FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: I’m a complete beginner. Will this course suit me?
A: We recommend that absolute beginners start with Creative Writing Stage 1. It covers the core skills and knowledge you need to become a great writer. This Historical Fiction course will help you develop the specific skills you need to write historical fiction, but it doesn’t cover basic narrative skills like point of view or story structure.

Q: I don’t know which historical period or character I want to write about. Will this course still be helpful?
A: Absolutely! In fact, it will give you a jumpstart in researching and planning your story once you choose it.

Q: I’ve already written my manuscript. Will I have to rewrite it after doing this course?
A: Probably – but that’s not a bad thing! Remember, most books go through several drafts before they are ready to be submitted to a publisher or agent. In fact, publishers often tell us that the most common problem they have with manuscripts is that they’re not ‘cooked’ enough – i.e., they haven’t gone through structural edits to improve them. So short answer, YES – but by doing so, you’ll almost certainly increase your chances of being published!

Q: Will this course help me to structure my novel?
If you’re new to writing, please start with Creative Writing Stage 1.
If you’re already writing your novel, please do Fiction Essentials: Structure.
This course does NOT go into detail about structure. The focus is on how to use research, facts and historical events to make your story come alive.

Q. Will this course show me how to research?
A: It will help you find the appropriate sources, organise your information and decide which part of your research should go into your story. More importantly, it will help you integrate research into your story without destroying reader interest or narrative tension. We give you step-by-step video walkthroughs on how to access and explore essential research resources which will help your story come alive.

Q. I’m writing a family history. Will this course be useful to me?
Unless you’re relying entirely on oral histories for your family history – yes, it will! Family historians face many of the same problems that historical novelists do, especially in terms of portraying the broader cultural environment and historical context of your family’s experiences. This course will guide you in choosing the details to include in your history and in how to make the past come alive for your readers, whomever they are.

Q. I’m writing about real historical people, and I’m worried about defamation. Will this course cover that?
Yes, it will, in general terms. However, if you’re writing about people who are still alive, or their families, you may need to seek legal advice. But there are ways around problems with defamation, which will be discussed in the course.

Q. I’m not sure if I’m writing a historical novel or not. It’s set in the 1970s/1980s/1960s….
The current definition of an historical novel by academics is a novel set before the author’s birth – so whether your novel is historical depends on how old you are!

But, in publishing, historical novels are basically anything before 1970 (although, as the past retreats, that is changing…). Another way of looking at it is: will your readers remember that period? If you’re writing a YA novel about the 1980s, you are, in a very real way, writing an historical novel, because you’ll have to recreate a world your readers have never seen and know very little about. So the question is: do you have to build and explain that world for your readers? If you do, you’re writing historical fiction.