Guest Post by T. S. Allan –
The goal of all historical fiction writers is to create a story they believe is important to tell and one that people will want to read. A key component is making the story’s plot and characters authentic enough for when the story takes place. The problem is the difficulty finding out what actually happened in the past and why.
Our species seems to have an intuitive need to know more about ourselves and the world around us in order to solve the problems we face. Research is a lifelong experience of solving problems. As a child, we learn by watching, listening, and trying different things. Slowly, we learn how to persevere and solve the problems we face: needing food and water, moving to another location, getting clean, using an object, etc.
A helpful way of researching historical fiction is to apply our experiences to asking questions, searching for clues, thinking about what we find or don’t find, and deciding what additional questions are raised. I refer to “clues”, not “historical facts” because finding the absolute correct historical facts is extremely hard, if not impossible.
One must consider who recorded the historical facts and their knowledge and prejudices in claiming such facts. Did they witness the event? Or, did they get the information from other sources? Did they have reasons for slanting the facts?
When asking questions, keep an open mind about the clues you discover and view them through untainted lenses. What you have previously read or seen may affect the conclusions you draw about the location or time period you are researching. Realize that clues may produce conflicting versions of what occurred.
There are many sources of historical records: national, state, and local archives and libraries contain a multitude of records. I strongly recommend using them. I have found a great deal of information for my stories at such depositories in the US, UK, Ireland, and Canada. In many incidents, however, records do not exist, or they have been recorded from a tainted perspective. For example, official records of a war battle often don’t include reports from every unit that fought in the battle, and normally reports are written well after the battle. Further, events in war are confusing and even combatants who survive do not always know what happened. Be aware that not everything you find in the archives is accurate. I discovered records that showed my great-grandfather was discharged, when in fact he was still a prisoner in a Confederate prison camp.
My worst experience learning that records no longer existed was in Maine. In the official logs of the Union infantry unit my great-grandfather served in during the US Civil War, two pages dealing with the two largest battles he fought in had been surgically cut out of the logbook, and the removed information doesn’t exist elsewhere.
Utilize the archives or library staff for help. Often they will know of material that you are unaware of, or additional information that helps explain records you find. For example, I thought I had found a copy of my great-grandfather’s enlistment documents, but the date was confusing. An experienced archivist reviewed the document and pointed out that, because of the location where the enlistment took place, it recorded an renelistment, not the initial enlistment. With that help, I found records of the original enlistment.
Other recommended places to find clues are visiting the location of the places where your story takes place. Remember, however, that the location today may not look at all like it did at the time your story takes place. In many locations I have visited, the earlier military camps, city blocks, and individual buildings have been torn down or replaced by newer constructions. For example, the portion of Morris Island, South Carolina, where Fort Wagner, South Carolina existed in 1863 has been totally washed away by the Atlantic Ocean. If a building you are interested in no longer exists, clues about the area around your building may be found from nearby buildings that still exist from that time.
While visiting locations, you might find clues you never considered in your search. When I stopped at the visitor’s center at the entrance to the former Cold Harbor battlefield, I found a letter about my great-grandfather’s unit’s first day in the battle that was never mentioned in the US or Maine official records. During such visits you might meet local people who can provide you with additional information about the people and times you are writing about.
Don’t limit your research to just historical records about events or locations. Explore and ask questions about life during the period of your story, such as food, clothing, tools, family relationships, culture, technology, laws, weather, etc. Question how the period of your story fits in with evolutionary changes, new discoveries in science on how our brains, minds, and cells think and solve problems, what fossils show and what they miss about the period. That can give you more insight about life at the time of your story.
Finally, realize you will never learn everything you want about the historical past you are researching. Of course, you do not want to mistakenly alter historical facts in your story. Remember, however, you are writing historical fiction. For better dramatic effect you may choose to create composite characters, or change some unimportant dates of events, etc. At some point, you have to stop researching and write or edit your story. Use your own creativity to weave the clues you have found into the plot and characters of your story to make it readable and interesting, as well as, enjoyable for your readers.
I have extensive experience researching and asking questions from my work as a trial lawyer, chief-executive-officer, consultant, instructor, author of two editions of an international legal practice book, and my writing historical fiction.
