Now, I may get in trouble for this from both sides of the historical fiction camp, but I do not believe in a hard difference between historical fiction and alternative historical fiction. Let me take that one step further, I do not believe in the concept of historical fiction, apart from the alternative bit. The reason for my belief is that as soon as you begin to fill in the blanks, for events and motivations outside of the historical record, you have already altered the history—not to mention the dubiousness of most modern historical records. Today, I'm going to give what I believe to be a more helpful and accurate analysis on the genre, and provide tips for writing in either extreme.
Tip 1: View historical fiction and alternative historical fiction as a scale—not a hard line.
As I said before, as soon as you make up a fictional character in a historical time-line or give a guess of how a real-life character might have been feeling, you are changing history in your novel. Don't shy away from it—just be strategic on how far from historically accurate that you want to veer, and then be consistent. This can range to the polar end of deliberately changing the events that took place (like the Nazis winning WWII with the help of dinosaurs), to asserting that Genghis Khan had nightmares because he felt bad because about the horrors he committed.
Tip 2: The above rule most definitely means that you should feel free to make things up.
In case you didn't catch that. And you should feel completely justified in doing that. If readers wanted an accurate picture of the era, they would be reading a history book, not a “fiction” book. This does not mean that you shouldn't research—to the contrary, the best lies are always created within half-truths and executed with precision. But you HAVE to add something beyond the bare-bone facts in order to make it a novel or... fiction.
Tip 3: Show more honor to the integrity of the story, than to the facts—should you be forced to choose.
Often, you will be able to weave the story and historical accounts together seamlessly—especially for such complete and well-documented history as what exists in more modern history. But occasionally, the facts will contradict the narrative—the big picture that you are trying to paint. If you have to choose, always go with the narrative. Think of it like telling a story to a friend; you have to exaggerate and embellish and summarize—not to make the story seem better than what it really was, but because of the limits of the medium. You have to make your reader truly feel the significance of what happened—the truer truth, one might say.
Tip 4: Show a side of a story that you readers are not familiar with.
So often, we focus a historical narrative around the most popular aspects of an era. The great war, the genocide, the... wait a minute! Those are the only two things we write about, for the most part! Challenge yourself to show something that people would otherwise ignore or fail to see. This is one of the reasons that Schindler's List was so incredible—that it showed the transformation of someone who worked for the Nazis, and then determined to help the victims of the Holocaust. This is as opposed to most other stories which would have limited themselves to the Holocaust itself, and the struggles and horrors faced by the victims. There's nothing wrong with showing the popularized side of the story, don't get me wrong, but also show us something new.
Tip 5: Utilize some of the major events and people in the historical period.
The history nerd within each of us will go wild with every subtle and not-so-subtle cameo of a real historical figure or event that falls within the context of your story. If you want to make your audience happy and show them something exciting, have those figures pop in from time to time. Sort of like a special treat!
Tip 6: Do not romanticize the era or the real heroes that lived within.
I've read a number of historical fiction accounts of George Washington and other American heroes. But I've always been rather bored because they all show the brave and courageous man of legend. I love the man of legend, don't get me wrong. But how I wish to hear a different account, a different picture of the man. This is the reason that “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter” was so novel to me, showing a realistic amount of depth, complexity, doubt, and flaws in a man that had previously only been portrayed like some sort of demi-god. Your readers will have greater respect and empathy for a realistic man, than for the legend that some sort of misdirected sense of honor or patriotism make us feel that we had to portray.
Tip 7: Make sure that your heroes are flawed and your villains are complex—even if that doesn't seem the case in history.
This goes back to the importance of the narrative. I'm currently working on an alternative historical fiction novel (two chapters and the first draft is finished, woot!); and one of the the challenges I faced was the one-dimensional nature of the historical antagonist. Now this could just be due to the limits of historical records or because he truly had no depth. However, in order for the story to mean something, I had to create a realistic depth that might have existed, based on his actions.
A temptation I see historical fiction writers often fall to, is to turn the story into a factually accurate vignette—without much of a beginning, middle, or end. And so it just feels like you are peeking in on the person's life, and like the story isn't going anywhere—boring the reader. Impose a structure on the events of the story to make sure that there is an actual plot with the dramatic tension necessary to keep reader interest.
Tip 9: Honor the heart of the true story.
I've said a lot that it is perfectly fine and even encouraged to make things up—because it is. But honor the meaning of the factual story. Don't use Martin Luther King Jr.'s life-story of being dedicated to the pursuit of equal human rights, and turn it into a story about fighting an alien invasion (unless, of course, you want to feature him fighting for alien rights or struggling with whether all living things are equal or just humans). Honor the truer truth—what the story was really about. And make sure that all your aliens, changed facts, dinosaurs, and more complicated villains serve to make that core story even more dynamic—not diluted
Tip 10: Be bold.
With all that said, remember that fortune favors the bold. Nobody wants a timid story—even from as sensitive material as what will be featured in historical fiction. Your Writing Partner and Test Readers will tell you if you've gone too far. And so as long as you make the attempt to be respectful, go as far out as you can. Better to be infamous and in the midst of controversy than to bore your readers.
Tip 11: Do your research.
I figured that this tip was a gimme. But... just in case you doubted my position on the matter. Do research, tons of research. All the research you can, and utilize its factual accuracy as often as you are able, without compromising the narrative. There, now nobody can get mad at me
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Now, I may get in trouble for this from both sides of the historical fiction camp, but I do not believe in a hard difference between historical fiction and alternative historical fiction. Let me take that one step further, I do not believe in the concept of historical fiction, apart from the alternative bit. The reason for my belief is that as soon as you begin to fill in the blanks, for events and motivations outside of the historical record, you have already altered the history—not to mention the dubiousness of most modern historical records. Today, I'm going to give what I believe to be a more helpful and accurate analysis on the genre, and provide tips for writing in either extreme.
