Researching The Historical Novel, Part I
Author: John H. Manhold

As I have intimated in previous offerings, the research that
goes into writing a historical novel can be almost minimal, or
can entail weeks and months of endeavor. If one wishes to write
about something as remote as the caravans carrying silk in the
ancient days over the Silk Road through China, Tibet and
associated areas, the work required could be substantial. One of
the best novels set in similar surroundings was Thomas Costain's
The Black Rose that sold over six hundred thousand copies in its
first printing. Costain had a long and varied career as an
editor and for several years as director of 20th Century Fox's
story development department. He retired at 57 years of age to
devote his time to writing, and his fiction was notable for its
reliance on historical facts, but always pertinent to his story.


My first novel, El Tigre, at times could be considered pretty
much at the other end of the continuum. It is the saga of the
growth and maturation of a young Prussian aristocrat from school
days through his ensuing world-wide travels. The early material
of Johann's school days was easy to write because my grandfather
was a graduate of the Kriegsakademie, or government military
school, and fought in the Franko-Prussian war. Listening at
length to stories he would tell provided me with much basic
information with respect to both the civilian and military
customs of the times. Research on the political situation in
Europe, and more especially Spain, preceding and during the 1st
Carlist War, was another matter.

A number of factors were heavily influential in the particular
period of Spanish history surrounding Carlos pretension to the
throne. Napoleon and his brother had made numerous political as
well as military moves affecting Spanish rule. There was the
on-again, off- again ascendance to power by the Spanish monarch,
and there was the Influence of England and Portugal lurking in
the background. Offering additional overriding problems, were
the King's personality traits.

The researcher must read all of this material, but he must then
carefully select the most pertinent facts and weave them, and
only them, into the story. The manner of including them also
must be done in a manner that keeps intact the history, and yet,
does not overpower the reader. The selection process is the
toughest part. You will find so much of the material to be
fascinating that it is most difficult to decide what to, and not
to, include. As an interesting aside, in an area further along
in the book, I was dealing with Santa Anna. I discovered he was
the man who introduced chewing gum to the United States.
Fascinating, but certainly the fact had nothing to do with the
plot so it was, with reluctance, discarded.

In a manner similar to the problems of selection of material
for the Carlist period, was an examination of the factors
leading to Texas' fight for independence. The factors involved
in this matter are so convoluted as to almost make Europe's
problems simple. It is so involved that before researching El
Tigre, I had read much about it, but never understood the roots
of the confrontation. After several days of reading copious
material, I finally understood the complexity of the situation.
However, the next, and most important, step was to attempt to
reduce it to a readable form that could retain the basic facts
and still be included in the body of a novel without slowing
down the pace of the story for the reader. Here, I can only say
that you must write and rewrite, and constantly keep in mind
what is pertinent to the plot and what is not. If you like
history, and if you do not, I am not sure why you are writing
historical fiction, there is so much material you feel
important, that the decisions you must make may be some of the
toughest you ever have to make.

So actually, there is no easy way to research a historical
novel. If you are fortunate enough to have a grandfather, other
relative, or a friend from the period, at least part of the job
will be easy. The rest is plain hard work of finding the
material. Fortunately, thanks to the web, this endeavor is a
much easier task than in the days I still remember well.
However, once you have gathered the material and assimilated it,
the really difficult part of your job begins. You must then make
the horrendous decisions as to what you can keep and what must
be discarded. And you must remember above all else in these
decisions, if you keep it, it must be pertinent to the plot.


About The Author: John H. Manhold is a retired professor and
scientific journal editor. He is an author of several textbooks,
a lexicon in four languages and now novels that often require
extensive research. He provides coaching on various types and
phases of writing. Please see http://www.johnhmanhold.com/ for
more information, and an address.