Prehistory, ancient civilisations such as Egyptian and Indian, Classical (mainly Greek and Roman, Biblical, From the 1st century to the 20th century, Multi-period, Timeslip, Historical Fantasy, Alternative History, Children and Young Adult.
Historical Fiction can also be divided into different genres.
Fiction based on the lives of people who lived in the past.
Adventure, Romance, Crime, Thrillers and Whodunits, Mysteries and Military
These can be further divided into subgenres.
Arthurian, Mediaeval, Tudor, Elizabethan, Stuart, Georgian, Regency, Victorian, Edwardian, 1st World War, 2nd World War, Sagas, Psychological Thrillers, Gothic (and Horror), Colonial U.S.A., Colonial, Civil War, American and its subgenre Native American Frontier, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Pirate and Naval.
More classifications can be found in Sarah Johnson’s Historical Fiction, A Guide to the Genre in which a chapter on sagas she includes authors from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and many others.
Whichever period a historical novelist chooses to write about, research is vital. I am writing novels set in different periods and have several bookcases crammed with books that I have bought new and second hand. I also visit places of historical interest, consult librarians, record useful programmes, collect the DVDs about and use the World Wide Web.
What do the readers expect from a historical novel? They want to be drawn into the world through different eyes and learn about life in a different era. They hope to experience what it was like to live in periods such as Moorish Spain of Lisa Yarde’s excellent novels, Sultana and Sultana’s Legacy, the superbly described mediaeval world of Elizabeth Chadwick and that of the Napoleonic Wars in which Bernard Cornwall’s hero, Sharpe, features. The reader needs to experience the sights, sounds and smells, visualise costume and places.
Social customs change but emotions remain the same whether the characters are pagans in the dark ages, early Christians, mediaeval knights or peasants or they are live on the pages of the novel between the mediaeval era and the Second World War. The reader needs to be wrapped up in the ups and downs of their lives and experience their despair, fears, hatreds, loves, hopes, envy, sorrow and triumph. Although there are people from different classes of society all of them share emotion, and emotion helps to make a novel a compelling read.
I don’t think any historical novelist can get every detail about life in the past correct but she or he can research conscientiously and, without drowning the reader in facts, convey past times as accurately as possible. Failure to do this means the reader loses faith in the author. There are examples which caused me to lose faith.
In the first example, the author referred to a tea gown spread over a crinoline in the Victorian era. The Victorians did not wear gowns called tea gowns over crinolines. Tea gowns were worn by Edwardians and were not spread over crinolines.
In the second example, in the days when mediaeval castles and keeps had arrow slits instead of windows a knight in full armour (instead of chain mail)scaled the castle walls, (how did he find footholds?) to the turret where his lady was imprisoned. After he climbed in through the window (arrow-slit), the lady greeted him with smile and asked. ‘Would you like a nice cup of tea and some eggs and bacon?’ Well, she might have been referring to herb tea and I’m daresay they ate eggs with bacon but it seemed much too modern.
Over the years, reading and writing historical fiction has given me great pleasure and it is a privilege to share my thoughts about writing it.
My advice to anyone who wants to write a historical novel is to study history and find an inspirational plot and theme.
Tangled Love was the result of my reading about James II and the oath of allegiance noblemen swore to him. Most of them did not like him, they did not like his politics, they abhorred him for being a Roman Catholic and were delighted when he was forced to leave the country and first his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange ascended to the throne. However, honourable noblemen’s consciences did not allow them to swear an oath of allegiance to the new king and queen, and subsequently to Mary’s sister, Anne when she became queen. This is the dilemma which triggered my imagination.
In conclusion, if you want to write historical fiction my advice is to find a compelling plot and theme,
All the best,
Historical Novelist
http://www.rosemarymorris.blogspot.com/
Forthcoming releases from MuseItUp Publishing
Tangled Love set in England in Queen Anne’s era 1702-1714. 27.01.2012
Sunday’s Child set in Regency England 06.2012
2 comments:
Rosemary - Thank you for this informative post. It will prove most helpful to many historical fiction novelist. I am so glad you participated
Hi Rosemary,
What an interesting, informative post. I don't write historical novels myself (unless you count Greek mythology and a touch of medieval Wales in my fantasy novella Dancing With Fate) but I love reading it and I agree, nothing kills one's 'suspension of disbelief'quicker than the author not having the facts right. For me, it's the horses - for instance scenes where the rider pulls or shakes the reins to make their horse go faster, rather than using their heels lightly to nudge the horse to a faster gait. With all the information available on the internet today it's not really that difficult to find out the facts.
(Had to smile at the hero climbing in through an arrow slit for bacon an eggs. Did they have bacon slicers in those days?)
Good luck with Tangled Web when it's released, it sounds great!
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