I’m so excited to share what I’ve learned about writing historical novels that really feel real. It’s not just about getting the facts straight, though that’s important. It’s about making your readers practically feel the scratch of ancient wool, the chill of a winter they never knew, or the thrill of a battle long past. Authenticity isn’t some extra detail we tack on; it’s the very foundation your story is built on. It’s the difference between a cardboard cutout of the past and a world that lives and breathes on the page. I’m going to break down how to do this, giving you concrete ways to make your historical fiction feel genuinely, deeply real.
Building the Foundation: Research That Goes Way Beyond Dates
Authenticity starts way before you even type your first sentence. It begins with diving deep, researching multiple layers, going beyond just collecting facts. We’re not memorizing king and queen timelines here; we’re trying to understand the everyday fabric of life.
Beyond the Textbooks: Digging Up the Ordinary and the Extraordinary
Your first step for research should be broad, covering the political side of things, social structures, the economy, and the technology of your chosen era. But don’t stop there. The real treasure is in the little, seemingly insignificant details.
- Daily Life & Material Culture: What did people actually eat? How did they prepare it? What did their houses look like, and how were they heated? What did they wear, and what materials were those clothes made from? How did they travel? What did they truly value, both practically and in their minds?
- For example: Instead of just saying “they rode horses,” try envisioning “the dust from the rutted Roman road coated their woolen tunics as their horses slogged through the late afternoon heat, the clatter of hooves echoing off the distant olive groves.” See how that adds sensory detail rooted in the reality of the time?
- Sensory Details: What did the world actually smell like? The woodsmoke of winter, the awful stench of crowded cities, the raw earth of a plowed field after rain? What sounds filled daily life? The clang of a blacksmith’s hammer, the distant cry of a hawker, the soft murmur of Latin or Old English?
- For example: In a medieval city, you wouldn’t just hear “noise.” You’d hear “the ceaseless barking of street dogs competing with the bawling of a fishmonger, the rumble of cartwheels over cobblestones, and the distant chime of the vesper bell from the cathedral.”
- Social Customs & Etiquette: How did people greet each other? What were the rules of polite society? What was considered rude or utterly forbidden? How did someone’s social class, gender, or religion change how they interacted with others? Understanding these small nuances prevents your dialogue or characters acting in ways that just don’t fit the time.
- For example: In Victorian England, a man wouldn’t simply hug a woman he’d just met. He might “perform a slight bow, his hat held discreetly in his hand, while she offered a demure curtsey, their eyes barely meeting.”
- Belief Systems & Worldview: How did people understand illness, death, the natural world, or God? What superstitions or medical practices were common? What philosophical or religious ideas shaped their decisions? These beliefs often drive character motivations in ways that we, as modern readers, might not immediately grasp.
- For example: For a character in the 17th century dealing with an illness, their reaction might involve “reciting fervent prayers to ward off demonic influence, rather than simply seeking a physician, as the very concept of germ theory was centuries away from widespread acceptance.”
- Vocabulary & Idioms: While it’s not always practical to use full period language, understanding the common words, metaphors, and common phrases of the time can really inform your dialogue and how you describe things. Definitely avoid modern slang or casual expressions.
- For example: Instead of a character saying, “That’s cool,” an Elizabethan character might say, “That is a fair sight,” or “It pleases me well.”
Research Methods: Going Deeper
Move beyond just Wikipedia. Look at a variety of sources.
- Primary Sources: Think about letters, personal diaries, legal documents, wills, lists of belongings, old newspaper articles, government records, maps from the period, and even architectural plans. These give you unfiltered glimpses into the past.
- For example: Reading a soldier’s actual letter from the Napoleonic Wars might reveal his complaints about blistered feet and moldy rations – details a history textbook might leave out, but which will infuse your story with real grittiness.
- Secondary Sources: These are scholarly non-fiction books, academic papers, biographies of important historical figures, and cultural histories. Make sure these are reputable and have been reviewed by other experts.
- For example: A detailed cultural history of the American Wild West might describe the specific types of saddles, the rules for stagecoach travel, or the precise cost of a meal in a frontier town, far beyond what a general overview history would offer.
- Visual Sources: Look at paintings, old engravings, photographs (if they exist for your period), period clothing, furniture, and tools. A picture truly is worth a thousand words when you’re trying to understand the material culture.
- For example: Studying Dutch Golden Age paintings reveals not just how people dressed, but the texture of the fabrics, their hairstyles, the interiors of their homes, and even their postures and facial expressions.
