Need Some Thoughts on Historical Fiction

Sargentodiaz · Dec 14, 2010

At what point does “reality” trump fiction in historical fiction?

I started my latest project off with a simple premise; showing the founding of the California missions through the eyes of two young men. One is an Indian from western Mexico while the other is from Devon, England. Fate brings them together and they join Father Junipero Serra’s march north to found a mission in Baja California before moving on to obey the king’s fiat to make a firm Spanish presence in Alta California at San Diego and Monterey.

And then …

During the revision process, I kept using the Google Search function to get information for “minor holes” I kept seeing in the story. I’ve now downloaded 7 books on the subject, along with one tome sent to me by the friars of present-day Santa Barbara. I have 68 bookmarks and another 14 folders with numerous files on everything from the missions themselves to plants and geography of the area. I’ve discovered so much stuff I didn’t know before that it’s causing me to have to do a massive revision of the document.

So, here’s my problem - I don’t want this to be a dry, academic recitation of what went on during this time. I want my readers to see this complicated society through the eyes of two young people to whom all of this is new, intriguing, and even dangerous.

Some of you have read snippets of this work to include a query [which has also been totally revised] and the 1st five pages. So, At what point do my fictional characters out weight the real characters who drive this whole story?

Ineti · Dec 14, 2010

I just finished reading James Alexander Thom's excellent The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction. In it, he mentions that you should do your research, but at some point you need to write the story. Have enough research in hand to provide verisimilitude in the details so that you're immersing the reader in the period, but don't go overboard. You're writing fiction, not non-fiction.

Who are the focal characters of your story? The fictional ones or the real historical figures? Focus on your focal characters and make them more important than anyone else in the book.

ishtar'sgate · Dec 14, 2010

Ineti said:
Have enough research in hand to provide verisimilitude in the details so that you're immersing the reader in the period, but don't go overboard. You're writing fiction, not non-fiction.

And to do that you must first immerse yourself in the period. I find that if I do adequate research I don't have to look up anything. I am so familiar with the period that I automatically know a lot of the things other writers seem okay with plugging in later. For me, and I may be in the minority here, in order to give my readers the experience of a period it means doing copious amounts of research. I don't use anywhere near all of it in my novel but it gives my writing the flavour of the period I think and that goes a long way toward accomplishing my goal of immersing the reader in the period.

pdr · Dec 14, 2010

The real skill...

in writing historical fiction is not in the research. You will never stop researching and finding new things.

It's in the iceberg principle. You need to be firmly grounded in your era/year and culture, but only one seventh should be visible to the readers. That seventh should be all those details and touches of infomation which enchant readers who love historical fiction.

Learning how to do this without info dumps, or sounding like a theses or a history lesson is the difficult task of the writer.

It helps to really love your characters and be passionately involved in their lives, their fears and aspirations. Then you want to write their lives in the historical context, not the other way round.

Your characters and their story should be the key factor because you are writing fiction.

Puma · Dec 14, 2010

And think about the story arc. How do your main characters actions relate to the story arc? Are they driving it or are they being driven by historical reality?

The trick is to have an interesting (and entertaining and believable) story centered around your main characters - painted against the backdrop of history. I continually go back to Captain from Castille written by Samuel Shellabarger as an excellent example of incorporating history (Cortez and the conquest of Mexico) with the story of a young man persecuted and hunted by the Inquisition and in love with both an unobtainable senorita and a brawling camp follower. If you've never read it, lv, I'd recommend watching the movie at least (movie only covers about 1/3 -1/2 of the book).

To be a good story, your two boys need to have the plot centered around them. If the boys are only following Serra, then you're in danger of being tagged historical faction (which can tend to be dry because known persons from history can't cut loose and be uncharacteristic.)

Hope this helps. Puma

MTP · Dec 14, 2010

lvcabbie said:
At what point do my fictional characters out weight the real characters who drive this whole story?

