How to write historical fiction, and keep it accurate
A good historical novel feels true. Readers forgive a lot, but a wrong date, a word nobody used yet, or a gadget from the wrong decade pulls them out of the story. Here's a practical way to write one.
1. Pin down your time and place
Choose the year, the season and the town, not just "the war" or "the 1800s". The narrower you go, the easier it is to research and the more real the world feels. Write down what your character could see from their front door.
2. Research from records, not just summaries
Encyclopedias and history books give you the big events. Daily life lives in records from the time: newspapers, letters, diaries, ship lists, census pages, military files. Free places to start:
- Chronicling America, the Library of Congress's archive of historic US newspapers
- The US National Archives for military and government records
- FamilySearch for census and family records
3. Hunt for anachronisms
An anachronism is something from the wrong time. Check four things in every scene: the words people use, the objects they handle, how they travel and pay, and what they're allowed to do by law and custom. If you're not sure a word existed yet, look it up before you use it.
4. Keep real and invented people apart
Invent freely for your own characters. For real people who lived, stick to what the record supports, and never put made-up words in their mouths as if they were real quotes. If you bend a fact for the story, say so in an author's note.
5. Write the story first, check the facts second
Research can swallow a book. Draft the scene, mark anything you're unsure of, and keep going. Then check your marks in one sitting against real records.
Write it by talking
Nodding Belletrists lets you write your historical novel by talking it through. The AI guide asks about your scenes, tells you how sure it is about each historical detail, and writes each chapter up in your words, with a list of things to check before you publish.