Writing Historical Fiction
by Mary Kole | Former literary agent, now a freelance editor, writing teacher, and IP/story developer for major publishers and creators.
Literary agents and publishing house editors are shifting their attitudes toward historical fiction in today’s market. Markets are cyclical, what goes down must come up, and vice versa. While historical fiction can’t exactly be classified as a rising publishing trend, it’ll never entirely go out of style. Read on to learn how you can write historical fiction that doesn’t depend on market movements.
Making the Decision to Write Historical Fiction
If your story heavily depends on a specific period in recent or ancient history, then you have solid reason to set your book in that specific era. Take Germany in 1934, for example. If your plot revolves around a family grappling with the shifting rhetoric in their home country, the boiling tensions and political climate, then pre-World War II is the right setting for your book. But if you are simply pegging your book to that era and the sociopolitical backdrop doesn’t enter into the story? You really have to ask yourself why you’re writing historical fiction, or a historical novel in a specific time period (WWII-era historical fiction is an especially competitive category, so if you don’t need to set your story during this time, don’t—it’ll get lost).
If you're looking for an interesting setting for your story, how about the Victorian era, the Summer of Love in San Francisco or Berkeley, or immediately after the tragic Columbine shootings? Why not a certain period of the Enlightenment, or something even more ancient? Whatever you do, make sure you’re choosing to write historical fiction in an era where you’ll have source material for research. You can’t skate by on the strength of your imagination in historical fiction. There are going to be experts on each historical era out there and they will rip your work apart online.
Before you set your story in another time period, consider this: the event or period in question must be crucial to your novel's events. In other words, there must be a truly compelling purpose behind your choice to set your story to a historical era. For example, if your only motivation is to have a scene in which your characters learn of Princess Di's death and then react to it, this may not be enough to justify a "historical" setting. How does this affect your characters? Does it change the trajectory of your story? You do need to make sure you justify your choices.
Recent Past Historical Fiction
Our goal isn’t to hurt your feelings, but you need to be aware: the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and even the ‘90s are now considered to be historical fiction by gatekeepers in the publishing industry. A lot of books are set “now” or in a contemporary or near-future setting. So if you believe you are writing a contemporary book, yet everyone is styling their hair like Molly Ringwald—then you need to recategorize your work in progress. It’s not contemporary, it’s historical fiction. (Alas!)
I strongly discourage writers from setting a book in the past because of personal nostalgia. (Though nostalgia marketing is pretty hot right now.) Of course, there are nostalgic coming of age tales that have been set in several decades of the 20th century, going on to win awards and more.
Rebecca Stead chose to set When You Reach Me in the ‘70s not only because that was when she had herself grown up in New York City, but because in her experience, children of that time were allowed more independence than today’s youngsters. This is an absolutely legitimate reason and Stead carries it out masterfully—there is never an instance in which the book appears dated or unrelatable. But the historical fiction label could’ve made the book appear more “niche” if it wasn’t for the author’s existing popularity.
When the urge arises to "write what you know" in regards to historical fiction, do be mindful that an "old-fashioned" style is not a popular choice in the current market. There’s a big difference between historical fiction that’s well-researched and well-executed and something that just seems old. (Do be aware of presentism, though, and really commit to your historical fiction time period—the good and the ugly of it. Do not write today’s attitudes and cultural values into a period that they are inappropriate for.)
Finding the right balance between creating something that resonates in the present day and creating something that will stand the test of time is often a challenge, but the solution doesn't always have to be a historical fiction setting.
Historical Fiction to Avoid Technology
Are you writing historical fiction to avoid running into the conveniences of cell phones and the Internet spoiling the suspense in a mystery/thriller/suspense book? This is a very common reason that writers choose to set their stories in the ‘90s and earlier. This is done so that protagonists don't have the luxury of simply calling for help, or easily finding a solution with a few taps on Google. This is a tricky problem to tackle.
Writers of twisty yarns involving high-stakes danger or withheld information often bemoan the ubiquity of cell phones and the Internet spoiling their fun. It's no wonder why many writers yearn for the disconnected ‘80s as the backdrop for their serial killer novel.
The undeniable truth is that, nowadays, people are drawn to their cellular devices and computers. The more tech savvy everyone gets, the less relatable you’ll be with your novel that doesn't feature technology as a fixture of society. Instead of writing your idea as historical fiction, consider all of the ways in which technology can fail or be compromised. Work with tech, rather than against it.
To contemporary readers and gatekeepers, avoiding technology is not the most convincing reason to write historical fiction. Writers must become adept at crafting gripping stories despite the abundance of easily accessible information. When solving the Technology Problem, make sure to bear in mind the current state of tech, and maybe try to even think a few years in advance.
If you feel that you are committed to writing historical fiction, and you’re doing it for all the right reasons, then roll up your sleeves and dig into research. Historical fiction can be a huge reader-pleaser, but only if done intentionally, and well.
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