When you read a great novel in the historical fiction genre, you cannot help but appreciate the depth of research evident in most of these books. Historical fiction writers take their time to gather the facts, verify information and use this information to write their books. This is why many of these great books in this genre have stood the test of time. Below are some qualities of writers in the genre of historical fiction.
Respect for History
A historical fiction writer should have a healthy respect for authentic history. As a writer, you can exercise your poetic license in some ways. However, you should not manipulate historical facts in your work. A good writer should respect history and stick to the facts as much as possible.
Creativity
All writers must be creative and this applies to people who write fiction. Remember that the writing process is all about using your imagination to create a story. Now, this means you have to wear your “creative hat”. As a writer, it is your responsibility to create the characters, assign roles to them and make them play those roles convincingly in the book. Without creativity, you cannot achieve any of these things.
Diligence
People who are not in the writing business think writers have a wonderful job. From the perspective of such people, writers do not commute to the office every day. Writers do not have bosses breathing down their necks and writers always have time for other activities. Now, some of these things may be true but that does not mean writers do not work hard at their jobs. A successful fiction writer must be diligent because it takes plenty of intellectual effort to write good books. It takes long hours to write and more hours to edit and proof-read your work. In some cases, writers have to play a part in the marketing process. All these things require good old-fashioned hard work.
Innovative Mind-set
A great writer needs an innovative mind-set to succeed in the writing world. A long ago, writers operated offline because there were no websites and no social media. These days, most writers have to work online. Writers have to produce both e-books and paper books. In addition, writers need digital marketing skills to make money in the online publishing industry. It follows that the successful writer is the one who is flexible and can apply innovative ideas to his or her business.
Finally, a smart writer should create interesting stories. If your historical fiction is dry and boring, people will not buy your books. Spice up your story with interesting facts and you will convince many people to buy your books.