- Experiential Research: If you can, visit museums, historical sites, go to re-enactments, or even try period crafts. Feeling the weight of a chainmail shirt or using the simple tools of an ancient potter can truly spark your imagination.
- For example: Spending a day at a reconstructed Roman fort and watching re-enactors doing drills might reveal the sheer physical exertion involved in wielding a sword or the limited visibility of a legionary’s helmet, enriching any combat scenes you write.
Weaving Authenticity into Your Story: Beyond Just Dropping Facts
Research without integration is just trivia. The real art of authentic historical fiction is seamlessly weaving your knowledge into the actual fabric of your story, making it an organic part of the world and your characters.
Show, Don’t Just Tell: Subtlety is So Important
Avoid just dumping information. Instead of listing facts, embody them in your characters’ actions, your descriptions, and their dialogue.
- Sensory Immersion: Integrate all that sensory research into your scene descriptions. Let readers taste, smell, hear, touch, and see the historical world through your characters’ experiences.
- For example: Instead of “The streets were dirty,” try: “A thin film of grime coated everything: the cobblestones, the stalls, even the ragged children whose bare feet left smudges in the fresh horse dung.”
- Action & Behavior: Let the customs and limitations of the era actually dictate your characters’ actions, not your modern ideas of how people should behave.
- For example: In a time of strict social hierarchy, a peasant wouldn’t openly defy a lord, but might resort to veiled sarcasm, quiet rebellion, or simple acceptance, reflecting the real power dynamics.
- Dialogue Infusion: While you’re not aiming for overly archaic dialogue, let the rhythm and vocabulary reflect the period without making it unreadable. Use period-appropriate swearing, expressions, and ways of addressing people.
- For example: Instead of “What’s up?”, consider “How fares it with you?” or “What news arrives?” for an early modern setting. Definitely avoid modern slang like “awesome” or “dude.”
- Internal Monologue: Show how historical beliefs, superstitions, or societal norms shape your characters’ thoughts and fears.
- For example: A peasant woman in a plague year might not just fear death, but believe it’s divine punishment for her sins, or the work of a local witch, reflecting the prevalent worldview.
Character & Motivation: Products of Their Time
Your characters absolutely have to be believable inhabitants of their era, not just modern people dressed in historical costumes. Their values, fears, ambitions, and limitations should all be rooted in the specific historical context.
- Anachronistic Thought vs. Period Mentality: The biggest pitfall is giving characters modern sensibilities, morals, or scientific understanding. Avoid characters who are “ahead of their time” without very careful and historically supported justification.
- For example: A woman in the Middle Ages would not actively pursue a career as a surgeon because she feels oppressed by patriarchal structures in the same way a modern woman might. Her ambition would need to be framed within the constraints and opportunities of her time – perhaps she’s a healer’s apprentice, or a midwife, or uses herbal remedies passed down through generations, all legitimate paths within her era.
- Motivation & Constraints: What truly drives them? Is it land, honor, faith, simple survival, love? How do societal rules, economic realities, and technological limitations restrict their choices?
- For example: A farmer in 18th-century France might be motivated by the sheer struggle to pay exorbitant taxes and feed his family, fearing famine more than military conscription. This is a very different set of concerns than what a modern individual might face.
Plot & Conflict: Conflict That’s Grounded in History
Your conflicts and plot points should naturally arise from the historical context. These could be political upheavals, struggles between social classes, new technological advancements, religious tensions, or widespread diseases.
- Historical Events as Drivers: Use historical events not just as a pretty background, but as actual catalysts for your plot. How do the larger forces of history impact your characters personally?
- For example: The Black Death isn’t just a grim statistic in a 14th-century novel; it reshapes the labor force, drastically changes inheritance, introduces mass death rituals, and incites religious fanaticism, all of which can directly impact individual characters’ lives and choices.
- Societal Norms as Conflict: The clash between a character’s personal desires and societal expectations can create incredibly powerful and authentic conflict.
- For example: A forbidden love story in a rigidly class-structured society like Regency England gains immense tension from the severe social consequences of a misalliance, far beyond what a similar romance in a modern setting would face.
The Art of Taking Things Out: What to Leave Out
Authenticity isn’t just about what you put in; it’s also about what you skillfully leave out or downplay. Not every single research fact needs to make it into your final draft.
Avoid the “Museum Exhibit” Syndrome
Don’t bog down your narrative with too much historical detail or long explanations that bring the story to a halt. Your main goal is to tell a compelling story.
- Prioritize Story Over Pedantry: If a detail doesn’t actually serve the plot, your character, or the atmosphere, seriously consider removing it. Finding that balance is crucial.
