One of the greatest complaints I’ve heard from authors wanting to write historical fiction is that they don’t know how to start their research. This is a reasonable complaint. Afterall, there are many elements to consider in your research– the location, the year, the clothing, the language, the culture, the economic situation, and on and on. While I don’t claim to be an expert on historical fiction (my novel hasn’t even been released yet), I’ve learned a great deal about the research process and I hope this article helps shake some of your fears so that you can write your own historical fiction novel with confidence and ease.
Q-How do I come up with an idea for a historical fiction novel?
A- Start with “What if…?”
Authors who want to write historical fiction almost always have a favorite era in mind when they begin. There’s usually a story inside their hearts wanting to come out and thus begins the writing process. For me, it happened in 2020 when my husband and I spent our anniversary weekend at Daytona Beach, about 45 minutes from where we live. We were in the middle of the pandemic and we didn’t want to fly anywhere, so we decided a staycation would be ideal. Because nobody was travelling, we got a wonderful rate on a gorgeous hotel and we enjoyed a few blissful days on the beach. However, on the second day, it began raining and we found ourselves on a quest to find something fun to do indoors. This quest led us to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse a few miles away.
As lovers of history, my husband and I enjoyed the indoor museum at the lighthouse that was once the lighthouse keepers’ quarters. One of the displays showed a large 5 gallon oil can that the keepers had to carry up all 203 steps to the top of the lighthouse. They noted that one keeper had a heart attack while carrying the oil to the top.
This got me thinking.
What if this story became part of a book?
What if it wasn’t a keeper that had a heart attack, but someone else climbing the steps?
What if it was the keeper’s wife?
What if it wasn’t a heart attack?
What if she was pregnant?
What if she went into labor?
But why would a pregnant wife carry the oil to the top of the lighthouse?
What if they needed her help?
What if one of the keepers was injured?
What if there was a hurricane?
What if she went into labor and had to deliver her baby on the stairs of the lighthouse in the middle of a hurricane?
And that’s where the idea for my novel “Light of Grace” was born.
Q: Where do I begin my research?
A: Time & Location
Personally, I like to start with the location and time period together. For example, I found a lot of information about the lighthouse keepers that lived in Ponce Inlet in 1910, so I chose this era for my story. Because this location is less than an hour away from where I live, and because they have a wonderful museum full of artifacts and information, I began my research at the lighthouse, itself, learning everything I could about what life was like there in 1910. I took notes on the buildings, the amenities (no electricity, outdoor water, privy behind the house), the chores, and major events that occurred there. I took pictures of the buildings, the rooms, the furniture and clothing on display, the surrounding grounds, and the lighthouse itself.
If you don’t live near the location you want to write about, it’s still important to begin researching that area. How do you do that? Let’s look at the next question.
Q: Where do I find sources?
A: Start at the location and move outward
After gathering information at the lighthouse, my next step was to go home and begin researching online. I scoured the lighthouse’s website and took notes on details I felt would be pertinent to my story. I also researched other Florida lighthouses during that time, especially the ones who were set up similarly to Ponce Inlet. I learned about the struggles of living at a lighthouse in 1910 and how these families carried out their day-to-day routines.
I also researched Daytona Beach during that time period, transportation in the area, how mail was delivered, how people spent their time and money, and what the town was known for back in the day.
From there I moved outward to learning about Florida in 1910, what was happening across the state and then across the country. What was life like in other parts of the country and how would my characters need to adjust to life at Mosquito (Ponce) Inlet. Books and articles are plentiful at your local library on these topics but I found all the information I needed by doing Google searches from home. Local museums provided a great deal of information online about daily life here in 1910. I found a few YouTube videos of the lighthouse’s curator giving talks about the lighthouse at local events. And I found endless photos of everything from furniture to clothing to cars from this time period, as well. I saved these photos in a folder on my computer and reviewed them when I needed inspiration.
I also returned to the lighthouse and interviewed the curator. This was an extremely helpful visit as he was able to answer the questions that I couldn’t find answers to online.
Q: How do I know if a source is credible and appropriate for my research?
A: Do your homework!
Some sources, such as my lighthouse visit and curator interview, are obviously credible and appropriate. But online resources can be more difficult to vet. Here are a few tips for finding credible sources:
- Start with the location. Visit official websites operated by the city, town, ship, lighthouse, monument, event, etc that you are researching. In my example, I looked for the website owned and operated by the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse historical association, not a website someone else made about the lighthouse.
- Check out websites belonging to museums, historical societies, and other organizations known for their accurate historical information.
- Look for diaries or journals of people who lived in or near your location around the same time period.
- Ask yourself if the information you’ve found online is inline with other research you’ve done. If the museum says there was no electricity at the lighthouse in 1910 and the history blogger I found online says there was, then his blog may not be credible and should not be used.
- Check multiple online sources for information on period dress, language, practices, culture, etc.
- Consider the source’s credentials.
- Look for sources who cite their information.
- Only use what is appropriate for your story. I learned a great deal about car racing on Daytona Beach during 1910 in my research. However, car racing isn’t part of my story but so I left that information out. I was tempted to find a way to include it because the information was quite interesting, but in the end I realized it would distract from the main storyline so I left it out.
Q: How do I incorporate my research into my story?
A: Organically.
Imagine yourself reading a fascinating story when all of a sudden, the story stops and you’re smacked with a long paragraph about the time period, the setting, or the culture of the characters. This kind of “information dump”, as we call it, is distracting and pulls the reader from the story. That’s the last thing we want. The key to incorporating our research is not to vomit it all at once onto the page but to integrate it organically by “showing” and not “telling”.
For example… Which of these blurbs would you prefer to read?
A- The lighthouse had 203 steps. It had iron railings and ceramic tile steps. Lisbeth was scared but she took off her wet shoes and climbed to the top.
B- Fear knotted up in Lisbeth’s belly as she slid out of her wet shoes, so as not to slip on the ceramic tile steps. Gripping the iron railing, she took a deep breath and began her journey up the 203 steps to the top.
Hopefully, you can see that Sentence B incorporates the researched information without just dumping it like in Sentence A.
And again, only information that pertains to the story should be used. I could tell you what year the lighthouse was built, who built it, what materials it is made out of, and what color it was originally. None of this matters to my story, so i left it out.
Q: How can I find more information about researching and writing historical fiction?
A: Check out these links!
The following resources are my favorite go-to’s for all things writing and researching. Check them out!
- Show, Don’t Tell by Sandra Gerth. This is a great resource for learning to share research organically without the dreaded information dump.
- Six Principles for Writing Historical Fiction by Andrew Noakes. Great tips for writing your next best-seller.
- Entertaining with the Past: How to Write Engaging Historical Fiction by Angela Petch. Learn how to wow your readers with historical accuracy.
- 8 Rules of Writing Historical Fiction Research by Kim Van Alkemade. Don’t let the research process scare you. Kim breaks it down, step by step.
Happy writing, my friends!
