How Not To… write historical fiction

For the next part of our ‘How Not To…’ series, our author Nigel Oakley shares some reflections on historical fiction. Look out for Nigel’s novel, coming next year with Resolute Books.

“Firstly, don’t make promises to your children:

‘Daddy – who was the page? In “Good King Wenceslas” – you know!’

Not perhaps the first question you would expect from an eight-year-old after his school carol concert, but, given that his six-year-old brother also was keen for an answer, I (foolishly, as it turned out) promised to find out. After some online, and off-line, research, I discovered the page was called Podevin, he was a grown-up, and he was killed one year after ‘Good’ King Wenceslas was assassinated by his pagan brother.

I suppose I could have just said that, and left it. But it was Christmas-time, and giving the bare, brutal facts just didn’t go with the time of year. And I got intrigued: by the time I had tracked down, bought, and read ‘Good King Wenceslas: The Real Story,’ by Jan Rejzl, and got hold of a few other books on Bohemia and on the Middle Ages, I had loads of information.

Secondly, in terms of how not to write historical fiction, keep collecting information indiscriminately. Especially if you are dealing with legends. A lot of the history around Wenceslas is uncertain, if not downright contestable – for example, in one version of his life story, Wenceslas was celibate. In another, his wife and new-born son were killed alongside him when he was assassinated. There’s even dispute about the date of this afore-mentioned assassination: after all, Wenceslas can’t have been killed in both 929 and 935, can he?

Thirdly, keep tinkering with your story as you get more information. In truth, a lot of the information I had did not make it into the story. My first draft hardly mentioned Princess Emma, now, in the final draft, she’s a major player in Podevin’s story: so much so, I’ve had to change the title to ‘Warrior Princess and Errant Page.’

Remember, your children don’t stay young forever. My book had to be changed to be read by an older audience. My six-year-old celebrates his twenty-second birthday this week, and his brother turns twenty-four at the end of this month. Hopefully, next spring, they will finally get their copies of the young adult novel ‘Warrior Princess and Errant Page’ …”