Writers who use historical settings or real-life characters in their work must walk a fine line between hewing too closely to biography and veering off into implausibility. You don’t want to dryly recite facts but you also don’t want to introduce anachronisms or impossible scenarios that might throw a knowledgable reader out of your story. In a new blog post, M.K. Tod offers advice on achieving this balance.
History will provide many details of a real person’s life, but you need more. “The challenges are (1) to pick the true events in that persona’s life that will actually make a story worth reading bearing in mind the need for tension, conflict, causality, dramatic dominoes, and high points of drama, (2) to leave out the bits that are tedious or don’t advance the plot, and (3) to judiciously insert the scenes and characters that are plausible and will add those extra bits of drama and sparkle. Remember, you’re writing fiction not biography,” Tod says.
Even when you use fictional characters in historical settings, thorough research can help you place them in realistic settings and events. For example, if your hero is in the military, Tod advises that you identify a real-life regiment and research that group’s movements and activities. Real-life events can help you shape your character’s background and motivations, as well as your plot. If your hero meets any real-world figures, ensure that the meeting is plausible and forwards your character’s arc, she adds.
