: Re: Is it okay to majorly distort historical facts while writing a fiction story? Suppose A is a famous historical character with a known history of emotional attachment with a particular set of

@Candy753

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Shakespeare did it. Richard III was not a homicidal maniac killing young princes. He was an able king.

The movie Fatherland presents an alternate history where WWII never happened, Hitler is an able leader and JFK is an aging US President. It all works well because it had a purpose. History did not quite suit the needs of the story, so history changed.

If A is the focus and you change him/her from respected figure in history to raving lunatic, you might have a problem. Depending on how far back in history your figure is, there could be descendants who feel the need to defend the family honor from defamation.

If you change that A never met B and C, that is not a problem. Historical fiction is fiction with sometimes just the gloss of history on it.

Do enough research on A that he/she is recognizable as A. If I were writing about Napoleon and depicted him as a slacker with zero ambition and very little intelligence, I might as well create a new character since we know he was driven, intelligent and ambitious.

If you want to create a scenario where A is clearly A but different, ask yourself what traits are essential to A being A. If you take my example of a stupid Napoleon, intelligence must be returned to him to keep from breaking reader immersion. Napoleon might remain a talented general but never take the throne, never become Emperor.

What makes A who he is? What changes do you wish to make? Might said changes be served by creating an observer character who comments on events?

What are the limits? You set those, but if he has living descendants, be careful of defamation as heirs have been known to defend the reputation of the dead.

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