- For example: While you might know the exact specifications of a Roman legionary’s shield, describing them in detail is only necessary if that detail becomes relevant to a battle scene or a character’s struggle with a broken shield. Otherwise, a simple “heavy shield” is perfectly fine.
- Trust Your Reader: You don’t need to explain every single historical nuance. Often, the context will become clear through action or dialogue.
- For example: If a character refers to “the King’s decree on taxes,” you don’t need an explanatory paragraph on the history of taxation. The reader understands the concept of a tax decree and its impact on the character.
Strategic Anachronism (Very Rarely and Very Carefully!)
There are those rare instances where a minor, almost unnoticeable anachronism might be acceptable for clarity, readability, or narrative flow, as long as it doesn’t break the reader’s immersion. This is an advanced technique and should be used with extreme caution.
- Language Modernization (Be Careful): While you strive for period-appropriate language, sometimes a direct historical phrase might be completely unreadable to a modern reader. A slight modernization for clarity can be acceptable, as long as it doesn’t sound entirely out of place.
- For example: Instead of writing dialogue entirely in Middle English, which would be unreadable, you capture the flavor of the period while making it accessible. A direct translation of “Thou art a knave” might be too jarringly archaic. A more usable approximation that retains a period feel could be: “You are a scoundrel.”
- Technological Simplification (Keep it Minimal): Sometimes an overly detailed technical explanation of a historical mechanism can be a bore. Focus on its effect or how characters interact with it.
- For example: Rather than a lengthy description of the inner workings of a printing press, focus on the radical upheaval it caused in how information spread and how it impacted your characters’ lives.
Refining & Polishing: The Authenticity Check
Once your rough draft is done, the serious work of authenticating it really begins. This is where you meticulously examine every detail to ensure complete historical integrity.
The “Anachronism Hunt” Read-Through
Read your manuscript specifically looking for anything that feels out of place for the period. This includes:
- Dialogue: Are the words, idioms, and speech patterns consistent with the era? Are there any modern slang terms that slipped in?
- For example: Look for words that didn’t exist, like “stress,” “commute,” or concepts like “psychology” in an 18th-century novel.
- Technology & Objects: Are objects and technologies present that hadn’t been invented yet? Are they used in ways that weren’t even possible?
- For example: No ballpoint pens in the 19th century. No mass-produced items before the industrial revolution. No electric lights before the late 19th-early 20th century.
- Social Mores & Beliefs: Do characters behave or think in ways that contradict the social, religious, or scientific understanding of the time?
- For example: A character in the 16th century discussing “human rights” in a modern sense would be anachronistic; they might discuss “justice under God” or “the King’s law” instead.
- Geography & Environment: Is the landscape and infrastructure accurate for the period? Were specific roads, buildings, or geographical features present exactly as you described them?
- For example: A detailed map of a historical city might reveal that a street or landmark you mentioned in your novel didn’t actually exist at that specific time.
Beta Readers & Sensitivity Readers
Enlist readers who have a strong interest or even expertise in your chosen historical period. They can catch those subtle inconsistencies you might have missed.
- Expert Review: If possible, consider having a historian specializing in your era review sections of your manuscript for factual accuracy and historical truthfulness.
- Diverse Perspectives: For periods involving specific cultural, ethnic, or religious groups, consider sensitivity readers from those backgrounds to ensure your portrayal is not only historically accurate but also nuanced and respectful.
The Revision Loop: Integration and Immersion
Authenticity isn’t just a checklist you go through; it’s about deep integration. As you revise, aim to embed the historical texture so deeply that it almost becomes invisible, just simply being the world your characters live in.
- Eliminate Explanatory Prose: If you find yourself explaining a historical detail, challenge yourself to show it through action, dialogue, or immersive description instead.
- Layer Detail: Don’t dump all the details at once. Sprinkle them throughout your narrative, revealing the world organically as the story unfolds.
- Read Aloud: This helps catch awkward phrasing, anachronistic language, and moments where the narrative flow is disrupted by too much historical detail.
The Payoff: A Past That Lives and Breathes
Writing an authentic historical novel is a demanding journey. It requires the meticulousness of a historian, the curiosity of an archaeologist, and the imaginative empathy of a storyteller. But the reward is truly immense: a novel that doesn’t just entertain, but also educates and transports your readers. When they close your book, they shouldn’t just remember your characters; they should feel as though they briefly walked the streets, endured the hardships, and celebrated the triumphs of a world that once was, feeling the very dust and dreams of a bygone era. Your dedication to authenticity transforms history from a dry chronicle into a vivid, pulsing reality.