Fairytales in history make great fiction

Fairytales & truths in history make great fiction

We all started.. Once upon a time..

In fact it's the facts within history that can trigger ideas for a fanciful fairytale or even Folklores have provided great material for stories that have been verbally handed down, can somehow turn into truths, making the tale even more dramatised for visual short story telling. But it's the folklores that tend to become legends - St George and the dragon - has actually come from Perseus slaying the sea serpent and rescue Andromeda from Greek mythology - which makes one question - how has Georg been turned into a Saint - and if he is a saint then therefor he must exist? - Right?


Well so what really is historical fiction all about?

Historical fiction, as the name suggests, is a literary genre set in the past, made up of a mixture of factually accurate characteristics from the time period as well as imagined fictional elements. For example, writing a story about the life of Henry VIII’s forgotten 7th wife, would be considered historical fiction.

“But that didn’t really happen!” I hear you shout.

You’re not alone in critiquing the genre for this reason. Works of historical fiction are often criticized for lack of authenticity because of genre expectations for accurate period details, but therein lies their charm. They are able to position themselves in a familiar world beyond our reach and expand on it beyond the confines of real life.

Classics in the golden word

Historical prose fiction has a long tradition in world literature. Three of the four classics of Chinese literature were set in the distant past, for example. Classical Greek novelists were also very fond of writing novels about people and places of the past, with the Iliad being described as historic fiction, since it treats historic events, although its genre is generally considered epic poetry.

Moving forward to the 19th Century, historical fiction rose to prominence in Europe as part of the Romantic reaction to the Enlightenment, especially through the influence of the infamous Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott. The first true historical novel in English was, in fact, Maria Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent published in 1800.

And the rest, as they say, is history…

We love asking impossible questions 

...and then being proved wrong
If one analyses the arts and crafts of writing historical fiction... here are some guiding to-do's to speed you on your way to writing a historical piece of fiction

Like the sound of writing a piece of historical fiction? Great! You’re in the right place. We’ve compiled a few of our favourite tips for how to do it well (and avoid any cheesy or unbelievable plotlines & character details).

1. Be specific when choosing your time period & place

When choosing the setting for your historical story, be specific. Instead of just having a vague idea of doing a novel in 20’s France, select a specific year and a specific place: 1928 Paris for example. Being this specific will help you to hone in on the details of the time and narrow down your research too.

2. Small details matter, so do your research

When building a historical setting inside fiction, details matter. When talking about another time period, you have to do your research and really delve into what people would be wearing, what they’d be drinking, even what they would be thinking (since perceptions to certain things would have been very different). 

The best advice here is: period characters require more than period clothes.

Good historical stories promise to not only transport readers to a historical setting but to reveal the interior life of a character.

3. Immerse yourself in the culture of the time

To write historical fiction of any kind – short stories, poetry or longer form prose – you need to be able to close your eyes and have the past blaze up around you. That’s why historical fiction is not to be taken lightly. You have to invest a lot of time surrounding yourself in historical research in order to inhabit the past in your imagination. Try reading what they would read, listening to the music they would listen to and even eating what they would eat to get in the right frame of mind.

4. Balance historical details with dramatic plotlines 

Hemingway once compared a successful story to an iceberg: The visual peaks of an iceberg are supported by a much larger structure beneath the surface. Historical fiction is very much like this: the details that are present in the text are supported by a huge amount of research that remains, largely, invisible to the reader. At least 90 % of what you learn about the culture never shows up in the fiction, but it informs the characters and plot line. Just remember -  historical facts are not a storyline. Your historical research should form the backdrop for the drama but it is not the drama itself. 

History is the context out of which your fiction should grow.

“How to write a short story” - Bookazine

Sometimes structuring a story can be a tricky thing to get right. We have been working on a supportive guide, to help new writers structure a short story into a highly readable work…. 

The magazine includes exclusive articles on character development, plot planning and where to find inspiration, as well as words of encouragement from authors who have been there and got the t-shirt!

https://youtu.be/HenAJbpDxFM

This luscious bookzine is available in both EPub and a beautiful printed gift version, which we will post out to you.

https://www.happylondonpress.com/welcome-how-to-write-a-short-story-1

⭐ Want Your Story To Go Down in History? ⭐

CALLING ALL UK NEW WRITERS!!!

It’s your chance to get your story published
...in a glossy hardback book

We’re offering 20 lucky winners the chance to see their work published in a beautifully illustrated book and have a professional podcast made of their work. They will also receive extensive coverage across our social media channels.

Sounds good - especially when there’s more time on our hands? 

