6 Principles for Writing Historical Fiction | Jane Friedman

1. Establish your own set of rules for when to bend history for the sake of the story - and stick to them.

There are as many opinions on how accurate historical fiction should be as there are historical fiction authors, and they vary widely between those who consider accuracy an optional bonus and those who can be, well, a little bit pedantic. Historical fiction writers tend to get anxious about the possibility of censure if they bend the historical record a little, which is both understandable and healthy, but ultimately you have to tell a good story, and you can't please everyone.