Uncovering the Art of Crafting a Compelling Historical Narrative

A history story is more than just a catalogue of events and actions; it is a narrative that seeks to connect and explain how events relate to one another. These stories often centre around real-life characters and extraordinary circumstances, movements, and events from the past that have relevance to the present. They may offer a critical or complimentary perspective on how these events shaped society. The narrative often focuses on pivotal moments of conflict between powers and people, and how these struggles resulted in life-changing outcomes for both the characters and the world around them. Many historical narratives are coming-of-age stories or use rags-to-riches plots that offer hope and reassurance.

The Diversity of Historical Narratives

History stories come in a wide range of styles and situations. Each period of history can almost be considered a genre in itself, with its unique themes and characters – for example, Achilles, Helen of Troy, the Trojan horse, and so on for the Trojan War; knights, fair ladies, druids, and so on for the Dark Ages; and soldiers, politicians, spies, and so on for the Second World War. The accuracy of a historical story is evaluated against the historical record, not facts, as a perfectly factual account of any event is impossible without first-hand experience. This does not mean that history stories must be perfectly accurate, but deviations from the historical record should be carefully thought through to engage the reader’s curiosity about an interesting alternative viewpoint or possibility.

Exploring Historical Accuracy

Biographies: Portraits of Lives: Biographies (also known as biopics) are stories that recount the life of an individual but are told by someone other than the subject, and autobiographies are accounts of a person’s life told by that person. While these stories often cover a significant portion of the subject’s life, in some instances they focus on the period when the person’s life had the greatest impact on history and society. Biopics can span a range of genres, such as competition, war, or Westerns, but they are often considered dramas. At their core, biopics dramatise real people and real events, with varying degrees of verisimilitude.

Historical Fiction (Creative Interpretations): Historical fiction is set within a specific historical time period and often takes a creative approach to representing history to enhance the dramatic and entertainment value of the story. While it may incorporate real-life events and people to provide context, it should not be considered an accurate historical account. The events, characters, and situations depicted in historical fiction are fictionalised, and intended to be accepted as a work of imagination rather than a factual representation of history.

Alternate History (Exploring Possibilities): Alternate history explores different outcomes of historical events through speculative fiction. These stories typically focus on pivotal moments in history and imagine how different outcomes would have shaped the future. The genre allows for exploration of ‘What if?’ scenarios and may even incorporate supernatural elements. Both historical fiction and alternate histories can take the form of a dramatic retelling of a large-scale event that has a corresponding historical account. These stories often include elements such as battles, romance, and journeys and may revise history or provide conjecture to fill in gaps in the historical record. Biographies are less likely to take the form of epics because they are usually about a specific person’s whole life rather than a certain event.