Your characters need to drive the story, not the historical figures who are there for context. If they don't drive the story because the story is the overall historical narrative of Serra's expedition, you need to find (read: invent) your characters' story within the history and focus on that.

Bernard Cornwell does a great job with this in his books. Sharpe, Starbuck, Uhtred and the others are all fictional characters but they participate in actual battles and other events. However, the plot centers on the characters' conflicts - within themselves, with others, with larger forces. The history doesn't drive the story; the characters do, but the history certainly influences it.

With such an approach the history becomes backdrop, context and verisimilitude, and you can apply the Iceberg Principle, as others have mentioned: Get a solid grounding in the era, and provide precise details but no more than necessary to immerse the reader and paint the mental picture.

Frank Kelso · Dec 15, 2010

Hey Lvcabbie: Thoughts from a newbie.
Like the rest of the writers above, my WIP is historical fiction. The first draft was what you feared, a boring, dry account of historical events as the protag passed by.
Just as the posts in thread advised, I rewrote and focused on the protag and his personal journey through this troubled time - how he grew, changed and looked at his internal conflicts from a different light because of the history - not just observing history.
I think you understand these concepts because you asked the question.

Sargentodiaz · Dec 15, 2010

Who are the focal characters of your story? The fictional ones or the real historical figures? Focus on your focal characters and make them more important than anyone else in the book.

Thanks all! I think the above was what hit me in the eye. As others have pointed out, research has to lead to creating the scene in which the two boys are operating.

I guess what I'm getting at is that my boys are being caught up in a great adventure with experiences beyond their wildest dreams. Yet, other characters in the story have and face conflicts which makes what happens to the boys.

Jaime, the Indian, is torn from his world and put into another ruled by a culture entirely alien to him, not only in language but customs.

Timothy, the English boy, comes from a European culture but it is also different from the Spanish he comes in contact with. He's not unfamiliar with class distinctions but certainly not the complicated differences within the ranks of the Spanish military but between them and the friars.

At the same time, I have to somehow work in backstory so the entire time and effort makes sense to the reader.

Example: Jaime sees Father Serra for the first time and cannot escape the serious limp he has. When he gets the opportunity and courage, he asks one of the friars and learns that Serra had walked 270 miles from Vera Cruz to Mexico City in the rain. He suffered severe insect bites and possibly even a snakebite. He refused what crude medical treatment was available in those days with the declaration, "If it is His will, it will heal."

{I also have to point out Jaime's thoughts of how ridiculous it is to be hurt and not seek treatment}

MTP · Dec 15, 2010

lvcabbie said:
I guess what I'm getting at is that my boys are being caught up in a great adventure with experiences beyond their wildest dreams. Yet, other characters in the story have and face conflicts which makes what happens to the boys.

Your concept sounds like a great one - so long as the story is not just them getting caught up in the adventure and having amazing experiences, but tackling a conflict on their level. Even if other characters' conflicts affect the boys, the story has to focus on the boys' actions to address the conflicts that arise in their lives. That may or may not be the same as the overall historical conflicts that Serra and his expedition faced. Regardless, structure your plot around their character arcs, their external and internal conflicts, not necessarily the overall historical narrative.

ishtar'sgate · Dec 15, 2010

MTP said:
Even if other characters' conflicts affect the boys, the story has to focus on the boys' actions to address the conflicts that arise in their lives. That may or may not be the same as the overall historical conflicts that Serra and his expedition faced.

As an addendum, if you can create ways for historical events to merge with character conflicts you can heighten the historical fiction experience for the reader. I don't like two separate paths - one for historical events and one for character conflict. I like to combine them inextricably so the storyline is bound to the period.

For example, my MC would never have left her castle and estate for another land hungry character to snap up if the black plague hadn't driven her from her lands. Neither would another person be burned at the stake for the sake of religious freedom if a list hadn't been made of all books banned by the church. Safe passage to attend tournaments would never end up being used as a means for a Scottish clan to gain entrance into England for treacherous purposes if the plague hadn't weakened the country.

