HISTORICAL FICTION is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events (Wikipedia).
A historical fiction story pays close attention to all of the details of the depicted period, while also adding fictive elements.
Notable historical figures are often explored.
So, how much of historical fiction must be real?
• it should take place in authentic period in history
• it should take place in a real place
• inventing characters, events and even cities is okay, as long as it makes sense to the setting
• the way characters speak should be authentic (remember about the relationship between a status and speech)
If you have that opportunity, contact people who are specialists in the time period you're going to write about, and ask them all the questions you might have. It should be clear as the sky that research - always important anyway - is very crucial in this genre. Make sure you know:
• how does everyday life look like for the social class of my MC?
• what is the political context of this time period and how much does it affect my MC?
• how much education could my MC get, and how does it reflect in my story?
• what is socially expected and accepted of my MC to be like, and how do they fit in?
• what are the realistic job / marriage options for my MC?
• what would be illegal for my MC to do? What could get them institualised? (it's not a joke - women were institualised for tiny reasons back in the days)
"In Historical Fiction and Historical Fantasy readers may criticize works for failure to reflect the actual historically accurate views. This may result in the story condemning or praising certain values or societal norms that are no longer relevant. Be wary, though, for sometimes the deliberately different values end up just as inaccurate, but in the opposite direction - a story could present some value as being a relic of the past even if it's still widespread at the time of its writing, or grossly exaggerate how common or how severe a certain dissonant historical value is, or even make up lurid historical values wholesale merely to shock the modern audience and to paint the past as worse than it actually is" - tvtropes.org
SUBGENRES:
Outside of historical romance, historical mystery and historical fantasy, there are also:
ALTERNATE HISTORY - one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. It proposes "what if?" scenarios about pivotal events in human history, and presents outcomes very different from the historical record.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORICAL FICTION - tells the fictionalized story of a real person’s life
Some interesting tropes connected to historical fiction:
Your normal is our taboo - whoever you are, whatever you do, there will always be those who disapprove
Culture justifies anything - someone directly or indirectly using "culture" as a way of trying to get themselves or someone else off the hook for truly heinous acts or structures
Idiosyncratic cultural gesture - several cultures have non-verbal means of expressing an idea or thought that are unique to that culture (and might be completely misconstrued or misunderstood by another)
Aluminium christmas trees - a story element based on a real life object or event (past or present) which is mistaken for fiction by the audience, usually because it seems too unlikely, bizarre, or kitschy to be real
Historical beauty upgrade - the tendency of popular entertainment to make historical characters look more handsome or beautiful than they actually were (or are reported to have been by the sources of their time), and/or to fit their looks to the beauty standard of the culture the work is made for.
horror • romance • adventure • fantasy • science-fiction • slice of life • folklore • inspirational • western • thriller
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