Historical Fiction - Finding Stories With the Story

History is the story of mankind - the dynamics of the lives of all people, big and small. The author of historical fiction writes against a background of known facts, timelines, people, and places yet somehow must find that unique story, that untold perspective that keeps readers engaged. For many, the historical novel is the only history they have ever read since leaving school.

Our writing shapes their views of current events, modifies their understanding of the past, and shapes their reactions to events yet to come. That reality brings with it an intellectual challenge - how to be true to history yet write a story that is purely fiction. I resolve that dilemma by following two rules:

RULE 1 - Do your homework. The setting of my novels are meticulously researched. I document my background story as if I were writing a thesis for submission for my doctorate degree. I even include citations where necessary.

RULE 2 - Find a story within the story and make it your own. I search out small stories of people and places that are generally known but for which little detailed documentation exists. I then insert my characters as actors within that story. The result is a blending of fact and fiction that at times can confound even hard core historians.

Here is an example from Chapter 12 of The Juno Letters, Book 1 of my series of the same name. You can download the actual story at the links below.

The German civilian construction organization Todt built the Atlantik Wall - the line of fortifications that stretched from Norway to Spain to keep the Allies out of Fortress Europe in 1944. A member of a French resistance cell posed as a painter and bid on a wallpapering job at Todt headquarters in Caen and stole a map of the fortifications. The map was passed to a high level French resistance operative known as Colonel Remy. It was then smuggled by boat out of a tiny port called Pont-Aven on the Brittany coast. All this is generally well known (although this is one of two versions of the event - the more interesting one).

I place my main character, Antoine Bouchard, in Pont-Aven. He then becomes the person that smuggles Remy to England, and initiates a chain of events that leads to his fateful role in the invasion of Juno Beach on D-Day - all fiction ... but entirely plausible.

Anyone checking my facts will find it hard to determine where the line between fact and fiction lies, and therein lies the key to a good story. That credibility makes my story’s D-Day climax - another story within the story - all the more realistic.

I always tell my readers that the basic elements of my novels are fiction, but I know from their feedback they don’t believe me. That is perhaps the best review of all. Good writing.

You can read this story within the story - Chapter 12, The Juno Letters; junoletters.com by downloading a free copy just for reading this post at: junoletters.com/bookcard.php

The Kindle version is published by California Times Publishing and available through Amazon. All other versions are available at junoletters.com/bookshelf.php including paperback and audio.

#writers #L.W. Hewitt #historical fiction #how to #story within a story

Signing with a Publishing Company

TodToday I signed a contract with California Times Publishing, a new book publishing company that supports the independent writing community. Like many writers, I lose a lot of creative time when I have to promote my books, so it is helpful to partner with others to achieve our mutual goals. Sure, you give up some degree of control, but no venture is ever successful doing everything by oneself. I look forward to seeing how this works out. Another chapter, another set of good stories, another adventure. What a job!