I like to make history work for me. A story that could be told in any other time and be the same is weaker, I think, than a story that is obviously tied to a specific period.

singsebastian · Dec 22, 2010

First, know the time period well enough that you can get away with smudging a few details that honestly do not pretain to the story. Its okay for you to know these details just in case it does become nessecary to put them in somewhere.

All I look for in historical fiction is if it makes me feel as if the author has done their research. Of course, you could do so much that it feels very staunch and over-researched. The characters are just talking heads and what's more important is how historically accurate their clothing was for the time period.

You are allowed creative licencing when it comes to this. I figure, as long as I feel like I'm in the period. I really couldn't care less if animals dranks from a trouch during that time or not.

PastMidnight · Dec 24, 2010

The way I try to keep my story central and the facts not: I do all of my research ahead of time. Make sure I know how characters would get through a day in my time. Have an idea on how history will shape my plot. Then I put all of my books and notes and printouts away before I start writing. And, for the most part, I keep them away during my first draft. I've found that the scenes written with an open book next to me are often those too dry and fact-heavy. When I come to a scene where I know I'll need more detail than what's in my head, I just make a note for myself in the text and keep on writing. But, for me at least, research is for before I write and for second drafts. First drafts are just for writing and that's how I make sure I get the characters, the thoughts, the emotions onto the page.

Eddyz Aquila · Dec 24, 2010

EDIT: Wrong post lol

But I can offer my two cents since i'm writing historical as well.

When you think of the characters, when they act inside your head, try to achieve a balance between their real life counterparts and inside the book. Too much information ruins it, and try to avoid that.

Mentioning the events and linking them up with the character's own actions shows the impact of the era in their own world, and that adds a layer of "personality".

Puma · Dec 24, 2010

lv - If I remember correctly, you have a love triangle in your story with the boys and a girl. Maybe she needs to come into the story earlier. Love triangles are very well established plots. And that's what you need - a plot that only relates to the boys. Puma

Sargentodiaz · Dec 24, 2010

Well, to be perfectly honest with everybody - I'm on yet another revision!
I made major changes in the plot structure where I introduce the young English boy first, then follow up with the Indian. I'm also in the midst of making it more from Timothy's viewpoint [the English boy] with the Indian a slightly minor character. Their adventure is still based upon the historical fact of the establishment of Franciscan missions under Father Serra.

Yes, there are TWO girls involved, one in an "union libre" and the other married by Fr. Serra.

DavidZahir · Jan 3, 2011

For what it is worth, I tend to look for what I call "loopholes" or "plugins" within known events. Another way to look at it is to think about answering unanswered (and perhaps historically unanswerable) questions.

Likewise, it seems to me that while one should generally try to keep historical fiction as accurate as possible, the story comes first. And if you are going to change events in some significant way (having Douglas win the presidency instead of Lincoln for example) then 'fess up this is an alternate history. Or if just want to change lots of details, you might want to change even the historical characters' names so as to make it clearer this is a fictionalization of true events.

Or not. Up to you. Just a few pennies offered for what they are worth.

Sargentodiaz · Jan 3, 2011

Thanks all for the comments!

The most important thing I got out of this is - CHARACTER COMES FIRST!

So, it's back to the drawing board to strengthen the viewpoint of my MC - which isn't proving to be as hard as I thought it would be.

Need Some Thoughts on Historical Fiction

Sargentodiaz

Ineti

Purveyor of Prose

ishtar'sgate

living in the past

pdr

Puma

Retired and loving it!

MTP

Frank Kelso

Sargentodiaz

MTP

ishtar'sgate

living in the past

singsebastian

New kid, be gentle!

PastMidnight

Oponionated

Eddyz Aquila

Noob Writers United

Puma

Retired and loving it!

Sargentodiaz

DavidZahir

Malkavian Primogen

Sargentodiaz