This weekend I had the pleasure of being the keynote speaker and leading a masterclass on what we can learn from Charles Dickens about writing historical fiction at the inaugural History Through Fiction Conference in Beverly, MA.
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| Colin Mustful kicking off the conference |
The location—near Salem, home to America’s most famous witch trials, and many key Revolutionary War sites—was suitably historically inspiring. The speakers and attendees were accomplished, interesting, and passionate about their areas of expertise. And, most importantly, the food was top-notch!
In today’s blog post, I’m going to share some key takeaways, in the form of quotes, from the sessions I attended live.
“Historical fiction, when done well, creates empathy,” Marthese Fenech
Marthese Fenech shared one of the most succinct explanations of why so many of us keep coming back to historical fiction as a genre—its ability to create connections across centuries.
“Multiple timelines give us ways to see progress…and lack thereof,” Addison Armstrong
Meanwhile, Addison Armstrong also focused on how reading about the past can lead us to reflect on the present, shining a light on social issues that remain unresolved.
“I admire the writers who do the work of the historian,” Colin Mustful
Conference organizer Colin Mustful talked about the depth of many historical fiction authors’ research.
“Reading fantasy novels will help with your worldbuilding,” Jillian Forsberg
And Jillian Forsberg shared this tip for how to weave that research into your writing, taking inspiration from fantasy writers to help readers understand the worlds of our novels.
“Stakes tell the reader what happens if the protagonist fails,” Jessica Berg
Literary agent Jessica Berg kept us focused on plot (not just a cool historic setting!) by reminding us that our characters must stand at risk of losing something.
“If I’m just moving commas around, the book is done,” Alina Adams
While Alina Adams shared this tip on how to know when your book is ready to take flight.
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| My Dickensian Masterclass! |
“As one of the older art forms still being practiced today, how lucky are we that we have centuries of writers to learn from?” Finola Austin
In my workshop, I urged delegates not to take craft lessons from historic writers, like Dickens, as well as reading widely in our genre today.
“Listen to your creative discontents and act on them,” Sarah Penner
Our opening speaker, Sarah Penner, encouraged us not to ignore our “creative discontents,” or be afraid of making career pivots based on them.
“As a full-time writer, I spend around 10% of my time writing,” Madeline Martin
And, speaking of careers, closing speaker Madeline Martin shared her own inspiring story of how hard work and determination led to writing becoming her day job, but how her day-to-day schedule might not look exactly how aspiring writers might imagine!
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| The conference program |
Over the next days and weeks, I’ll be listening to the recordings of the parallel sessions I didn’t attend this weekend, so stay tuned for a Part Two post with more thought-provoking quotes. Thank you again to Colin, Robin, and the full team who made the conference possible, and, if we met this weekend, please stay in touch!
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