By Sharon Virts
Ernest Hemingway said of writing fiction that “the dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A good writer does not need to reveal every detail of a character or action.” Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory applies equally to the research and writing of historical fiction. Too much historical detail will burden a story and weigh down both the pacing and the reader. For me, one of the major challenges in writing historical fiction is walking down the treacherous path of including endless historical details in the story. I find that often this detail is irrelevant to both the development of the plot and the characters’ journeys. It’s not that details are bad. It’s just that including a large number of them creates a less immersive and engaging experience for the reader.
I believe that historical facts should not be incidental to a story—part of a blurry background that distracts—but instead embedded deeply in the fabric of the story—the characters, scenes, settings, costume, customs, etc.—to lift the story and carry it forward. So how does one research a historical fiction novel and use that knowledge without bogging down the story?
The most critical aspect of researching (and writing) historical fiction is determining the timebox for the piece. In my experience, the smaller the time window of a story, the better. Just as an artist paints a portrait of a person at a specific age, I find it more effective to write a character in a specific chapter of his/her life than to attempt to create a story that spans a lifetime.
Once the timebox is set, I narrow the focus of my research to events within that window. Franky, I have no idea how authors of historical fiction survived in the days before Google and the Internet. And while Google searches are a great start, I find that I spend a preponderance of my time using sources like Newspapers.com and Ancestry.com for my research. Establishing search terms is another aspect of research that can prove tricky. While there are obvious search terms—the names of historical characters, specific events, etc.—there are others that are less obvious. I have learned to allow the research itself to guide me in expanding my search for information. For example, if I learn that my protagonist worked for a certain individual or lived in a particular place, I add those to my list to research.
As most of my stories are set in the 19th century, information is more accessible online, although I still find myself at the library reeling through microfilm. Old chronicles and newspapers are extremely helpful, not only for gleaning information about events driving my story, but also for providing unique insight into the tone of the period. From advertisements to weather reports, I find content in those old journals invaluable for creating the ambiance of my settings.
Equally important to researching newspapers is using genealogy databases, like Ancestry.com, to study the real lives of historical characters. Life events, such as birth order; number of siblings; ages when parents, siblings or spouses died; ages when married or when a child was born, etc., shape the personalities and determine motivation. Census data prior to and after the timebox of a story can not only provide added insight into the households where my characters lived, but serve as a compass pointing to newspapers to search for further information. For example, when I discovered that my protagonist had lived in another town the decade before my story began, I contacted the historical society of that area and found a trove of correspondence written by him in which he expressed his opinions on such controversial topics as the death penalty, slavery, and women’s suffrage. While none of those subjects were directly relevant to the story I was writing, his opinions were useful for understanding his attitudes toward women, people of color, etc., which I used in my portrayal of him. Researching female characters for historical fiction often proves tricky since women had little voice in society in the past. Researching the men in their lives (fathers, brothers, uncles, husbands) can provide valuable insight into their lives. I also consult non-fiction books related to the events, people, and time-period of my story. I use all of this to create the backdrop upon which I build my plot and my characters.
Once I have pulled my initial research together, I develop a timeline for my story. Using post-it notes, I write out the major events and put them on a wall in my office that I use to assemble the timeline. I repeat the exercise for each of my characters, identifying the major events in their lives, writing them on different color post-its, adding them to the wall. The timeline helps to identify clusters of events and allows me to easily see where the inciting event (10%), major plot points (25%, 50% and 75%) and concluding event (90%) are, or should be. This is the point where I make adjustments, combining events, moving events, omitting events, and in some cases, adding events, in order to build my story structure and arcs for my characters.
The key to researching and writing great historical fiction is to stay true to the spirit of the story. Staying true to the spirit of the story does not mean that every aspect of the story is historically accurate. That’s the job of non-fiction. My job, as an author, is to write page-turning stories that bring the past alive. And while all my research may not end up in the manuscript, its depth will most certainly be reflected in the subtlety of my scenes and in the fabric of the historical characters I portray. Because after all, it is fiction!
Sharon Virts is a successful entrepreneur and visionary who, after more than 25 years in business, followed her passion for storytelling into the world of historical fiction. She has received numerous awards for her work in historic preservation and has been recognized nationally for her business achievements and philanthropic contributions. She was recently included in Washington Life Magazine's Philanthropic 50 of 2020 for her work with education, health, and cultural preservation. Sharon’s passion truly lies in the creative. She is an accomplished visual artist and uses her gift for artistic expression along with her extraordinary storytelling to build complex characters and craft vivid images and sets that capture the heart and imagination. Sharon and her husband Scott live at Selma, a prominent historic residence in Virginia that they saved from destruction and restored to its original stature. It is out of the love and preservation of Selma that the story of the life, times, and controversies of its original owner, Armistead Mason, has given root to her first novel, Masque of Honor.