Hamilton-Wenham Public Library

Once upon a time it was now, the art and craft of writing historical fiction, James Alexander Thom

eng

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Once upon a time it was now

961826679

James Alexander Thom

the art and craft of writing historical fiction

Historical fiction writers and historians are not the same. While a historian stands firmly planted in the present and looks back into the past, a historical novelist sets readers directly in the past and shows them forward. The job of a historical fiction writer is to make readers feel the victories and defeats, joys and pains, as if they were there. James Alexander Thom guides aspiring writers through the creation of historical fiction. He includes tips on problems many writers face, including: how much credibility is too much?; telling facts from opinions and seeing through the bias; knowing when to embellish and when not to; researching with archives, genealogy, site visits, journals, and memories. Highlighted with humor and personal anecdotes, Thom's detailed guides uses invaluable insights from himself and other historians and historical novelists to help the reader create a novel that is true to what was then, when then was now

Preface: Once upon a time it was now -- In the river of time -- History: a distillation of rumor -- A catalytic remark -- Modifying the truth -- Searching and researching -- Old stuff in a new package: history in the computer age -- Genealogy is like the potato -- Taming your research data -- It was a dark and storm night -- Ain't like it used to was -- Songs, smells, and sensations -- Catching the historians -- How much credibility? -- What's then got to do with now? -- How not to write historical fiction -- Around the fire