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 her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
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.