: Re: Is it a good idea to write a non fictional incident from a first person perspective I want to write about a historical incident. So, to make it more appealing to the reader, I want to write

@LarsenBagley300

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My genre of choice as a writer is historical fiction so I've been studying the subject for quite some time.

Most novels embrace fiction over historical accuracy, whether the main character is fictional or historical. The idea is that historical accuracy cannot stand in the way of an entertaining tale. However, some authors that make this choice also strive to be 'historically authentic', i.e. they try to transmit the right feel of the historical time and events.

If one wants to be as historically accurate and authentic as possible, there are two main options:

write a non-fiction book and keep to the facts
write fiction but respect the facts as much as possible

within this point, one can work mainly with fictional characters who represent the average person of the time
one can choose historical characters and try to reconstruct their personality from historical sources (a king who executed a lot of his nobles was probably not the nicest guy, though he might have a soft spot towards... his hunting dogs)

When one decides to have a historical figure for one's main character, it is important to remember that no one can really tell what the person felt and thought (unless there is a journal around). What one can and should do is to carefully and responsibly guess what the person may have felt and thought.

When a writer doesn't feel right making that guess, it's always preferably to have a fictional main character that witnesses the events or maybe even the actions of the historical figures. However, even if one chooses to write about King Henry VIII from the POV of the cleaning staff, one still has to invent much about the historical figure. Once more, one needs to be careful to respect what is known, what is guessed and what is a blank for the writer to fill in seamlessly.

EDIT

Sorry, lost track of the last question.

How can I achieve this without undermining the historical authenticity?

Reasearch. You should research the historical figure and try to figure out their motives and goals, what they valued and cherished, what they despised, and what they feared.

I work mostly within the medieval period and this can sometimes be difficult, but look at their biography. What big (and small) events could have impacted them as they grew up? Can you establish a connection between the teenager boy that had illegitimate siblings as his rivals and the fact he grew up to have no known lovers in a time when most in his social class had one?

Once you can have a mental picture of what (possibly) made that person tick, then you can get yourself within their shoes and make them believable human beings. More than a first-person perspective, believable characters is what will appeal to the readers.

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