How to add history footnotes to a historical fantasy book?

[Roxxsmom]

I've read historical novels that have notes at the end that explain certain things, but I don't remember any that had footnotes. I definitely associate those with NF.

I've read author "forewords" that explain an underlying premise for a given book as well, sort of stage setting. This can be useful if the book focuses on a less widely period or situation, or if the author is exploring an alternative hypothesis about something central to the story.

My problem is that footnotes, even asterisk'ed asides at the bottom of the page, are sort of breaking the fourth wall. If the story is written as fiction and is attempting to immerse the reader in the story, characters, and events, reminding me (just as a wild example) that a recent discovery suggests that medieval ladies did, in fact, sometimes have garments resembling brassiers might knock me out as much as wondering whether or not the character actually would have worn such a garment. And then on the next page, a footnote explaining what the treaty of [insert name] was, and so on.

That's just me, of course, and maybe habitual readers of historical fiction might think differently. One complexity is that HF occurs on a spectrum from being very much centered around a specific real historical event or person to being much more centered on completely fictitious characters and events that just so happen to be set in and affected by a real time and place in history.

 

[Woollybear]

I used footnotes in my self-pub science fantasy, to point to actual science I relied on for speculative elements and so on. I don't have tons of reviews, fewer than 100, but none complained of the footnotes AFAIK.

When I wrote book 2, I didn't use footnotes. I just wasn't in that headspace anymore. I was more about getting the story out for story's sake.

Personally, I love footnotes. They are so nerdy and wonderful. Use them if you like. Use them. I know readers can too easily dismiss real science, if it's too bizarre, and in spec-fic I figured it was OK ... and self-published with footnotes and no one seems to mind. Use them. You will feel better about it all.

The trade route is less experimental, to my eye. There are cookie-cutter stories, which trade wants, so there you go. No footnotes. Pure escapist marketability. A romantasy with a strong heroine? Write that, write it well, and be the next Sanderson (or whoever). That's trade, to my eye. I'm leaning into trade requirements for the hist fic I'm currently writing. There are bits that sell. Stakes and reader expectation. Write to sell. So, that's trade, as far as I can tell. No footnotes.

What is your goal?

e.g. a current bestselling HF from 2025 opens:

She could carry the boy but it would slow them down. He's too heavy. She grips his small hand as they run trying not to fall. Twigs snap underfoot, the ground uneven. Faster, she tells him, pick up your feet. A bullet lodges with a sharp thunk in the trunk of a pine a few meters ahead. Lili stoops reflexively, resists the urge to turn around ...

... strong open, strong woman, threat of death.

If your goal is trade, look to trade novels and let them be your guide. Also listen to your instincts. The first hurdle is finding a person who can sell your work. Convince them they can sell it, and then suggest the extra bits, the footnotes or what have you. One step at a time. Have fun.

 

[Jazz Club]

I haven't read all the replies so I might be repeating someone else here. One other way to clarify instead of footnotes (if you think they break reader immersion or whatever) is to have a longer 'author's note' at the end of the book. That way you can explain what really happened and what was authorial discretion/creatively filling in gaps in the historial record. For example, the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell (historical fiction) is very historically accurate for the most part, but the fictional character Sharpe plays a big role in events. If there's any mystery about something in the real historical record, it's a good chance for Cornwell to have Sharpe do the thing, but he does explain later that no one really knows how it happened. Or if he's lent Sharpe the actions of some real person, he tells you about the real person in the historical note. I always thought that was a pretty good way to go about it

 

[MaeZe]

Sorry as I have not read the previous posts, here's my opinion anyway.

It's fiction, it's fantasy or some combination. However you set up your formatting for the story use the same notation you would find in that format.

 

[JJ Litke]

Footnotes are important. I love historical fiction since my young age, exactly because I have learnt at least equally as much from the footnotes than from the novels per se. And it seems the readers and the literary critics who like this feature in my books think the same.

Elenitsa, I'm sorry if my comments upset you, but I think we're getting sidetracked away from the specific scenario that the OP described. It's not just historical fiction, it's historical fantasy. It'd most likely be shelved with other fantasy novels, which means most readers will be coming in with those expectations. In SFF, it's a given that there may be new or unfamiliar concepts in the world building, and SFF readers are well used to piecing that kind of info together. Footnotes are exceedingly rare, and definitely no one uses them to explain world-building.

The given example was a footnote that pointed out that this character is based on a real historical figure. I don't see any need for such a footnote. That feels like the author intruding to explain why they made that story choice. So, my opinion is that the story needs to be able to stand on its own, without explaining why a character is behaving the way they are.

