How much??

Don't mess about if your MC is a true historical figure. If your MC is an unknown person, a maid or groom, etc., you can be creative to a certain extent. Leave historical fact alone, because someone somewhere will think you haven't done your research. That person could be a publisher or an agent.

I'd like to agree with Carmy because I think that's what us writers would like to believe and it is how I write, but I don't think it is in fact true. I think what is true is: you can do anything and get away with anything as long as it works.

How will you know if it is working? Ha, there's the question.

If...

you look at the author's note in many historical novels you will see that most either give their research and resource sources and explain why they took A's research and not B's, or they apologise for altering something and explain that it fitted the story their way, but they know it's wrong.

Usually in an historical your history is not just setting, but theme and character as well! It's there because what you want to say can only be said using this particular history.

It's become very fashionable - because it's easier to sell - to choose real people from history, people we heard about at school, and write about them. But if you love creating stories, Mara Jade, why don't you choose a time and place you love and look at what happened to ordinary people. This gives you chance to create characters who are reacting to known historical events.

You'll find, down here on this board, that we have a mix of novels ranging from those about people you might have heard of, to those who are creating everything except the historical events. But all of us do care to do the research and get our facts right. Historical novel readers are real nitpickers and will scream blue murder if they think you've not done your research. And once your name is bandied about as a writer who doesn't know the basics you lose readers.

pdr said:

But if you love creating stories, Mara Jade, why don't you choose a time and place you love and look at what happened to ordinary people. .

Click to expand...

This is what I've done. My first book is set in 1347, the second starts 1348 and the third 1356. I've done a lot of research because the life of ordinary people in those days was really interesting. (I didn't like history at school - dates, kings getting head chopped of or doing it to others and so many wars I can't work out how the human race has survived). So I've found out everything from how to spit politely at the dinner table through to the difference between jousting armour and that used in battle.

So, for me, the fiction is set in and includes a lot of fact. I hope you enjoy writing this sort of novel as much as I have done.

Hi MaraJade - I'm going to make an assumption from your signature that you're asking about The Pirate Queens, by which I suspect you mean Anne Bonny, Mary Read and the like. If that's the case, you're going to have to stay pretty true to historical fact - but - if by any chance one of the ladies was in Barbados, or Port au Prince, or Tortuga at the same time one of the known male pirates was - and there's no historical record of the meeting (other than that they were there are the same time), you can use your imagination to create what might have happened when they encountered each other - was there a pirate feast, a stand-off, taunts, etc. And, you have a lot of opportunity for creativity in what might have happened with others in the crew(s) in known situations, or, if the historic record says one of their ships ran aground you can create the scene. There's a lot of leeway for expansion and imagination in the historical record if you fill in the gaps - just don't alter any of the known facts. Hope that helps. Puma

The fiction fills in the gaps in the historical record. Depending on your story, your characters, your setting, etc, those gaps can be quite large...

Yep!

Characters interact with each other and have an effect on each other. In an historical novel the history does exactly the same to your characters.

mara_jade3 said:

This may be a dumb question, but I am new to this genre. How much os historical fiction should stay true to history and how much of the fiction is generally allowed? I just want to know how creative it can get without becoming labeled as something else besides historical.

Click to expand...

You'll get a variety of answers on this one but I think if you're going to write historical fiction, readers are expecting historical accuracy. That's part of the allure and why people read historical fiction in the first place. Historical readers are pretty savvy and they'll let you know when you get it wrong. If you're not writing about an actual historical figure there's a lot more latitude although obviously no one could have shadowed anyone 24/7 so there's still plenty of room for creativity. Historians can only tell you so much about historical figures, the rest you make up!
Linnea