Review: The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction

To be honest, I'm not sure I think of this as a review. It's much tougher to critique how-to books because they might be well written but then be totally unhelpful. Or the other way round. I think the book helps, but I can only explain why it's helped me, not whether or not it will help anyone else. Every writer is different.

When it comes to my own writing, the book is more helpful if I'm writing general historical fiction. But since I'm working on historical romance it only helps me about three-fourths of the way. Most historical romances I read are pretty accurate, but the heroes and the heroines can't and don't act like the average men and women of their eras. Historical romance heroines are stronger, and the heroes treat women better. If they acted like real historical figures they wouldn't be very heroic. And a lot of the bloodshed and violence happens offstage in historical romance.

James Alexander Thom's The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction isn't a how-to book. It's a book about Thom's research methods and the importance of historical accuracy. It's a book about checking and double checking. It's about history itself - mostly Native American history and the Lewis and Clark expedition. It's about history as propaganda - because that's what history mostly is anyway. History is written from the conqueror's point of view. And what's written by the colonized (if it even gets written at all) often gets buried, ignored, or dismissed.

There aren't any step-by-step instructions on how to write a historical fiction novel. What Thom gives is a series of suggestions on where to get information. In some ways the book is more about art than craft. It's more about research than writing. It seems that libraries, museums, genealogical studies, and re-enactments still make more sense than just using the Internet. You have to get your butt out of the chair if you want to write about history. The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction is more about inspiration than instruction.