To find out more, simply check out this web link below and it will show you how to enter the competition: 

Hi2020.co.uk

This is your chance to showcase your skills. The story must be original and between 1000 and 1500 words, written in English from among the following given topics：

Adventure/travel

Thriller/Dark

Romance

Science/Fantasy

YIPPEE!!!: We now have three special categories for the

Hi2020 Short Story Competition:

Three County Challenge (Bucks, Herts & London)

UK Challenge (British Isles and Northern Ireland)

11yrs - 18 yrs Challenge (UK- British isles and Northern Ireland)

<<<Purchase your Entry Form here >>>

www.happylondonpress.com/hi-2020-heres-how-to-enter

⭐ HURRY! Entries due by 20th July ⭐

Enjoy some Historical fiction examples… 

you never know they may inspire a short story within you...

Below are some of our favourite examples of popular historical fiction. We’ve chosen some moving excerpts to inspire your writing...

• Memoirs of a Geisha - A historical fiction novel by Arthur Golden

“I wasn't born and raised to be a Kyoto geisha. I wasn't even born in Kyoto. I'm a fisherman's daughter from a little town called Yoroido on the Sea of Japan. In all my life I've never told more than a handful of people anything at all about Yoroido, or about the house in which I grew up, or about my mother and father, or my older sister--and certainly not about how I became a geisha, or what it was like to be one. Most people would much rather carry on with their fantasies that my mother and grandmother were geisha, and that I began my training in dance when I was weaned from the breast, and so on. As a matter of fact, one day many years ago I was pouring a cup of sake for a man who happened to mention that he had been in Yoroido only the previous week. Well, I felt as a bird must feel when it has flown across the ocean and comes upon a creature that knows its nest. I was so shocked I couldn't stop myself from saying:

"Yoroido! Why, that's where I grew up!"

This poor man! His face went through the most remarkable series of changes. He tried his best to smile, though it didn't come out well because he couldn't get the look of shock off his face.

"Yoroido?" he said. "You can't mean it."

I long ago developed a very practiced smile, which I call my "Noh smile" because it resembles a Noh mask whose features are frozen. Its advantage is that men can interpret it however they want; you can imagine how often I've relied on it. I decided I'd better use it just then, and of course it worked. He let out all his breath and tossed down the cup of sake I'd poured for him before giving an enormous laugh, I'm sure was prompted more by relief than anything else.”

• A World to Come - A historical short story by Jim Shepard

“"I checked on him only a short time ago and he seemed all right, but when I went in just now I found him dead. We're not permitted to keep a body here overnight. What arrangements do you want to make?" Thus ended my fifty-seven years of marriage to Bob Montgomery . . . or so it seemed.

        

Strange how the mental processes continue to function almost automatically while the emotional system goes into numbed shock. I called my sister, Margaret Forry, in Indianapolis, and she said she would be on the first available flight. Then I dialed my second cousin, Phil Cunningham, who spends the winter season at a nearby villa, and that wonderful man said he would go immediately to the nursing home and oversee the removal of Bob's body to Hodges Funeral Home. The next morning I went with Phil to identify the remains and supply information for Bob's obituary. Margaret arrived later that day, and after Bob's body was cremated, we held a memorial service with close friends on Friday.

        

Meanwhile, I had managed to perform all the perfunctory tasks: notifying our lawyer, the bank, and Bob's relatives, and meeting with our good friend Ninette Peterson, an ordained minister whom Bob and I had previously chosen to conduct our services if she were available when our time came.

        

Outwardly I was functioning normally. Inwardly I felt like a robot who had been put on automatic pilot. I couldn't cry. I couldn't grieve. As a matter of fact, I dared not grieve, because I was acutely aware of my Guides' warning about that many years before, while writing A Search for the Truth. In a chapter of that book, entitled "The Selfishness of Grief," the Guides detailed how overly grieving survivors keep a loved one Earthbound and thereby retard the spiritual progress of a soul newly crossed into the spirit plane. Bob was the best person I have ever known. He deserved better than a grieving widow who was feeling sorry for herself and moaning about her loss.”

• The Color Purple - a historical fiction novel by Alice Walker

“Dear God, Mr. ______ finally come right out an ast for Nettie hand in marriage. But He won't let her go. He say she too young, no experience. Say Mr. ______ got too many children already. Plus What about the scandal his wife cause when somebody kill her? And what about all this stuff he hear bout Shug Avery? What bout that? I ast our new mammy bout Shug Avery. What it is? I ast. She don't know but she say she gon fine out. She do more then that. She git a picture. The first one of a real person I ever seen. She say Mr. ______ was taking something out his billfold to show Pa an it fell out an slid under the table. Shug Avery was a woman. The most beautiful woman I ever saw. She more pretty then my mama. She bout ten thousand times more prettier then me. I see her there in furs. Her face rouge. Her hair like somethin tail. She grinning with her foot up on somebody motocar. Her eyes serious tho. Sad some. I ast her to give me the picture. An all night long I stare at it. An now when I dream, I dream of Shug Avery. She be dress to kill, whirling and laughing.”

⭐ Fiction Inspiration ⭐

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