What are the rules for what can and can’t be done with historical fiction? How much license can a writer take with the facts?
In the latest Glimmer Train bulletin, author R. Clifton Spargo offers a few “rules” for historical fiction writers, including:
There’s no reason to abide by the scripts of biographies and histories. Why not take your characters off the grid? Almost anything can happen once Scott and Zelda tour a derelict bullfighting ring, or stay in a Havana hotel made famous by Hemingway, or find themselves escorted by a mysterious Cuban and his girl to a Havana juke joint—even if the real-life Zelda and Scott never visited, as far as we know, any of these places.
To read more advice from Spargo, click here.
Other features this month from Glimmer Train:
- Building a Collection of Stories by Abbie Geni
- You’re a Fiction Writing Professor by Justin Kramon
- The Fear of Not Saying Interesting Things by Kimberly Bunker
- Why I Chose to Write About a Father-Son Relationship by Catherine O’Flynn
Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.
The Spargo column interested me. (Except that in his photo he looks so angry!) I am not a die hard fan of historical fiction. Too much of it seems to reflect a desire on the part of the author to keep all the research visible. One of my favourite historical novels is The Bird Artist, by Howard Norman. I like the way he just dropped me into the time period and I felt I was living then. Barry Unsworth’s book, The Sacred Hunger affected me the same way. Those were the two inspirations for my first historical novel, finished a few months ago. i think I was driven, too, by the desire to present a character we can relate to today. I agree with Spargo on the necessity of achieving that, no matter the time we write about.
What is the possibility of publishing a biography! Please tell me I need to know.