My fascination with history started when I was about seven-years-old and discovered Stig of the Dump. Strictly speaking it's not a "historical novel", but as anyone who's ever read it (and if you haven't read it go away and do so now!) will remember there are the magical chapters when - on Midsummer night – the modern world melts away and Barney finds himself in the Stone Age.
It's a book for younger readers than my historical novels but its author, Clive King, teaches a valuable lesson in how to make the past become the present: you can see the people, taste their food, hear their music, feel the ground shake as a standing stone is moved up the hill.
Writing historical fiction is all about giving a reader Barney's experience of walking into another time and seeing it live and breathe.
1. When writing historical fiction, the emphasis should be on the "fiction"
You're not writing a text book – the story is the most important element. And like any story, you take a character, you give them a problem and either they overcome it (happy ending!) or it overcomes them (a tragic one).
2. Doing the research is a large part of the fun
Pick a period you find absolutely gripping, because the more you find out about it the better. Immerse yourself in detail: what people ate, what they wore, where they worked, how they spent their days. You can't do too much research, so be prepared to become a total geek.
3. Wear your research lightly
All that information you've crammed into your head should be like an iceberg – most of which will remain unseen. You might know some gloriously obscure facts, but does your reader have to? Avoid cramming information in just because you want to demonstrate how much you know. A story can be so weighed down with detail that it drowns.
4. History is always written by the victors, so don't believe everything you read
Historians argue all the time about how to interpret particular events. Throughout time and history people have said one thing and done another. Kings, queens and politicians have always lied and their motives have been misinterpreted. Try and see the other side of the story. Ask "what if" all the time. What if this person was lying? What if it didn't happen quite the way they said? What if that person was innocent of the crime he was accused of? The "what if" is meat and drink to a writer of historical fiction.
5. Tell your story from the inside out
You know what happened historically but your characters do not, any more than you know what will happen to you tomorrow or next week or next year. People only ever see some of what occurs, and their view will be partial and prejudiced according to their background and beliefs. So don't try to cover every aspect of a historical event and don't try to explain it objectively. Be biased!