Historical Research for Your Historical Novel

Whether you write historical romance, historical fantasy, steampunk, or good old-fashioned historical fiction, there comes a time in the creation process when you have to do research. We love the element of history because it reminds us of different times and cultures we will never be able to visit, while giving us a sense of the relatable. It challenges us to think creatively around their limits of technology and social norms. We smile with joy when we come up with an ending that resolves the conflict while fitting neatly within the time period we have chosen. We see history as a story in and of itself.

Which is why many of us never finish our novels. We get stuck in the glorious details of history.

So, how do you stay focused on writing your story? How do you decide how much research is enough?

It’s about the story.

Author Mary Wine once told me historical romance was about the story you were telling and not the history. The history is the setting in which your story is being told. No one is going to get three semester units of credit for reading your book of historical fiction. So stop obsessing.

Realize that you’ve got to get the specifics of that time period right. You’ve got to make the setting seem real. (Repeating rifles came into use very late in the American Civil War. The bustle dress became fashionable in the early 1870s in the United States. Stirrups on horses weren’t common in Western Europe until the late 11th century.) But none of this means that you have to obsessively research if it’s not related to the plot. If you’re writing a murder mystery set in Leadville in 1875, you should know that Horace Tabor was living there at the time. But if your story has nothing to do with how boots are made or how silver was mined, don’t include it. Don’t even research it. Having that knowledge, while pleasurable, will only slow down the writing of the story.

First steps.

Whatever you do, don’t go and buy books. Don’t drop $60, $100, or $200 on a set of books you’ll probably skim through and never really read. Start with an internet search. Read a couple of websites. I like to go to Wikipedia to begin my research. I know colleges don’t like students citing Wikipedia in their college papers, but we’re not writing a college paper. We’re writing a novel. For general background information, Wikipedia is a great place to brush up on a topic.

Make a timeline.

I like to make a timeline of relevant historical events before I begin writing. That way I know what’s topical to the characters and what’s going on culturally and politically. This really helps when I’m writing characters and trying to figure out their backgrounds and skill sets.

Focus on character and plot.

I once wrote a sweeping novel that took place during the O’Neil Rebellion in 1597 Ireland. When I went to research what one of the female characters was wearing, I fell down the rabbit hole and spent a day and a half researching Irish women’s headdresses. I used the information in two scenes that were each a paragraph long. Those two days, I could have been writing the rest of Act 3. Instead, I researched something that only came up twice. Clearly not good use of my time. In the future, I will focus on the history that will directly affect my plot. If I have to research tiny details, I’ll wait until the second draft to put such things in. In fact, I will leave notes in my manuscript about what needs to be researched at a later date. Get. The draft. Done.

Those people.

One of the great problems of historical fiction are those people. You know who I’m talking about. The horse people, or the weapons people, or the clothing people. The people whose pleasure in reading historical fiction only revolves around whether or not you were obsessive-compulsive about their thing.

The story was all right, but the author totally lost me when she wrote about Arabian horses. They weren’t even in that part of Europe for another ten months.

The romance was fine, except for the description of farthingales in Queen Mary’s dress. Everyone knows the English Court used French farthingales and not Spanish.

Look, those people can be annoying. I have actually met people who tell me that when they come across an inaccuracy, they cannot go further. Plot, interesting characters, conflict, none of these things matter to those people. So what do you do?

You have to see them as your allies. Yes, they can hurt your feelings and frustrate you. But learn to use them to your advantage. Ask their opinion on your manuscript. Did you get everything right? The things these readers want are usually very small. So it’s worth it to get them on your side and make those minor changes. If it is a major flaw and not a minor one, you’ll be glad they caught the mistake. Nothing torpedoes a book of historical fiction faster than a premise based on an inaccuracy.

In conclusion…

History is fun. Trying to figure out what drove people to move across continents, fight other people, fall in love, and build great towns, cities, and countries can be very romantic. But you don’t have to know every detail. You don’t have to have the knowledge of a college professor to write your story. Start small, focus on your characters and your plot, make a timeline so you know what else is going on, and remember that only you can write your story.