Historical Fiction- One Genre that is here to stay

Last weekend I attended a writers conference and at the Protagonist ball I dressed up as Zenobia the Warrior Queen.

The great thing about my job is not only am I promoting a fantastic book series about Zenobia but I’m learning how to improve my own skills as a writer. The next couple of weeks I will share my notes from the classes I attended in hopes it will help other writers. One of my favorite classes was on Historical Fiction.  Now of course with these ideas not everything has to be followed to the T. With writing there seems to be an exceptions to everything. I hear people say you can never do this certain thing and the next time I’m reading a New York Times best selling author I find them breaking that exact rule. What I've learned is yes there are rules to follow but there are also rules to be broken. This Historical Fiction class was very helpful and I received great advice from Heather B. Moore who is an author of eleven historical novels.

Heather B. Moore – “Historical Fiction – One Genre that is here to stay”

Write what you know but also write what you love. Research can open your world to new ideas.

Why Historical Fiction sells: We like to learn from the past. We ask questions like; where did our families come from? We Love to learn. History stands the test of time.

Study something you like; a certain time period that interests you, and then it won’t feel like work. You will be excited to write. Focus on major events or highlight a more critical time or era.

After you researched and become familiar with a certain era you can continue to write in that time period.

You want your readers to connect with a major event or a major character.

Building a historical world and integrating your research:

• Avoid information dumps
• Sprinkle in details
• Move the plot forward
• Take out cliches – like modern day thoughts
• Go back to basics – make dialog simple

Include in your research:

• Weather, climate, topography
• Clothing
• Religious culture (do people convert in masses?) You may not want your MC (Main Character) to go against what the masses believe or else they will be ostracized
• Social structure – level of society
• Government
• Traditions, holiday festivals- create a scene that comes to life
• Occupations & Industry- what does your characters do for work?
• Food & Agriculture- What do they eat? Do they farm?
• Travel Methods – carriages? Social status decides how they get around

Dialect choices:

• Characterization tool
• Lighten up on the dialect – use a couple words but don’t be too heavy
• Keep us in the story and don’t slow it down
• Choose a few select words to show dialect
• 
  

Dialog –

• Creates character
• Increases pacing –readers skim to dialog
• “Shows”
• Establishes time period
• Can put us in the story
• 
  

Characterizing historical figures:

What if a major character is a historical figure?

• Emotions
• Motivations- Ask your MC what motivates them?
• Background- What makes them act a certain way?
• Environment
• Character Arc – know the arc before you start writing

Expanding Historical facts into plot arc:

• Story always comes first
• Don’t show off your knowledge
• Preface – a place to share where you received your historical facts
• Website – a great place to share your knowledge of that time frame
• Motivation – events, wars, people etc… If a character is desperate enough it can motivate them to do lots of things

Focus on the right conflict:

• Most compelling
• Unique, hasn’t been done to death
• Decide on which part of a person’s life is most interesting

Why you don’t have to be an expert -

• Indexes – look up nonfiction book sources
• Google
• Email Historians & Scholars
• Interview professors or a skilled worker in a certain field
• Documentaries – can help visually

Make sure you get 1 – 2 credible sources and Wikipedia is not one of them. Children books and magazines with education links are helpful. Keep track of your sources.

Selling your novel through nonfiction platform:

• Ask yourself –
  • What am I an expert in?
  • How am I different?
  
  
• Join a group (historical society)
• Volunteer
• Speak for free
• Teach classes

More information about Heather Moore - http://hbmoore.com/

There are many events in Zenobia – Birth of a Legend, the historical fiction novel Russ Wallace wrote, that show Zenobia experiencing injustice which becomes a great motivator. In beginning of the novel, we learn how she should have been put to death at birth just because she was a girl. She was raised pretending to be a boy. You can only imagine this experience would teach her life is not fair. You have two choices when you face the cruelty of life, you either become a victim or you become an advocate to fight against injustice.  Zenobia decided to fight. One thing Russ Wallace says about the Zenobia series is how much imagination he has to use in writing ancient history. I think he does an awesome job at giving us great historical facts but also making the characters realistic enough we can relate with their struggles.