 

[Elenitsa]

Elenitsa, I'm sorry if my comments upset you, but I think we're getting sidetracked away from the specific scenario that the OP described. It's not just historical fiction, it's historical fantasy. It'd most likely be shelved with other fantasy novels, which means most readers will be coming in with those expectations. In SFF, it's a given that there may be new or unfamiliar concepts in the world building, and SFF readers are well used to piecing that kind of info together. Footnotes are exceedingly rare, and definitely no one uses them to explain world-building.

The given example was a footnote that pointed out that this character is based on a real historical figure. I don't see any need for such a footnote. That feels like the author intruding to explain why they made that story choice. So, my opinion is that the story needs to be able to stand on its own, without explaining why a character is behaving the way they are.

You are not upsetting me if referring to historical fantasy. I agree with you, the inspiration source might be mentioned briefly in an author note at the end of the book, without the need of a footnote in that case. Or it might miss totally from the book, or make the subject of a promotion blog post, or an interview.

 

[Orange_car]

Elenitsa, I'm sorry if my comments upset you, but I think we're getting sidetracked away from the specific scenario that the OP described. It's not just historical fiction, it's historical fantasy. It'd most likely be shelved with other fantasy novels, which means most readers will be coming in with those expectations. In SFF, it's a given that there may be new or unfamiliar concepts in the world building, and SFF readers are well used to piecing that kind of info together. Footnotes are exceedingly rare, and definitely no one uses them to explain world-building.

The given example was a footnote that pointed out that this character is based on a real historical figure. I don't see any need for such a footnote. That feels like the author intruding to explain why they made that story choice. So, my opinion is that the story needs to be able to stand on its own, without explaining why a character is behaving the way they are.

Should I at least include footnotes for various foods mentioned in my historical fantasy story, especially as the foods come from different cultures and thus not all readers may be familiar with them? There is a cooking scene in my story as well.

When I read the Same Bed Different Dreams novel by Ed Park, I struggled with the Korean food names that were utilized in the introduction, and thus it made it hard for me to visualize what kinds of foods the characters were eating.

As for the rest of the historical stuff, I've been going through my chapters again to verify that no sections are relying on footnotes. Previously I thought including the footnotes might be a nice-to-have, but now I see they have a high risk of being a distraction.

 

[Brigid Barry]

Maybe save the historical information for bonus content and forgo the footnotes. Examples were cited above of clever ways footnotes have been used to enhance a work of fiction, but, as also mentioned above, footnotes here seem more to justify the story or show off research for the benefit of the author rather than enhancing the reader's experience.

If it hasn't been mentioned above (I haven't been following the thread) consider that a lot of people are using e-readers and flipping back and forth to look at footnotes would be a nightmare, and if they just read them at the end of won't matter.

I feel like this is a unique "kill your darlings" situation, but still kill your darlings.

 

[Roxxsmom]

Should I at least include footnotes for various foods mentioned in my historical fantasy story, especially as the foods come from different cultures and thus not all readers may be familiar with them? There is a cooking scene in my story as well.

When I read the Same Bed Different Dreams novel by Ed Park, I struggled with the Korean food names that were utilized in the introduction, and thus it made it hard for me to visualize what kinds of foods the characters were eating.

As for the rest of the historical stuff, I've been going through my chapters again to verify that no sections are relying on footnotes. Previously I thought including the footnotes might be a nice-to-have, but now I see they have a high risk of being a distraction.

I don't think there is a right or wrong way to do it, but is there a reason you can't just describe the unfamiliar foods in flow, so to speak, if they are important to the story? If you have a scene where someone is cooking, what are there thoughts about the ingredients or flavors? What are the experiences of the character or character who is eating them?

I'd expect more explanation might be in order if something defies what a reader would expect about that time and place in history based on their previous knowledge or reading (correct or incorrect). I've read soooo many "medievalish" historically themed fantasy novels where people are drinking tea, for instance, but few where people are drinking coffee. So I imagine most people "know" that tea was around forever in Europe but coffee is very recent. Yet the two drinks both appeared in the 17th century (well after cocoa first appeared, actually), if I remember correctly (I might not--checks). If one has someone drinking "tea" in a medieval setting (just as an example), it might make sense to somehow make it clear that this is some kind of steeped herbal concoction that was drunk locally, not the black or green tea we are familiar with today.

Would this be an example of something that could benefit from footnotes or from some other "out of the story" way of conveying information to the reader?

 

[Orange_car]

I don't think there is a right or wrong way to do it, but is there a reason you can't just describe the unfamiliar foods in flow, so to speak, if they are important to the story? If you have a scene where someone is cooking, what are there thoughts about the ingredients or flavors? What are the experiences of the character or character who is eating them?

