Am I allowed to do this?

Vengeful Strumpet

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'Allowed' probably isn't the right word and I apologize if this is in the wrong section, but I've hit something of a brick wall.

I'm pretty much in love with the middle ages. I have been for a while and I've had an idea floating around my head for a month or so and decided to get to making to notes, characters sheets (etc) as I usually do. Recently I've realised that what I had in mind wouldn't work against an historical backdrop. At all. I tried to make the plot fit in with the time period but it failed
and so one of my friend suggested I create my own little world. That would probably be ideal for me, except then I wondered if that would make it fantasy. My friend pointed out over popular historical novels like Pillars Of The Earth have fictional characters and events (I haven't read it, I wouldn't know), but that doesn't count, does it?

There'll be no major overhaul, it will be everything with the middle ages, I'll just be creating my own little corner without having to have my time line fit in with history.
Forgive me for being ignorant, but I'm pretty sure that for me to create my own world, country, characters, that would make it fantasy. My friend is insisting it wouldn't. I've never read fantasy, although wiki states "Essentially, fantasy follows rules of its own making, allowing magic and other fantastic devices to be used and still be internally cohesive". There will be no magic, no other races (etc). At all. Writing that kind of book doesn't interest me, it'll follow all the rules of this world and life in the middle ages. So now I've confused.

If I write it, will it be classed as historical or fantasy (or something else)?
 

Puma

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Fictional characters are always allowed in historical fiction. Fictional places have shown up in quite a few historical novels. Altering time lines is a problem though. In addition to historical fiction and fantasy (and I don't think you're talking about fantasy by what you've said), another possibility is alternative historical fiction - sort of a what if - the Vikings had sailed down and sacked Rome; Richard the Lion-Heart hadn't been captured; the victor at Hastings was reversed (or it had happened a century later) - that type of thing. Would alternative solve your problem? Puma
 

Vengeful Strumpet

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I looked up alternative history and I do have a feeling that might be along the lines of what I'm going for, although it slipped my mind to point out in the first post that what happens in the novel will have no particular reference to the real middle ages time line. I realised 'it'll follow all the rules of this world and life in the middle ages' was a little misleading. The basic laws of physics will be the same. As I said, no magic, no mythical creatures, nothing most people seem to associate with fantasy. I am going as far as to world build completely new countries, cultures, historical back grounds for each of them, set in a time most would picture to be medieval, although it bares no real resemblance to what actually occurred.

I did ask this on another site and I got 'science fiction' back but I'm pretty sure that isn't what I'm heading towards.

Am I even making sense? It's 3.30 here so forgive me if I'm not.
 

leahzero

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Alternative history usually refers to real places, cultures, people, etc. that are shaped to fit a new narrative.

Your story sounds like it's an entirely separate, invented country that just happens to exist during the Earth's Middle Ages. For it to be historical fiction, or even alternate historical, it would need some reference to real things.
 

W.J. Cherf

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Run with it...

Write your medieval history. Fictional characters, as pointed out above are fine. I have done the same, but with ancient Egypt. If you want to be really devious, stick tight to the historical record and then "run with it" where ever there are any gaps or uncertainties. It leaves the reader wondering: "what's real and what's Memorex?"
 

L.C. Blackwell

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Maybe check out the graustark books as an example? They're historicals about a fictional central european kingdom.

Not sure if I'd call the Graustark books historical, or if they're just romances in a very old sense of the word. That said, they do have a "period" feel.

I wonder if what you have here is Historical Fantasy as opposed to High Fantasy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_fantasy

While magical elements have come to define fantasy as a genre, they're not necessarily requisite.
 

Dave Hardy

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Just write it. If you need to invent an entirely fictional history, go ahead. Anachronisms tend to break me out of a story, but not necessarily fictionalizations. So if a 10th c Viking shows up in Renaissance Italy, I'd be bothered. Creating a fictional locale in Rennaissance Italy wouldn't, if you can see t he distinction I'm making.

So if you need to fictionalize the entire history, why not? What will matter is if your characters stand up as people in the history you've created. A fictional Medieval prelate wouldn't faze me. I'd be bothered by a fictional Medieval prelate arguing it is important to accept all opinions on religion and to prevent global warming.
 

areteus

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My goto author on 'slightly different history' is always Julian Rathbone. Check out 'Kings of Albion'. In that he creates a ficticious Indian sub continent kingdom and then sends the prince of this realm and his entourage to Middle Ages England where he uses them to make satirical commentary on English attitudes of the time. It sort of reads in parts like Victorian English explorers commenting on primitive native tribes which I think was the effect he was going for :)

He does admit in his afterword that the realm does not exist and that he had consulted several experts in an attempt to find an appropriate kingdom before he went ahead and made one up based on vague and controversial evidence that such a place coud possibly have existed but we aren't sure if it did or not...

So, yes, it is possible.

As for fantasy/sci fi labels... don't get bogged down in the stereotypes here. The common perception of 'fantasy' is the dragons and elves and magic but that is not necessarily the case. Just write your story and see how things go and worry about labels later.
 

Deb Kinnard

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I'm in wholehearted agreement with the above commenters. Just tell your story. Don't worry much in first draft about where it will "fit" or what it will become, but get your story told to the very best of your ability.

In SEASONS IN THE MIST, I used England/Cornwall, real people and places, and fictitious characters and places. None of my readers seemed to mind. My publisher was even kind enough to let me put a map in the back for readers to know where my non-real towns and castles were in relation to the real ones.

May your work find favor!
 

Anne Lyle

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Forgive me for being ignorant, but I'm pretty sure that for me to create my own world, country, characters, that would make it fantasy. My friend is insisting it wouldn't. I've never read fantasy, although wiki states "Essentially, fantasy follows rules of its own making, allowing magic and other fantastic devices to be used and still be internally cohesive". There will be no magic, no other races (etc). At all. Writing that kind of book doesn't interest me, it'll follow all the rules of this world and life in the middle ages. So now I've confused.

If I write it, will it be classed as historical or fantasy (or something else)?

Worry about that if/when you try and get an agent or publisher. This is a marketing issue, not a writing issue.

Yes, books set in an entirely invented but historically plausible world with no magic are often marketed as fantasy. Good examples are "Swordspoint" by Ellen Kushner and any number of books by Guy Gavriel Kay.

It really depends on how far you stray from history, because (broadly speaking) fans of historical fiction tend to read it for insights into real history, not because they like stories about knights and castles.

Finally, you can always change it later (because if you want to sell it, you will have to revise it at least once. Trust me.) The novel in my signature started out set in a purely fictional Tudoresque world, but when I ran it past my writing group they said it would be much cooler set in the real Elizabethan London. I made the change, and I think it's all the better for it. Admittedly my book is "real" fantasy, with magic and non-humans, but the same principle applies.
 
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SummerSurf57

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Oh, I personally wouldn't class it as fantasy, but many would. Just because its made up doesn't make it fantasy, in my opinion. Isn't fantasy like, totally made up and unbelievable? (one of my least favourite genres). I presume there will be some truth in it, for example they won't be totally unbelievable characters and speak gibberish?
 

Vengeful Strumpet

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You're all right, I'll just be leaving it for now and pouring all my effort into writing it before I jump the gun :D

Thank you!