On Writing: Historical Fiction

Writing historical fiction presents both challenges and opportunities. The challenges lie in choosing the degree of historical accuracy to include. The opportunities lie in the ability to present events and characters in a more idealistic manner, that is, what could have been and should have been.

As an example, the Shattering Paradigms series takes place from the years just before the Civil War until several years after Reconstruction. This was a period of great social and political turmoil throughout the South as Blacks and whites dealt with the end of slavery. Historically, the story did not end well for Blacks, as violence and Jim Crow laws relegated them to second-class status. The actual history of that era provided me with an intriguing background for the series.

As I studied the history of the post-Civil War years, many questions occurred to me. What would have happened if one brave person had challenged the paradigms of Southern culture? How would Blacks have responded if they had social and political equality with whites? What would have happened in the South if economic freedom for both Blacks and whites had been recognized and protected? Shattering Paradigms is my answer to these, and similar, questions.

History provided me with the conflict that drives the series. History also provided me with many courageous men and women who fought for the rights of Blacks, and I use actual quotes from many of them. Introducing fictional elements enabled me to depict events and characters that would have changed the course of history.

Readers have asked me how much of the series is historically accurate and how much is fiction. That is a difficult, and perhaps impossible, question to answer. Certainly, I can point to events and characters that are historically accurate. However, even when a particular event actually occurred, I often added fictional elements to create drama, advance the plot, or something similar. I think the most satisfying answer I can give is that the essence of the conflict is historically accurate, while many of the details are fictional.