ONA RUSSELL SAN MIGUEL 2019 WRITERS’ CONFERENCE [email protected] www.onarussell.com
The Truth of Historical Fiction--Overview
William Faulkner famously said that “the past is never dead.” Effective historical fiction confirms that statement by revealing eternal truths about the human condition. The settings may be in the past, but the stories resonate in the present. In this workshop, we’ll examine the basics—from research to voice to pacing—in creating such works. We’ll discuss how to write credibly without getting lost in the rabbit hole of detail. And more generally, we’ll explore the narrative relationship between the real and the imaginary. So hop on my time machine and begin your narrative journey!
Workshop Outline
1. Power point
2. Generate list of differences between history and fiction
3. Defining historical fiction—biographical, event, “making the shadow shine”
4. Choosing your subject
5. Perils and pleasures of research
6. How much detail to include, leave out?
7. Credibility
8. Pacing
9. Audience considerations
ONA RUSSELL SAN MIGUEL WRITERS’ CONFERENCE The Truth of Historical Fiction Recommended Reading
Novels
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel The General in His Labyrinth, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald The Underground Railroad by Colin Whitehead Lincoln in the Bardo by George Sanders Sonata Mulattica by Rita Dove
Non-Fiction
Novel History—Historians and Novelists Confront Americas Past, ed. By Mark C. Carnes On Histories and Stories, by A. S. Byatt
Book on writing
From Where You Dream by Robert Olen Butler The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler How Fiction Works by James Wood Story, by Robert McKee
My titles
O’Brien’s Desk The Natural Selection Rule of Capture