Historical fiction helps us to understand the past. It educates and entertains us at the same time. History books give us the facts, but historical fiction helps us to understand history in a special way. Leon Garfield said, "The historian, if honest, gives us a photograph; the storyteller gives us a painting."
Research is an important part of writing historical fiction or nonfiction. Learn everything you can about the area your story takes place, the time period, non-fictional characters, and historical facts you would like to add.
Find out everything you can about the area to both educate your readers and to make the setting feel real. While the reader can´t be there physically, they can be there mentally. If possible, go to the area you want to write about, walk around, and look at the historical buildings. If you can´t travel there, find pictures of that area, study books at the library or search the Internet. Description is very important in a story. Paint a picture like an artist, describing what you see and feel. Make the scenery believable by describing the crunching of pine needles beneath your feet or allow the reader to smell the pine trees in the forest.
When I did the research for my book, "Melinda and the Wild West," I discovered that Butch Cassidy robbed the bank in Bear Lake, Idaho in 1896. The city of Montpelier had recorded the incident with great detail. I was thrilled and I knew right away I wanted to include this in my novel. But I had to do more research. Butch Cassidy was a non-fictional character. I had to find out what kind of person he was. I couldn´t portray him as something he wasn´t. I found that he had a great sense of humor, a quick wit, had a charming personality, and was a great leader. It didn´t take long before he had a bunch of loyal followers, who were called "The Wild Bunch." He and his gang referred to themselves as the "Robin Hood of the West," out to rob from the rich and give to the poor.
After much research I found that Bear Lake Valley had a lot of intriguing history between 1896 and 1925, so I turned my book into a series of five novels called "A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho." In my research, I found that in the western part of the United States, the market for cattle was lucrative. Cattle rustling was a terrible problem in the West. I also learned that a ten-foot grizzly bear by the name of Old Ephraim roamed the mountains of Cache Valley and Bear Lake Valley, wreaking havoc everywhere he went. I learned that the Bear Lake Monster is an old Indian legend, and part of Bear Lake history. Many accounts were written about it, testifying to its reality. I also found out that women had to fight for the rights of equality. A woman was not encouraged to go to college or become anything more than a teacher or a nurse. She could not bob her hair or raise her hemlines without the threat of being fired from her job. When doing research, it makes the book come to life and it´s so much fun to imagine what things must have been like as we learn more about history.
Another important part of writing is using emotion. It´s the secret of holding a reader. By giving description of emotion, it helps the reader feel part of the story as if he were actually there himself. When emotion is left out of a story, we can feel let down. Emotion is part of our lives, so why ignore such an important element in a story?
It can be difficult, however, for an author to know exactly how the character feels unless he or she had been in a similar situation, and that´s where research comes in. After researching stories about people who have been faced with a similar situation, the author can describe the emotions of a character much better.
If a character were approached by a grizzly bear, how would that person react? These are questions that you must research. Read about other people´s accounts, so you can adequately describe your character´s feelings during a situation.
In my novel, Melinda and the Wild West, Melinda is faced with danger when she startles a grizzly in the wild. What were her innermost feelings? How did she feel when the grizzly growled and began to lunge toward her? The author must show how Melinda felt, describe her quickening pulse, rather than simply say she was frightened.
After much research, this was how Melinda´s experience turned out: "Melinda heard an irritated grunt as the grizzly raised its head and saw her standing off in the distance. The grizzly snarled with anger as if warning her to leave. Then, almost immediately, it let out a hideous growl and leapt clumsily toward her. Its enormous jaws were spread wide and its eyes were flashing fire. She had never seen anything so frightening in her life.
"Fear overtook her and Melinda could not retain adequate presence of mind. Her chest tightened and her face drained as she tried to catch her breath. She panicked and quickly turned and ran as fast as she could go. Her heart was pounding rapidly with each step she took. She felt as if she were running in slow motion. Surely this was a dream. No, it was more like a nightmare. Suddenly, to her horror, she lost her balance as she tripped over a rock and fell face down on the ground in a cushion of soft weeds and mud.
"Melinda began to scream. She had never seen such a hideous sight before and she became paralyzed with fear. The feeling of terror that rose in her throat made it hard to breathe and she began to shake uncontrollably."
I didn´t "tell" the reader about an incident, but I helped the reader connect to the emotion inside her soul. Emotions of a character can help us feel satisfied because we can understand what the character feels. Melinda is the heroine of the book, so the reader knows that she won´t be killed. But at the same time, the reader begins to worry that something just might happen to her. That´s what emotion does to the reader.
