all. They didn't have intrepid journalists back then or instant communication. There were many ways a major assassination attempt would have been kept quiet and not seen the light of day. You might give some thought to how that might be since it could give you a nice little plot twist that you had not anticipated.
Beverly C. Gray
Army Brat and Lover of Historical Fiction
Guests are always welcome at my Web Site

Kohadenal1
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: April 2012

Post by Kohadenal1 » Thu May 3rd, 2012, 5:24 pm

Once again, thank you for all the replies. Your advice, bevgray, is sound. My problem perhaps was that I wasn't (and perhaps still am not) sure which genre exactly my book fell into. perhaps when it's done I'll be more clear.

User avatar
bevgray
Reader
Posts: 113
Joined: February 2012
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Contact:

Post by bevgray » Thu May 3rd, 2012, 7:10 pm

Hi Kohadenal1, I got that impression. That's why I recommended that you just plunge into your story and see where it takes you. That way, you don't impede the flow of your story and might make some interesting discoveries in the narrative if you're not too preconceived on where you think you want to go with it. Best of luck and don't hesitate to ask anything. There are some very good folks on this forum who are incredibly helpful as well as insightful.
Beverly C. Gray
Army Brat and Lover of Historical Fiction
Guests are always welcome at my Web Site

User avatar
Shield-of-Dardania
Reader
Posts: 129
Joined: February 2010

Post by Shield-of-Dardania » Tue May 8th, 2012, 11:02 am

Deleted, partly repeated post, PC problem.
Last edited by Shield-of-Dardania on Tue May 8th, 2012, 11:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Shield-of-Dardania
Reader
Posts: 129
Joined: February 2010

Post by Shield-of-Dardania » Tue May 8th, 2012, 11:32 am

I think I'm on roughly the same patch as BevGray on this. Writing being such a highly personal creative effort, I don't think it's easy for one to stay the course if one allows oneself to be too rigidly bound by someone else's perception of the rules.

Rules are not cast in stone, and they do not always last forever. If a rule stands in the way of you creating something you desire to create - even if it doesn't ever get published at all, than that rule is not good for you. Unless you need that as an excuse to quit midway. Go ahead and create what you want, the way you want to. At the same time, keep learning and improving on your own, while also picking tips from others with more experience.

Even if nobody likes it except you, at least you've produced something special out of your own big effort, and you can be proud of that. If you never went ahead because you gave in to fear or doubt, then nobody including you would know how much brilliance you might have produced, perhaps for the joy of thousands.

By the time you're two thirds or three quarters of the way through your first draft novel, you'd have picked up plenty of skill and confidence compared to when you first started. You'd feel much more comfortable about deciding on whether to try to fit into a standard mould, or to go for a hybrid of moulds of your choice. My advice, Kohadena, would be for you to listen to your heart, just like in that Roxette song.

I'd rather play with the rules than bind myself with them. I'd give full vent to my creative desire. It's a matter of viability, I think. Sometimes it's just not viable to stick to absolute historical accuracy.
Last edited by Shield-of-Dardania on Tue May 8th, 2012, 12:17 pm, edited 10 times in total.

User avatar
wendy
Compulsive Reader
Posts: 592
Joined: September 2010
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Contact:

Post by wendy » Fri May 11th, 2012, 1:02 pm

Do what feels right for you as a writer and let others worry about what category they will put you in! Personally, I like to explore controversial areas (especially with words and language) so even when I believe I've got something correct, someone else will come along and challenge my historical accuracy. Write what you believe in - and then develop a very thick skin!
Wendy K. Perriman
Fire on Dark Water (Penguin, 2011)
http://www.wendyperriman.com
http://www.FireOnDarkWater.com

Post Reply

Return to “The Craft of Writing”