Historical fiction dilemna

doeraymee said:

I am having a tough time trying to make some decisions about my
first novel, and I'm hoping that someone here with experience can
help me.

My story is about a working class man and the setting is a certain city just after WW II. Part of the action (about 1/3 of it) takes place during a strike at a steel mill. I had originally thought of
using the actual facts of an actual (famous) strike that took place,
that I have researched. I was actually going to use the real name of
the city too and its real streets and buildings, etc. The problem
is, the character's personal time line doesn't jive that well with
the timeline of the real strike. I know that I can't change the
facts of the historical event. Also, the more I research and gather
facts, the more I am starting to feel hemmed in by them... I don't
want to write a non-fiction work here, I want to write fiction, I
want to imagine some of the setting, etc. I find myself wanting to
create events/people that perhaps didn't exist or flesh out things
about which I have only been able to gather small pieces of
information.

I like the idea of using the real event and setting to
give the story authenticity and maybe even to attract readers who are
interested in the city and this particular event, but I'm afraid a
real event/setting will restrict me too much. Should I abandon the
use of the real names and events, and just make up a fictional
strike (but borrowing some of the facts)?
Any suggestions?

Thanks!

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My opinion: Have the characters refer to the real events, use real names, places and dates to add texture and richness to your world and your character's background - but invent your own, fictional events to actually root your character and story in. You don't have to abandon the use of historical facts, but you shouldn't try to twist your story's 'truth' to fit in with them either, so long as you don't do anything that blatantly violates the timeline or makes a nonsense of the setting and time you've chosen. Loads of authors do this, so I don't see why you can't.

One way to get around this is to use the real events, but not for your character. Certainly stikes were coordinated events, so you could have a second mill, run by the same company, that was conducting a strike either simultaneously with, sequentially with, or some time after the real-deal. You could also have the fictitious strike run by the same people who ran the real strike. This way, the real events can be used as a framework for the fictitious event that involves your character, and you can play with the timing, the specific circumstances, and the outcome. This will allow you to infuse the events with real events and real information as well as doing as all fiction writers do--make stuff up.

You may want to read some Historical Fiction authors to see how they did it.

In The Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje is a great example of taking real events and bringing out an exciting plot.
I can't off the top of my head think of any others...anyone?

I think it would be neat to put your character in the real strike. Just find something to give it a twist. See if in your research there is a mystery or hole in the real story that you can capitalize on.
Were there riots during the strike? How did the men live without being paid? (I don't know how long the strike was, but if it went on for a month and you had a mouth to feed) What was going on in the rest of the city at the time? Entertainment, poverty, etc.

HTH,
10000

Your post spoke to me, Doeraymee. I'm a historian who's turned to writing novels, and I too know what it's like to feel hemmed in by knowing too much. Think of the information as a springboard, not a limit, and figure out what frees you. If the detail is what's holding you back, maybe it's the wrong detail. Are the street names what matter, or is it the daily life of the mill worker? If you have information about how these people lived, that's what will grab the reader. The trappings are less important; don't let them hang you up. If you have to change the name of the factory or have the strike in November instead of May, I don't see the problem. If you have actual characters say and do what they couldn't have said and done, that's something else. Play with it. You don't want to do damage to history, but at the same time, paradoxically, the less strictly you follow the precise details of the original, the less damage you can do. You might want to read a few excellent historical novels to know what sort of details to include; I suggest Gillian Slovo, Ice Road; Pat Barker, Regeneration; and Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong (but here, ignore the fact that he used a present-day protagonist as well as a historical one. That's a terrible device, in my opinion). Anyway, your book sounds like an exciting project, and good luck with it.

It's really interesting, this hemmed-in-by-facts stuff.
I dont exactly write historical fiction, but Ive written short stories based on the legends/lives of medieval saints. I have done a certain amount of research about the time and places they lived in; but found myself sometimes too bogged down by fact and knowledge. I found I wrote the best stories when I had let the facts sink in a bit so they were there when I needed them, but what I went with was the characters & where they went & what happened to them.
As you say, you're writing fiction, not non-fiction.

I like NeuroFizz's idea best, using the facts but setting your story in a parrallel universe, so to speak, where you can use those you want but can play with them a bit.

Lots of authors do it; or move places, houses etc. That's why it's fiction.

And for myself as a reader, I dont really mind these things at all in historical fictions.
What I do mind very much is when authors get stupid little details wrong, rhododendrons in 16th century England or poeple saying okay in 1875. That really gets my goat.

First of all, let me tell you that I sympathize with you. I'm also writing a historical novel and this one is set in WWII. Historical inconsistencies can get the best of the novel...

I don't know if this advice will help. I did it for my novel.

Don't change the timeline of the actual event. Conform your character to the event, in that, you have to arrange the situation in which he'll be able to be in the mill by 1946, not 1947. I once had my character to 14 years old, but later changed it to 17 just so she could be sufficient enough to make decisions and have the proper education. I even changed her background, and it worked.
I'm not sure about your own character though. Was he sent to the war in the 40s? Did he stay home or was he sent home? Does he have a physical impairment that will prevent him from going to war?

It may not sound like much of an advice, but try conforming your character. If you can't, then, just make that event in 1946 a basis to your event in 1947, without using the real names of the places etc. You can even have the people in that 1947 strike refer to that event in 1946, comparing the two or something.

Just wanna add in my two cents. Good luck with your novel!

Nice answers!

We've discussed this at length down in the Get with the Genre section where we writers of historical fiction get together.

Would you like to move this thread down there? We could ask the Mods pretty please to move it if you like?

I suggest you read some of the masters of historical fiction to see how they handle this. My faves include Sharon Kay Penman, Diana Gabaldon, Dorothy Dunnett and Rosanna Lippi.

Thanks for the suggestion, Doeraymee. I've never read him but will check it out. Have you read Alan Furst? If not, you're in for a treat. He writes thrillers about WWII, sometimes set in the years just before the war. His last few books are almost telegraphic in their terseness, so you can tell which details are absolutely essential for atmosphere. But I prefer his longer works, particularly Dark Star. Otherwise, I wouldn't overlook novels like War and Peace, Middlemarch, and any number of other classics that are actually historical novels because the action occurs either before the author's time or when s/he was young. There's a writer I'd never heard of, Eyvind Johnson, who wrote The Days of His Grace, an attack on totalitarianism set during the time of Charlemagne. I was startled to learn that Johnson shared a Nobel Prize in 1974, but not after I read the book. What I've learned from these readings is that details in themselves don't matter; it's character that matters. Details lend atmosphere and credibility (see Furst), but they're the trees, not the forest.

doeraymee said:

Thanks! I didn't realize there WAS a historical novels thread. I'll check it out.

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Me either! Thanks pdr. The Historical Novel Society sounds interesting, too. Is that a good place to find out which agents like working with historical fiction?

doraeymee, you may find this article useful if you haven't read it yet:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/novels/historical_novelist.htm

And so can this thread:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36289

Good luck with your novel