Balancing Act: Writing Authentic Historical Fiction Without Alienating Readers

If a novel is set in the 18th century, should the language inside match the time period? This is a question many historical authors have wrestled with when starting their first drafts. Accuracy in historical fiction is more important than in other genres but that doesn’t mean the language of the book has to match the era where the story takes place. Replicating the language of a specific time period will often dissuade a majority of readers from ever picking up your book.

Shakespeare You Are Not
A novel written in 16th century English is much less appealing to the masses than a novel written in 21st century English that is set in 16th century England. The reasoning comes from a convenience standpoint. Readers will have to expend more energy trying to dissect the language than they will enjoying the story. Most likely they will abandon their attempt to decipher the archaic verbiage and promptly post a 2-star review urging no one to buy the book without a translator readily available. While people may sing praises about Shakespeare, everyone struggles to comprehend his work the first time they read it. Most authors are no Shakespeare so people will not give them the same amount of grace on reputation alone.

Write Modern But Not Too Modern
While modern language should be used to make it easy for the reader, 21st century colloquialism and slang should not be present. No one in the 13th century would use the terms “rizz,” “OMG,” or “elbow grease.” This type of diction should never be seen in a historical fiction book until this era of the 21st century is considerably in the past. Modern slang will stick out like a sore thumb on the page and readers will immediately be distracted from the story. Nothing throws a reader out more than an out of place sentence that has no right to be there.

Using Foreign Languages Should be Minimal
This should go without saying but if the setting of a historical fiction manuscript is set in a non-English speaking region, authors should refrain from including large amounts of the foreign language into the text. This rule can be applied for any language that is not spoken by your target audience. For example, if your target audience primarily speaks Spanish but the story is set during China’s Ming Dynasty, whole paragraphs of Mandarin should not be used. Not only will readers be distracted from the story, they may get frustrated because they don’t understand the meaning hidden in the foreign language.

Strike A Balance
While authors should use modern day language, adding certain antiquated terms provides a level of authenticity to the story. The same can be said of interspersing words in foreign languages. If the words can reasonably be integrated into the text without seeming forced there isn’t an issue with including a minimal amount. One caveat to consider is following up said archaic/foreign terminology with its definition. That way the term can be introduced without extreme effort on the reader’s part. There’s a balance that needs to be achieved when writing historical fiction but it’s completely possible to find it. Authors should understand their target audience and use that information to determine that exact balance.