I'd expect more explanation might be in order if something defies what a reader would expect about that time and place in history based on their previous knowledge or reading (correct or incorrect). I've read soooo many "medievalish" historically themed fantasy novels where people are drinking tea, for instance, but few where people are drinking coffee. So I imagine most people "know" that tea was around forever in Europe but coffee is very recent. Yet the two drinks both appeared in the 17th century (well after cocoa first appeared, actually), if I remember correctly (I might not--checks). If one has someone drinking "tea" in a medieval setting (just as an example), it might make sense to somehow make it clear that this is some kind of steeped herbal concoction that was drunk locally, not the black or green tea we are familiar with today.

Would this be an example of something that could benefit from footnotes or from some other "out of the story" way of conveying information to the reader?

I used food to indirectly symbolize the character dynamics and their relative power. Essentially taking food from someone else shows superior power/position and sharing food is building relations.

In the early chapters, the main character's sister kept stealing MC's baked breads (e.g. sourdough Franzbrötchen), much to the MC's frustration and the sister gets amusement out of it. That was to show their family bond, and to foreshadow the later event when the sister helps coup plotters with ousting the MC from political office. Because the two of them are Germans living in alt-Germany, I had to utilize German specific foods.

When the MC is in alt-India, she eats foods left abandoned by her defeated rivals and acquires a taste for the local cuisines. Such as in one scene where her team crash a major meeting between the local and foreign (Soviets and Chinese) communists, and she helps herself to a lunch feast that was originally meant for the communist attendees. Meanwhile the captured communists are being interrogated in the background.

When she arrives at an abandoned British-Franco colonial administration headquarters and sees that the British-Franco were clearly losing control of India, she eats food off of an abandoned plate in the Viceroy of India's vacant office before moving on.

When she's building relations with a local, she is helping them cook a lunch for the local's children (and to also learn how to cook their food). This where I definitely don't need to provide an explanation for the food names because the scene describes the ingredients and the cooking process.

When the MC heads over the alt-China, she does not get the opportunity to eat the local foods there and instead quickly leaves after accomplishing her goal. I use that to symbolize that taking the fight to the Chinese communists' homeland instead of playing the proxy war in India was not a good idea.

I don't know if I should just leave the names of the German and Indian foods in the story and expect the readers to find out for themselves if they aren't familiar with them, or provide a very short blurb at the bottom of the page where the foods are mentioned to explain what those foods are.

 

[Unimportant]

I don't know if I should just leave the names of the German and Indian foods in the story and expect the readers to find out for themselves if they aren't familiar with them, or provide a very short blurb at the bottom of the page where the foods are mentioned to explain what those foods are.

If it were me, I'd put it in the context of the POV character, use descriptions as befitting the POV character's experience with the food at the time it's shown in the story, the way the vast majority of authors do in historical and other genre fiction, and leave it.

If you're writing for a reader, whether it be yourself or someone else, then write it as that one particular reader prefers. If you're writing for the reader, then it's probably easiest and most effective to do what is the standard for published books in that market, as that's what readers are used to and expect.

 

[benbenberi]

I don't know if I should just leave the names of the German and Indian foods in the story and expect the readers to find out for themselves if they aren't familiar with them, or provide a very short blurb at the bottom of the page where the foods are mentioned to explain what those foods are.

IMO anything that's important for readers to understand in order to follow the story or understand the characters needs to be made clear in the story -- in the text of the story, not in footnotes or appendices or other external material. If it's not important enough to work into the text, it certainly doesn't merit interrupting the reader's experience of the story to direct them to go look at extraneous information. Scholars and researchers like footnotes because they are engaged with the facts and the sources and the arguments behind the text. Readers of fiction are engaged with the story as you present it in the text -- it's not a research project for them, it's an emotional experience. Footnotes are like commercial breaks on TV -- a very small number of people enjoy them, but most people do not. They would rather just carry on with the story.

In this particular example, I would not just drop the names of the German and Indian foods into the story knowing that most readers would be unfamiliar with them, nor would I include explanations in footnotes. I would rather have the foods described when they occur in the story. You can certainly name them, but tell the readers what they are, not just what they're called. And skip the footnotes. Most readers will.

 

[Orange_car]

IMO anything that's important for readers to understand in order to follow the story or understand the characters needs to be made clear in the story -- in the text of the story, not in footnotes or appendices or other external material. If it's not important enough to work into the text, it certainly doesn't merit interrupting the reader's experience of the story to direct them to go look at extraneous information. Scholars and researchers like footnotes because they are engaged with the facts and the sources and the arguments behind the text. Readers of fiction are engaged with the story as you present it in the text -- it's not a research project for them, it's an emotional experience. Footnotes are like commercial breaks on TV -- a very small number of people enjoy them, but most people do not. They would rather just carry on with the story.

