Historical

Your story is set in the past, with your plot and the actions of your characters in keeping with the time period you have chosen. Works of historical fiction may or may not feature real historical figures. Umberto Eco, Hilary Mantel, Ken Follett and Philippa Gregory have written popular titles in this genre.

Article

7 min read

Writing Rules & Historical Fiction

Katherine Clements

21st September 2015

Edited

16th September 2020

Aspiring writers are bombarded with advice about what makes good writing. A Google search for ‘writing rules’ returns a host of forthright (and...

Article

8 min read

Creating Complex Protagonists

Imogen Robertson

9th September 2015

Edited

23rd September 2020

Author Imogen Robertson discusses creating complex protagonists and asks: are you a lover, a puppet-master or a Dr Frankenstein?

Article

7 min read

What if...?

Rebecca Mascull

9th September 2015

Edited

23rd September 2020

How is a story born? From where do the ideas for novels come? Rebecca Mascull explores one of the most interesting questions we can ask of a story:...

Article

6 min read

A Criminal Past – Writing Historical Crime Fiction

Karen Maitland

31st July 2015

Edited

16th September 2020

At the Harrogate Crime Festival, novelists discussed how rapid developments in forensics and crime-fighting were influencing modern crime fiction....

The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jeffries

Article

6 min read

To Plan or Not to Plan: My Balancing Act

Dinah Jefferies

28th July 2015

Edited

23rd September 2020

Author Dinah Jefferies discusses the writing process and whether it's important to plan your plot before you start.

Article

11 min read

Translating History

Natasha Pulley

24th June 2015

Edited

16th September 2020

History is a foreign country. Digressing a bit, so is Japan. Haruki Murakami is one of the best-selling writers worldwide – translated. Nobody...