Historical research is a critical step for writers of this genre. If you are a regular reader of historical fiction, you’ve probably come across instances where some historical detail in a novel simply isn’t accurate. Whether the error was large or small, it likely pulled you right out of the story and got you thinking about the history instead.
Why It Matters
If you’re going to write historical fiction (or really any fiction that’s set in a particular period of history), the above is exactly what you don’t want your readers to experience. So how can you ensure that the historical details in your novel are accurate? The good news is that there are tons of resources available to help you in your historical research. The bad news is that not all of these resources are reliable.
As an editor of historical fiction, I’ve done quite a bit of this kind of historical fact-checking, and my academic background (an MA in History) has been a huge help in assessing the reliability of various sources. Here are a few of my favorites to get you started:
Brittanica.com
To get a general overview of a historic person or event, Wikipedia is often where people go first. However, this site is notoriously unreliable and should not be relied on as a sole source of information. And that goes double—or triple—for AI sources such as ChatGPT! They can be useful as a jumping-off point, but it’s important to cross-check the info you glean there in more reputable places. As an alternative to Wikipedia, I like Brittanica.com, the website of Encyclopedia Brittanica, for looking up basic historical facts. You have a much better chance there of finding accurate information.
Etymonline.com
When writing dialogue in historical fiction, the question of when a particular word first began to be used (its etymology) will probably come up more than once. My favorite source for tracking down this information is Etymonline.com. It’s a quick and easy way to make sure you aren’t filling your dialogue with anachronisms.
Project Gutenberg
For a deeper dive into the era you’re researching for your novel, check out Project Gutenberg. This site has an incredible online library of more than 75,000 books, all of which are free to access. Most of these are older works whose US copyright has expired, making this site a treasure trove of historical information.
The Importance of Cross-Checking
Although I recommend the sites I’ve listed here for historical research, keep in mind that no website is perfect. When researching information that is significant to your story, be sure to cross-check your findings with other reliable websites. Ideally, you should be able to confirm the information you’ve found in several different places. And if that seems like too much work, consider for a moment how much less work it is in the age of the internet. (I grew up in the 1900s—I could tell you stories, LOL.)
Getting the historical details right is one of the elements that makes good historical fiction stand out. Lovers of the genre are often quite knowledgeable about their favorite time periods, and portraying that history as accurately as possible can go a long way toward helping new historical fiction authors build their fan base. So do your homework, keep track of your findings, and enjoy your journey through time. And if you’ve done your homework, written your novel, and are ready for the next step, let’s chat!
