Why historians should write fiction

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Wed October 16th, 2013, 8:52 pm

This article is one of our supplemental reading assignments for the MOOC I'm currently enrolled in called Plagues, Witches and War: The Worlds of Historical Fiction. I thought it interesting enough to share with all of you and would like to hear your thoughts.

Why historians should write fiction

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed October 16th, 2013, 9:55 pm

There must be a few people doing this course, Rowan - I've seen this essay/article turn up at several places online

My feeling is that while it may indeed be a useful exercise for historians to "loosen up" and gain a new perspective on history by writing historical fiction, quite frankly not all historians should be writing fiction.

Going by my own reading experience, although some historians have made a reasonable and in some cases brilliant transition to HF (eg. Harry Sidebottom and Adrian Goldsworthy), others should have stuck with academic writing.

Extensive knowledge of a period goes not automatically grant an author the sense of story or naturally flowing use of dialogue neccessary for a great story. I have read some direly tedious and/or irritating novels written by academics. Maybe historians should try this at home first, before giving up their day jobs

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Thu October 17th, 2013, 10:04 pm

I asked one of my professors once why he hadn't written any fiction and he said he couldnt. He wouldn't know where to start and then what to do. He's written numerous books, all non fiction, but won't tackle fiction.

DanielAWillis · Post by **DanielAWillis** » Fri October 18th, 2013, 3:19 pm

I think I went about my career backwards. I always wanted to write fiction but didn't think I could. I was always such a facts-based person. After I wrote a few non-fiction books, I kept being told, I was a good storyteller and should try my hand at a novel. I found a publisher who agreed with that.

First novel (after 9 non-fiction books) came out last May with its sequel due Nov. 25. So far, being reasonably well received. Am doing my first public reading from the new novel later today.

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Mon October 21st, 2013, 5:05 pm

[quote=""annis""]There must be a few people doing this course, Rowan - I've seen this essay/article turn up at several places online

[/quote]

A few thousand are in the class.

While I certainly think your point is a valid one, I think it's something that could easily be fixed with the right guidance. I'm thinking, though, that it's not sought because they feel they don't need the help. Just like a lot of authors (across many genres) who have sold loads of books don't always have the editing they need done.

annis · Post by **annis** » Tue October 22nd, 2013, 2:13 am

It's always good to kick off discussion with a rather contentious proposition, as Mortimer/Forrester has done here, but it seems to me to be akin to saying that a biologist should be able to do a physicist's work because they're both scientists

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Tue October 22nd, 2013, 11:28 am

I think historians could do with attending courses on how to write history accessible to the person in the street - seriously. If they want to reach out beyond academia, then, even without full blown natural talent, they could acquire some of the tools to give themselves broader appeal. While reading up on Eleanor of Aquitaine for my novel, I have been horrified by the inaccurate dreck peddled as the facts by people (some historians, some masquerading as historians) who can write in an accessible style but whose research is paltry and downright sloppy. What's needed is accessible factual material written by people who might actually know what they're talking about. Professors Crouch and Bartlett with a nod to Marc Morris are my heroes in this respect.

Lucy Pick · Post by **Lucy Pick** » Wed October 23rd, 2013, 3:26 pm

As a professional academic historian, who also writes fiction, I loved this article. I will also say that writing fiction has really improved the way I write my non-fiction as well. If, Elizabeth, you are referring to Robert Bartlett, I totally agree that he is a serious academic historian who writes in an engaging and inviting style. I would recommend his "Making of Europe" (I think that is the title) to anyone interested in the Middle Ages for instance.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Wed October 23rd, 2013, 3:58 pm

[quote=""Lucy Pick""]As a professional academic historian, who also writes fiction, I loved this article. I will also say that writing fiction has really improved the way I write my non-fiction as well. If, Elizabeth, you are referring to Robert Bartlett, I totally agree that he is a serious academic historian who writes in an engaging and inviting style. I would recommend his "Making of Europe" (I think that is the title) to anyone interested in the Middle Ages for instance.[/quote]

Yes, I meant Robert Bartlett, Lucy. If I could only keep one book for research and had to dump all the rest, it would be his England Under the Angevin Kings.'

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Thu October 24th, 2013, 6:08 am

Hear, hear, EC2. So many texts are dry, and frankly boring to read. If some historians could take a leaf from Tom Holland's books (Rubicon, Persian Fire) they'd do the world a service.

While it's great to see historians joining the novelists' ranks, it's also possible to see the tendency to be dry, and boring, in some of the 'crossover' efforts. Naming no names.