In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Michelle Barker offers advice on writing historical fiction, noting that the fiction should always be more important than the history lesson. “A history textbook tells about history, but historical fiction should bring it to life by showing it,” she says.
That task can be challenging though. By its nature, historical fiction involves some reliance on factual persons and events. That means research is crucial. “The thing we’re striving for in fiction is authenticity,” Barker says. “We want our work to have the ring of truth to it.” But weaving your researched facts into your fictional narrative is the key to a successful story. While you might be tempted to use as much of your research as possible, this isn’t the right path.
“There’s a good chance that, for the sake of the story, a sizable amount of our research will never make it into the novel,” Barker writes. “We need to make our peace with that because research can easily get in the way of good storytelling.”
But how do you choose which facts and where to place them? Barker suggests that you:
- “Look for anything that isn’t happening in the present moment of the story,” she says. “Backstory and world-building are common offenders.”
- Ask yourself what the reader needs to know at exactly that moment. “If they don’t need to know it now, cut it, and save it for when they do,” Barker writes.
- Trust your reader. “They can piece things together; in fact, they like figuring things out,” Barker notes.
If you’re not sure if you’ve given the reader enough information, run scenes or chapters by a beta reader. If you think you need more, add details in stages, a little bit at a time. Resist the urge to over-explain to satisfy early readers when a little will do.
As your adding factual research into a scene, Barker suggests that you:
- Make it relevant to something that’s happening in the moment, so that the fact moves the plot.
- Make the information something that causes problems for the characters and show their reaction. If more relevant the information is to your characters, the more interesting it will become to the reader.
- Describe the person, object, or event from a character’s POV, to help develop your character.
- Keep it brief and break it up. Don’t go into too much detail and don’t drop a lot of information in one spot.
And of course, you can always use the research elsewhere. Barker suggests writing non-fiction pieces or blog posts about what you learned during your research. Create materials that you might use for a public speaking event or reading when you’re promoting your work. “Research is never a waste of time,” Barker says. “The more we read about the world we’re building, the more we internalize it, and that is guaranteed to lend authenticity to our work.”