In this particular example, I would not just drop the names of the German and Indian foods into the story knowing that most readers would be unfamiliar with them, nor would I include explanations in footnotes. I would rather have the foods described when they occur in the story. You can certainly name them, but tell the readers what they are, not just what they're called. And skip the footnotes. Most readers will.

Thank you! I'm going through my manuscript to utilize that idea, such as the MC's sister describing the taste and texture of the Franzbrötchens that she stole and ate.

 

[Sonsofthepharaohs]

Thank you! I'm going through my manuscript to utilize that idea, such as the MC's sister describing the taste and texture of the Franzbrötchens that she stole and ate.

Another critical point to take away from this discussion is the question of whether the information is important for the reader to know. Every writer has to wrestle with this question, whether it be how much backstory to include, or whether it's important that your reader know the itemised contents of the room your scene takes place in (usually it isn't). Does the reader really need to know exactly what all this food looks, smells and tastes like, how it's prepared, what's its cultural significance is? If those things are genuinely important to understanding the story, maybe, but usually not.

Just bear in mind: most of what the author needs to know in order to write their story never makes it into the story. It's the iceberg principle. Don't sink the story by revealing too much of it.

 

[Jazz Club]

It's not really footnotes, but in the Inspector Montalbano detective series by Andrea Camilleri there's a glossary at the end that explains some of the food specialities and Sicilian words used throughout the novels. The books were written in Italian but there's a lot of Sicilian in there too as the author was Sicilian and he wanted to highlight the language and culture. (I read the English translation, which was really excellent. The translator is also a poet, and it shows.)

I always really enjoyed reading the glossary and learning the new terms, though I was reading in paperback and it would've been more annoying to flick back and forth on an ebook as everyone else says. I don't remember the notes actually being numbered on the pages where the words appeared, now I think back. I think if there was something you didn't understand you just flicked to the glossary and hoped it was there

 

[Bitterboots]

Those footnotes were also part of the fiction, providing in-narrative commentary and metatextual reference/reaction to the story. They were NOT real reference data or real historical information. Or real anything.

I do realize that, I thought the question was about including footnotes in general. My bad if I misunderstood.

 

[Roxxsmom]

I don't know if I should just leave the names of the German and Indian foods in the story and expect the readers to find out for themselves if they aren't familiar with them, or provide a very short blurb at the bottom of the page where the foods are mentioned to explain what those foods are.

Yanno, one thing I do a lot, especially when I am reading a novel on my ipad (which I tend to do in bed before lights out), is to tap an unfamiliar word or cultural/historical reference and look it up instantly. Though my poor spouse grumbles in his sleep if I forget he's there and tap the little speaker so it plays the correct pronunciation!

I actually enjoy this, though I'm not sure everyone does. It's actually easier for me, though, than flipping to a glossary at the back of a book (or a map at the beginning, for that matter). One way ebooks are inferior to paper books is ease of flipping back and forth. Not saying one shouldn't have glossaries or maps. I enjoy both. Paper books are better for getting sleepy, though, since they don't violate that "no screens an hour before bed" thingy.

 

[Brightdreamer]

I used food to indirectly symbolize the character dynamics and their relative power. Essentially taking food from someone else shows superior power/position and sharing food is building relations.

If the food is important to your story's theme and symbolism, I'd keep the "exotic" food - and include descriptions to help the reader experience the foods and textures and flavors and all as the characters experience it, and understand how it's part of the culture, how food can be used to enforce power as you say. It's not just generic "bread" to be glossed over in a single word if it's the bread of a particular village, with local grains, baked in a particular manner, snatched up by an invading force and only given back in stale crumbs (if at all) after they trample the grain fields and destroy the ovens...

(I read a book that used food as a way to explore fantasy cultures: Confessions of a Gourmand, or How to Cook a Dragon, by Tom Bruno. The MC was a young man raised in kitchens, aspiring to be a great chef, who saw every race and culture and region through their cooking. The food descriptions were integral to understanding the characters and the world.)

 

[Elenitsa]

If the food is important to your story's theme and symbolism, I'd keep the "exotic" food - and include descriptions to help the reader experience the foods and textures and flavors and all as the characters experience it, and understand how it's part of the culture, how food can be used to enforce power as you say. It's not just generic "bread" to be glossed over in a single word if it's the bread of a particular village, with local grains, baked in a particular manner, snatched up by an invading force and only given back in stale crumbs (if at all) after they trample the grain fields and destroy the ovens...

(I read a book that used food as a way to explore fantasy cultures: Confessions of a Gourmand, or How to Cook a Dragon, by Tom Bruno. The MC was a young man raised in kitchens, aspiring to be a great chef, who saw every race and culture and region through their cooking. The food descriptions were integral to understanding the characters and the world.)

I would add to it „Como agua para chocolate” by Laura Esquivel (I think it is also a movie series), but the magic realism novel had won some prizes.