- "The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life."
A fictional account of a real-life person’s experiences.
Research methods: Understanding how to effectively research a historical figure's life and times is essential to creating an accurate and compelling fictionalized biography.
Narrative structure: Knowing how to craft a compelling narrative is critical for making a fictionalized biography readable and engaging.
Character development: Learning how to develop a realistic and engaging character is essential for fictionalizing a real-life historical figure.
Dialogue: Writing convincing dialogue can help bring characters to life and make their stories more believable and engaging.
Setting: Understanding the historical context and setting of a biographical figure's life is critical for creating a vivid and believable world in a fictionalized biography.
Voice/tone: Developing a unique authorial voice and tone can help distinguish a fictionalized biography from other genres and create a more immersive reading experience.
Ethical considerations: Because fictionalized biographies often blur the lines between fact and fiction, it's essential to consider ethical considerations when creating these works.
Accuracy and truthfulness: While fictionalized biographies often take creative liberties with historical facts, it's still important to maintain a level of accuracy and truthfulness in order to maintain credibility and respect for the subject.
Writing style: Learning how to write clear, concise, and engaging prose is essential for crafting a successful fictionalized biography.
Pacing: Understanding how to control the pace of a narrative can help create tension and keep readers engaged throughout the story.
Literary devices: Using literary devices such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and metaphor can help add depth and meaning to a fictionalized biography.
Perspective: Deciding on the best narrative perspective for the story can be crucial for creating a successful fictionalized biography.
Point of view: Selecting the right point of view can help readers connect with the subject and better understand their story.
Historical context: Understanding the larger historical context in which a biographical figure lived can help provide insight into their life and times.
Creative license: Knowing what kind of creative license is appropriate and how to use it effectively is important for creating engaging and believable fictionalized biographies.
Historical Fiction: Historical Fiction is a genre of literature in which the author takes real-life historical events and people and fictionalizes them, using a narrative that suits them better.
Biographical Fiction: Biographical Fiction is a genre of fiction that uses the lives of real people as the basis for a fictionalized account of their life story.
Historical/Biographical Novels: Historical/Biographical Novels combine fictional storytelling with true events and people, often through the eyes of a fictional protagonist or narrator.
Autobiographical Fiction: Autobiographical Fiction is a genre in which the author writes a fictionalized account of their own life, often reflecting on their own experiences and feelings.
Memoirs: Memoirs are a form of autobiographical or biographical fiction, which is usually written by the subject or a close friend or relative. Memoirs typically focus on a specific time period or event in the subject's life.
Historical Romance: Historical Romance is a genre of fiction that combines elements of romance with a historical setting, portraying love stories against the backdrop of historical events.
Historical Mystery: Historical Fiction is a genre of fiction that uses historical events as a backdrop for a mystery-based storyline. This type of fiction often takes real-life events and characters and uses them to set up the mystery.
Historical Fantasy: Historical Fantasy combines elements of historical and fantasy fiction, where the author creates a fictional world that is based on a historical setting.
Historical Fiction for Children and Young Adults: Historical Fiction for Children and Young Adults is a genre of fiction that explores historical events and people in a way that is accessible and informative to young readers.
Satirical Historical Fiction: Satirical Historical Fiction uses sarcasm and humor to comment on historical events or people, sometimes portraying them in a different, humorous light.
Historical Adventure Fiction: Historical Adventure Fiction is a genre of fiction that is set in a historical period and revolves around adventure and action-based storylines.
- "Details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fictional genre, the novel."
- "These reimagined biographies are sometimes called semi-biographical novels, to distinguish the relative historicity of the work from other biographical novels."
- "Authors such as Robert Graves, Thomas Mann, Irving Stone, and Lion Feuchtwanger."
- "These books became best-sellers, but the genre was dismissed by literary critics."
- "In later years it became more accepted and has become both a popular and critically accepted genre."
- "Biographical fiction often also falls within the genres of historical fiction or alternative history."
- "A very good example of this kind is Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield, believed to be the biography of a person the author had known and observed very closely."
- "Biographical novels are frequently the foundation for film adaptations into the filmographic genre of biographical film."
- "In such novels and films, there are main stories and real characters, but changes are made in order to make the story and film more interesting."
- "Of course, sometimes these changes become too much and, for example, a negative character is reversed and some kind of historical distortion occurs."
- "For this reason, such novels should give the necessary information to the reader in advance."
- "Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fictional genre, the novel."
- "Authors such as Robert Graves, Thomas Mann, Irving Stone, and Lion Feuchtwanger."
- "These books became best-sellers, but the genre was dismissed by literary critics."
- "In later years it became more accepted and has become both a popular and critically accepted genre."
- "Biographical fiction often also falls within the genres of historical fiction or alternative history."
- "A very good example of this kind is Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield, believed to be the biography of a person the author had known and observed very closely."
- "Biographical novels are frequently the foundation for film adaptations into the filmographic genre of biographical film."
- "For this reason, such novels should give the necessary information to the reader in advance."