By Peter Leavell @peterleavell
Why?
If you don’t, you’ve no mission statement to give shape to the entire work. For example, if you’re writing an epic that takes place in ancient Rome and a time traveler pulls out his cell phone to record the murder of Julius Caesar, you can unroll the scroll that contains the definition and see if the time traveler belongs there.
So, what is Historical Fiction? Geoffrey Trease, who wrote 113 novels about a century ago, claimed HF is a subject written ‘outside the time of living memory.’
Historic Novel Society tries to keep it simple—written “in the past, before the author’s lifetime and experience.” Or, more definitive, any novel written at least fifty years after the events described (which is 1968—yowza), or by an individualwho was not alive at the time of those events, writing from a research perspective. Alternate histories, time-slip novels, historical fantasies, and multiple-period novels are all accepted by HNS.
Still others maintain that HF is a label of incredible distinction and should be used with great dignity. The tag Historical Fiction should be applied to those books where a deliberate attempt has been made to recreate the past.
What does this mean for you? You are not answerable to anyone but your conscience. Why? Because HF itself is the embodiment of disagreement. The term Historical Fiction is a contradiction. Historical. Fiction. HF Seeks accuracy and illusion.
Seriously? Yes.
So, how do I approach HF? What is my definition when I start penning a work of genius? Here’s what I tell myself.
Peter, cut through the fog of perception and come as close to the historic truth as possible. If you deviate, deviate with a purpose in mind. Because historians ask what happened and why did it happen that way? You ask, what was it like?
Your definition of HF will determine the kind of HF you write, and thus produce a work that will help us not learn history, but live it. Take great pains to confirm your definition of HF in your mind as you work, and you’ll help solidify the past in your reader’s mind.
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Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history and currently enrolled in the University's English Lit Graduate program, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. A novelist, blogger, teacher, ghostwriter, jogger, biker, husband and father, Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. Learn more about Peter's books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com.
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