Writing historical fiction is a unique opportunity to bring light to the stories of real people in the past. In my opinion, you should include real figures if they are relevant and add nuance to your story. But writing about a real person in a work of fiction is a careful balance. There are guidelines you should follow when trying to grasp the essence of someone’s life, character, and values.
Main Character?
I don’t think I’ll ever write a novel-length story with a real person as the main character. This is a personal conviction. I want to be as true as possible to the real people I write about, and that includes only putting so many words into someone’s mouth. When I do so, I want to emulate that person’s speech and thoughts as best I know from primary sources.
I have seen some books, though, where the authors chose to use real people as their main characters, especially in historical fantasy, which gives more room for creativity. Some good examples of this would be Romanovand Fawkes, by Nadine Brandes, and My Lady Jane, by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton.
Why do I think historical fantasy is a better instance of using real historical figures as main characters? These types of novels are reimaginings, not intended to fully portray the real characters as they were. This kind of fiction asks, "What if the story actually went this way? And what if there were fantastical elements involved?" These questions can give the author more liberty to make tweaks to historical events and figures.
Do Your Research (Especially for Legality’s Sake!)
If you choose to write a real person into your historical fiction, ask yourself a few questions. Is this person still alive? If so, it may be best to steer clear or use direct quotes if the person is absolutely necessary to the story, like a prominent politician giving a speech.
It is an issue to use a living person in your story? Not necessarily. Public figures written about in a positive or neutral way are fair game. If you write about them with malicious intent, then you’ll run into trouble. As for including living people who are not famous, be much more cautious. Likely, you will not have to use a person like this in your story, but if you must do so, speak with them first about what they are comfortable with you saying about them.
If they’re dead, you shouldn’t run into any issues. The dead can’t sue or fight back against a tarnished reputation. But with those who can’t speak for themselves, I do attentive research to find as many primary sources as possible.
Are there sources that include how they spoke? How were they perceived by other people? What did they hold dear? Are there direct quotes? Read as much as you can if they wrote or said anything that was recorded. Then read biographies about them, if there are any. These are great ways to get a sense of someone’s voice, values, and personality.
Do They Fit?
As much as you may want to shine a light on a historical figure’s story, make sure they fit in with your work! Do they add something to the story? Does their inclusion bring light to the relevant experiences of other people in history? Whose stories need to be told?
Don’t feel the need to add another character to your story just because they lived at the right time or place. Your readers don’t want to be overwhelmed by unnecessary details.
However, I don’t always follow this rule. If I find a unique person or story within the historical event I’m writing about, I do like to include them because I think other people will be interested in hearing about their experience, and their stories may never be told otherwise. It can add nuance to your novel. And every person deserves to have their story told.
In my opinion, that is the heart of historical fiction: revealing the experiences of the people of the past in a new and interesting way (especially the experiences that have never been shared before). This is the aim of my current project, a historical novel about the sinking of the S.S. Princess Sophia in 1918. Since there’s never been a historical novel written on the event before, I felt compelled to share and represent the untold stories of the many people aboard.
The Facts and Truths
Learn as many facts as possible about the real people you write about. After you go through primary sources, see how other people perceived them and talked about them. This will give insight into the person’s emotional truths.
What are emotional truths? I see them as the things someone cares deeply about and the way they discuss certain matters. When you learn these, you can get a better hold on using their voice and working with the way they interacted with other people.
It is key to remember that the types and extent of research that goes into a book that is only about real historical people will be much different from the extent of research that goes into a book in which historical figures only make cameo appearances.
Handle With Care
I have several real people make cameos in my work in progress, while my main characters are made-up people inspired by the experiences of real people. Personally, that’s a great balance for me, and I’d recommend it to anyone else.
I’ve gone as far as to read the entire biography of one character making a cameo in my book: my great-great uncle, Walter Harper, the first person to summit Mt. Denali. By reading such a long work that included excerpts of his own writing and the writing of others who knew him, I got a great sense of his voice and personality.
Other cameo characters I’ve included have warranted very little research because there is so little out there about them, like Stuart Macey, a deckhand who was posing as his brother. I found his story in a YouTube comment by one of his family members. You never know where you may come across a jewel of information!
The baseline is that no matter who you’re talking about, living or dead, in 1692 or 1918, male or female, known or unknown, handle real people and their real stories with as much care as you would your own.
What do you think about including real people in historical fiction? Leave a comment! Want to see daily writing tips and content from me? Follow my Instagram @charis.writes. Subscribe to my newsletter for monthly content about my historical fiction work, other writing, reading, and life.
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