Basics Quote by Irvine Welsh

As a fiction writer, of course, you need to take some leeway with certain aspects of history to make the story work.

— Joseph Boyden

I think I'm too lazy a writer to do something like historical fiction. You have to do so much research. I just write what…

— Sarah Dessen

I often tell people who want to write historical fiction: don't read all that much about the period you're writing about; read things from…

— Thomas Mallon

“Historical fiction isn't history in the conventional sense and shouldn't be judged as such. The best historical novels are loyal to history, but it…

— Daniel Aaron

Why do I write historical fiction? Johnny Tremain, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Island of the Blue Dolphins-that's why. I'll never forget how it…

— Jennifer Armstrong

Writing historical novels can be dangerous. We need to be as accurate and as fair about the historical record as we can be, at…

— Edward Rutherfurd

Historical novels are, without question, the best way of teaching history, for they offer the human stories behind the events and leave the reader…

— Louis L'Amour

If you're writing something that's clearly labelled as an alternative history, of course it's perfectly legitimate to play with known historical characters and events,…

— Diana Gabaldon

Historical novels are about costumery. I think that's the magic and mystery of fiction. I don't want to write historical fiction but I do…

— Chang-Rae Lee

I'm not entirely sure what a historical novel absolutely has to be, but you don't want a reader who loves a very traditional historical…

— Danielle Dutton

“Writing historical fiction has many common traits with writing sci-fi or fantasy books. The past is another country - a very different world -…

— Sara Sheridan

As a publisher and author, I'm a big fan of historical fiction and also memoir.

— Andrea Davis Pinkney