Research is an important part of writing. Learn all you can about the area, any non-fictional characters, and the time period. Remember: "The storyteller gives us a painting."
Research is an important part of writing historical fiction or nonfiction. Learn everything you can about the area your story takes place, the time period, non-fictional characters, and historical facts you would like to add.
Find out everything you can about the area to both educate your readers and to make the setting feel real. While the reader can´t be there physically, they can be there mentally. If possible, go to the area you want to write about, walk around, and look at the historical buildings. If you can´t travel there, find pictures of that area, study books at the library or search the Internet. Description is very important in a story. Paint a picture like an artist, describing what you see and feel. Make the scenery believable by describing the crunching of pine needles beneath your feet or allow the reader to smell the pine trees in the forest.
When I did the research for my book, "Melinda and the Wild West," I discovered that Butch Cassidy robbed the bank in Bear Lake, Idaho in 1896. The city of Montpelier had recorded the incident with great detail. I was thrilled and I knew right away I wanted to include this in my novel. But I had to do more research. Butch Cassidy was a non-fictional character. I had to find out what kind of person he was. I couldn´t portray him as something he wasn´t. I found that he had a great sense of humor, a quick wit, had a charming personality, and was a great leader. It didn´t take long before he had a bunch of loyal followers, who were called "The Wild Bunch." He and his gang referred to themselves as the "Robin Hood of the West," out to rob from the rich and give to the poor.
After much research I found that Bear Lake Valley had a lot of intriguing history between 1896 and 1925, so I turned my book into a series of five novels called "A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho." In my research, I found that in the western part of the United States, the market for cattle was lucrative. Cattle rustling was a terrible problem in the West. I also learned that a ten-foot grizzly bear by the name of Old Ephraim roamed the mountains of Cache Valley and Bear Lake Valley, wreaking havoc everywhere he went. I learned that the Bear Lake Monster is an old Indian legend, and part of Bear Lake history. Many accounts were written about it, testifying to its reality. I also found out that women had to fight for the rights of equality. A woman was not encouraged to go to college or become anything more than a teacher or a nurse. She could not bob her hair or raise her hemlines without the threat of being fired from her job. When doing research, it makes the book come to life and it´s so much fun to imagine what things must have been like as we learn more about history.
Another important part of writing is using emotion. It´s the secret of holding a reader. By giving description of emotion, it helps the reader feel part of the story as if he were actually there himself. When emotion is left out of a story, we can feel let down. Emotion is part of our lives, so why ignore such an important element in a story?
It can be difficult, however, for an author to know exactly how the character feels unless he or she had been in a similar situation, and that´s where research comes in. After researching stories about people who have been faced with a similar situation, the author can describe the emotions of a character much better.
If a character were approached by a grizzly bear, how would that person react? These are questions that you must research. Read about other people´s accounts, so you can adequately describe your character´s feelings during a situation.
In my novel, Melinda and the Wild West, Melinda is faced with danger when she startles a grizzly in the wild. What were her innermost feelings? How did she feel when the grizzly growled and began to lunge toward her? The author must show how Melinda felt, describe her quickening pulse, rather than simply say she was frightened.
After much research, this was how Melinda´s experience turned out: "Melinda heard an irritated grunt as the grizzly raised its head and saw her standing off in the distance. The grizzly snarled with anger as if warning her to leave. Then, almost immediately, it let out a hideous growl and leapt clumsily toward her. Its enormous jaws were spread wide and its eyes were flashing fire. She had never seen anything so frightening in her life.
"Fear overtook her and Melinda could not retain adequate presence of mind. Her chest tightened and her face drained as she tried to catch her breath. She panicked and quickly turned and ran as fast as she could go. Her heart was pounding rapidly with each step she took. She felt as if she were running in slow motion. Surely this was a dream. No, it was more like a nightmare. Suddenly, to her horror, she lost her balance as she tripped over a rock and fell face down on the ground in a cushion of soft weeds and mud.
"Melinda began to scream. She had never seen such a hideous sight before and she became paralyzed with fear. The feeling of terror that rose in her throat made it hard to breathe and she began to shake uncontrollably."
I didn´t "tell" the reader about an incident, but I helped the reader connect to the emotion inside her soul. Emotions of a character can help us feel satisfied because we can understand what the character feels. Melinda is the heroine of the book, so the reader knows that she won´t be killed. But at the same time, the reader begins to worry that something just might happen to her. That´s what emotion does to the reader.
Research is an important part of writing. Learn all you can about the area, any non-fictional characters, and the time period. Remember: "The storyteller gives us a painting."
