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Writing Historical Fiction: A Writers' and Artists' Companion (Writers’ and Artists’ Companions) by [Brayfield, Celia, Sprott, Duncan]

Writing Historical Fiction: A Writers' and Artists' Companion (Writers’ and Artists’ Companions) Kindle Edition

by Celia Brayfield (Author), Duncan Sprott (Author)

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Writing Historical Fiction: A Writers' & Artists' Companion is an invaluable companion for a writer working in this challenging and popular literary genre, whether your period is Ancient Rome or World War II.

PART 1 includes reflections on the genre and provides a short history of historical fiction.

PART 2 contains guest contributions from Margaret Atwood, Ian Beck, Madison Smartt Bell, Ronan Bennett, Vanora Bennett, Tracy Chevalier, Lindsay Clarke, Elizabeth Cook, Anne Doughty, Sarah Dunant, Michel Faber, Margaret George, Philippa Gregory, Katharine McMahon, Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Hilary Mantel, Alan Massie, Ian Mortimer, Kate Mosse, Charles Palliser, Orhan Pamuk, Edward Rutherfurd, Manda Scott, Adam Thorpe, Stella Tillyard, Rose Tremain, Alison Weir and Louisa Young.

PART 3 offers practical exercises and advice on such topics as research, plots and characters, mastering authentic but accessible dialogue and navigating the world of agents and publishers.

Length: 344 pages	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled	Page Flip: Enabled
Language: English

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A treasure trove of elegant and inspiring thoughts about historical fiction, cut with hard-nosed practical advice. A must for all writers and lovers of the field. (Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles)

Celia Brayfield and Duncan Sprott have put together a guide to writing historical fiction that is both friendly and instructive, welcoming readers and writers to the genre ... the insight into how successful authors work and the advice they give to anyone wishing to write historical fiction should prove to be a positive preface for many future novelists. (Sarah Powell Reference Reviews, Vol. 29.1)

Book Description

With advice from leading international and bestselling writers, this book provides all the practical advice you need to write historical fiction succesfully.

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Product details

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 1048 KB
Print Length: 344 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic; 1 edition (5 December 2013)
Sold by: Amazon Australia Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00HR8OHN4
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

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Word Wise: Not Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #547,058 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #264 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Education & Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Reference
- #326 in Books > Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Reference
- #1326 in Books > Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing > Fiction

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Amazon.com: 5 reviews

Bob Nolin

Like most books on this topic (and there aren't many)

9 July 2014 - Published on Amazon.com

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As you can see from the publisher's own description, this book does not contain a whole lot of practical advice for beginning writers of historical fiction. The title, I think, is actually misleading, though "Thoughts about Historical Fiction with a few bits of advice" is not the most catchy title, I suppose. I've collected a bookshelf of how-to books on writing, and this one is truly odd.

First off, it's very British. It's one of those books that barely admits the existence of other countries. Something we're guilty of in the US quite often, but it's weird to see it from the other side. If you are writing about British history, this book may be worth checking out. There are lists of resources for the UK, a little for Canada. Elsewhere? None. Weird, no? Like most books on this topic (and there aren't many), historical fiction dealing with the recent past (19th, early 20th C) is given short shrift. (What's a long shrift, I wonder?) Writing a book on the Gilded Age? You'll find very little help here. There are 100 pages of essays by the authors (who are published authors, but I've never heard of them), giving us their take on the history and philosophy of historicals. I would have found this more interesting if the authors were well-known. The book seems to try to make up for this deficiency by including a slew of short essays by better-known authors, such as Atwood, Hillary Mantel, etc. This takes us up to page 160 or so...

...and still no concrete how-to info. Odd! As I say, it's very different (and not in a good way) from what I've come to expect of these sorts of books. The remainder of the book does contain some useful information, most of which is presented elsewhere more comprehensively. It throws in some information about getting published and finding an agent...things that don't belong here, really. Those are generic writing topics that don't belong in a specialized book.

What is missing, unfortunately, is advice about how to tell a story about the past without resorting to "infodumps": large chunks of data to bring the reader up to speed on your time period. How do you do this without putting the reader to sleep? How to do you avoid the "As you know, Bob" problem? This topic is covered in science fiction how-to's, since that genre has a similar problem.

So, in sum (as the Brits say): very British, limited on mechanics, lots of food for thought, and written by two unknowns (at least outside of the UK). Disappointing.

16 people found this helpful.

CB Lane

Great companion for writers!

30 October 2015 - Published on Amazon.com

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I finished reading Writing Historical Fiction this morning. It was just what I needed to launch me back into my historical novel. To me, it wasn't so much of a how-to-write, although it certainly had plenty of good information about the craft, as it was a conversation with other writers of historical fiction. The subtitle says it pretty clearly - it's a companion. It made me feel more connected and helped me answer some philosophical questions I'd had for some time. Now I'm ready to dig back in!

3 people found this helpful.

Bernard Thornton

Arrow Hits Its Target

20 September 2016 - Published on Amazon.com

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A key book for putting the genre of historical fiction in perspective. Short, in-depth views and advice from leading writers in the field.
A comprehensive, practical discussion of publishing, including self- and on-line publishing. Exercise section for individuals and groups.

One person found this helpful.

Tully

Touches all the bases

22 January 2019 - Published on Amazon.com

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A good overview of the craft.

Judy Taylor

this kindle delivery was incomplete

14 March 2014 - Published on Amazon.com

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It only delivered part of part 1 and ended at some link to a college lecture but the following pages would not load. Waste of money

5 people found this helpful.

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Writing Historical Fiction: A Writers' and Artists' Companion (Writers’ and Artists’ Companions) Kindle Edition

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