Pockets of personality: what might your characters choose to carry?
I’m a proud pocket devotee: I refuse to buy clothes without pockets. But what do I put in them? A quick check of my jeans reveals fairly prosaic items: my phone, lip balm, a handkerchief, an old bus ticket – but in a coat I find shells, a pinecone, and a rather...
In the trenches: writing realistic war scenes in historical fiction
Ultima ratio regum. The last argument of kings. King Louis XIV of France liked the phrase so much he had it on his cannons. Wars mark big turning points in history, so they naturally serve as the ultimate form of conflict and drama. So much historical fiction focuses...
To chaperone or not to chaperone? Building tension in historical romance
Romance is perennially popular in historical fiction. The genre demands obstacles to the path of True Love, and history offers so many: stricter socio-economic segregation, tribal loyalties, wars, dynastic feuding, etc. etc. Furthermore, throughout history, with...
The six days of Twixmas: festive writing prompts for the holiday lull
In our final blog post of the year, we invite you to give yourself the gift of time and imagination after the holiday rush. Here are six quick, low-pressure writing prompts inspired by the traditions and customs of Christmases past during Twixmas – the period between...
Obscure historical jobs for your characters
Have you ever thought about the jobs your characters do? Paid or unpaid, their occupations are more than background details – they reveal skills, shape personalities, drive motivations, and can even influence your plot and themes. Several factors come into play when...
Using myths, legends, and folklore to inspire historical fiction
For a writer, inspiration is everywhere. If you’re looking for ideas for your next historical fiction novel, myths, legends, and regional folklore are a great place to start. But there’s such a wide expanse of motifs and archetypes that it can be a little intimidating...
How to choose the right comp titles for your novel
There are a lot of hurdles to overcome on the road to publication. One of the elements that many writers find really stressful is finding the right comp titles. Not only are they an essential part of writing an effective query letter, there’s a lot of misinformation...
Signed, sealed, delivered: using letters in historical fiction
Throughout history, letter-writing has been a vital part of human interaction, connecting people separated by time, place or social circumstances. From the early 19th to mid-20th century, with the rise in literacy and the establishment of postal services,...
Murder in the past: building a plausible mystery before forensics
Murder. It holds a timeless fascination that few other crimes can match. It’s hard to get excited about a character wearing excessively pointy shoes or selling underweight loaves – but when a corpse turns up, people pay attention. Modern forensic techniques are, well,...