HOW TO WRITE HISTORICAL FICTION 🤠 tips for writing historical fiction | Natalia Leigh

HOW TO WRITE HISTORICAL FICTION. These are my top 8 tips for writing historical fiction.

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[keltavuokko]

I'm so happy you brought up the history of words: for me personally the most common mistake found in historical fiction is the use of too modern words or sayings. For instance, the way people cursed or used swear words can be a red flag to a reader if the character of 1500's curses the same way kids would today. Or jokes/dialogue referencing to people, places etc.: please check if that place/person even existed at the time, or was as known back then (especially political figures: they might not be as known 5 years prior to their period of influence as they are just a couple of years later). I think readers are pretty willing to look past the overall narration style, if they are sucked into the story, but checking out dialogue language and what things were called back then is worth the effort in my opinion. I'm currently writing historical fiction and the most useful tip for me was to check the everyday details (like would a toaster exist back then) and the overall political/historical situation, and then just write and alter things later if needed (you can research all you want, but you should also get some writing done). Thanks for the great video!

[Supvia]

I digged down so deep in my research that I felt I had to edit Wikipedia.

[willow]

I like your advice on focusing on smaller historical details instead of knowing everything.
I always manage to kill my own enthusiasm for my story when I research because I get hung up on every single detail and I drown in a never ending stream of historical research. I end up not writing more than maybe a few pages and then I’ve killed my interest with too much information.

[Yesica]

I wish I had a machine that could take this video and transport it to the time when I was in 3rd grade. When I was I was that age, I wanted to be a writer. But I was also a very self-aware child. I don't know where I got the idea that writers live out everything they write in their books. Even at that age, I realized that I knew very little about the world, people, or life. How could I write about anything?


The idea that writers do research never entered my mind - not for years! By the time I figured it out, I had developed such a severe case of mental block / "blank page syndrome" that I was unable to write anything at all. Sadly, it persists to this day.

[MeredithPhillipsWrites]

These are great tips! I'm writing a book also set in the 1880s--I totally get caught up in the little details and trying to make it perfect, haha!

[missamber]

My debut novel took place first in the 40s (then every decade after). I had to research the cost of things in that period, how much was a customary amount of a tip, what hotels looked like, etc. I was fortunate to know someone who lived in the 40s and was able to tell me that some of the dialogue I used wouldn't have been spoken in that period 😊 I love research and history, so it was fun trying to make sure my little details were accurate for their time period 😊 Also, there was some legal lingo in my book and I had to look up what certain legal actions were called back then compared to now. It confused my beta readers at first, so I used dialogue to help explain it.
While I enjoyed researching it all, I'm glad to be done with it 😁 Now I'm working on fantasy where I can create anything and not worry as much about accuracy! Even my Elves speak different than Tolkien, but they're also not a typical "Elf" 😉
Great video...and I'd love to see you taking the van through the areas!

[charlesgrover]

I’m writing a graphic novel about two cowboys falling in love in the old Wild West and my favorite part of research by far is finding old fashioned swears there just hilarious.

[BoundByWords]

History is one of my weakest points. It’s really commendable to right history in a way that is new and fresh but historically believable.

[joshfroberg]

One thing that helped me was searching searching for newspapers. Library of Congress helps a lot.

[alejandrarodriguez]

Historical fiction is my fave genre and the only one I write but I needed to actually hear out loud some of those things. Thank you!

[Ponakalaranjit]

I m writing a novel Series called The Crusaders since I m a History Buff Which is about a Half French Half English Soldier Named Tristan De Bois His father was a Norman Nobleman Who participated in The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 Fighting for Rollo s Grandson The Duke of Normandy William The The Conquerer First Book Will be called 1096 He will also Two Twin Crusader Noblemen Fighting in this holy war there names are Charles de Soissons and Michael De Soissons.

[sarakeefebooks]

Fantastic video, I couldn't agree more with all of these tips!

A lot of my historical research is word origins and usage. I have a huge book (The Dictionary of Etymology) on the bookshelf behind my writing desk, and I consult that thing more than any other research book. I love that book so much.

[MWinklerBooks]

These are some great tips! I feel they could be used in other genres too.
A Pistol Daisy road trip sounds sooo fun! I really hope you go and film some of it. That would be great to be able to see you visit the places in the book after I read it :D

[vthousand]

Enjoying this video. Alot of what you did for this I'm doing for my attempt at a regressive science fiction

[claireblunt]

I loved this! I relate so much to being daunted by research, but the way you broke the process down made it actually seem do-able.
Good luck with Whiskey City!

[ladyredl]

I write AU historical fiction, and I did 14 years of research on the late Victorian era. Major events are super important, definitely especially if like myself, you want to move things around!

[ComicPower]

When you said keep all your notes in one place. I immediately said YES. im writing my first novel and got stuff all over the place that i am now consolidating into one place in scrivener.

[kristenl]

Wow, your video is probably the most informative I have come across regarding research and historical fiction. Thank you so much!

[AuthorJCCarpenter]

This was a wonderful video with tips I am definitely going to use when I write my historical fiction novel (centered around WW 2 era- that's a couple of years out though) and since I'm someone who is in my own head a lot I can definitely use the reminder to not get overwhelmed lol... Thank you Natalia and I love westerns too so I can't wait to see the wild west road trip! Take care❤

[matthewrobertson]

Amazing video! Thank you Natalia! This is my first time seeing a video by you and I'm definitely sticking around!