What made you decide on historical fiction, and why that time period?

I picked mine because it was a story idea that came to me that I really want to get out. ;) It's set in 1938, revolving around the radio broadcast of War of the Worlds. While I do love history, I had actually thought I would try to avoid historical fiction for NaNo, because of the amount of research involved to make sure it's historically accurate. But this is the idea that came to me and got itself going, so I'm just going along with it! Whatever works to get me motivated... ;)

I'm not usually a fan of writing in the past, but I had a cool idea to set in the Regency era, so I'm just going to run with it. It needs to be late enough that clockwork is viable (it's a clockpunk idea) but not late enough that steam becomes commonplace.

Why go historical? Well, because I adore it, for starters. I think that there's magic in brining stories from the past back to life for readers and showing them how important our history is in relation to lives today. What-if stories are a blast, such as 1950s Nuclear stories, Steampunk, etc.

The ability to take something, someone, or some time in history and mix in your own imagination to create something new is wonderful, and has always been an important part of literary tradition. I plan to carry on this tradition this year!

Well, I'm using a story idea I had a long time ago about when Mark Twain's house was used as a boarding house, so it has to be historical. It happened from the 1930's through the 1960's and I couldn't decide which period I wanted to make it so I'm making it four different sets of characters, one from each decade. Which is going to make things complicated, but fun!

Because I'm a fantasy purist. That is, I don't write "Medieval" or other types of fantasy when I write fantasy. The point of fantasy, for me, is creating something new. So, when I wanted to write about the type of pirates we think of today, I couldn't put it into a fantasy setting, when they already existed in our world. Since I did want to write about pirates, that meant, for me, that I needed to write about the pirates in their actual historical setting - not in some fantasy one.

I know absolutely nothing about the cultures or periods I'm writing about, so I have a lot of research to do.

I signed up as fantasy, but actually it's fantasy/historical/romance set in Medieval Japan (Momoyama period). It's more fantasy than historical though, because it's a romance between a human and a demon. =P

Why? I'm just totally in love with all things Japanese and right now I'm obsessing over Momoyama period stuff, I'm currently sewing a historic reproduction of a Momoyama Lord's court robes, I'm surrounded by stacks of books about the history of Japan and Samurai and Japanese mythology, so I figured I should set this year's NaNo then

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I love history and historical fiction, especially if it is about Great Journeys To The Other End Of The Earth. These two seem to overlap quite a bit. When I'm reading something like Marco Polo, half the time I don't know whether I'm reading fiction or historical fact. Then sometimes when I research the life of a historical person, it sometimes has so many twists and turns that I begin to think that I'm reading fiction.

My story is set in the 17th century. I study cultural history and this period appeals to me not only because it was the Dutch Golden Age, but also a time when European countries were at each others throat to gain world domination while being harassed by the Ottoman Empire. The research needed for this is an adventure in itself. Every time I discover a new piece of information it is like the plot of a novel unfolding.

I love pirates.

So, eighteenth century England it is, right after the fall of Blackbeard.

Simple as that.

:]

My Nano novel centers on my husband's parents and their journey from Poland/Russia through Austria to Italy during the Second World War. They have both passed away and didn't speak much about their early life together so much of the story will be "imaged." I sort of feel like I didn't pick this time period and story as much as it picked me. It is an incredible story and I just thought someone should try to tell it. I have been researching the time period and cultures of the countries involved and talking with other family members about details. I'm excited to get writing come November 1!!

I'm actually thinking of doing a very interesting mixed genre deal of Historical, Horror, and Literary with maybe a smidgen depending on how it goes of Erotica actually.

The story itself is about the Great War, and a member of the 4th Division present at Mons with the famous Fusilier regiment that made Bloem think he was under attack from a few dozen machine guns. Well, from there, of course things go the course of history, and eventually Private MC sees the horrors of war, gets promoted to Corporal, and now has to lead people to their death. So he feels guilty and all over that, and will (probably) seek refuge at a nearby brothel whenever he has leave...very temporary refuge, mind you, but it clears his mind enough he can at least stay sane around all the death and destruction around him. And that's about as far as I have so far in the way of a rough outline, and it sprobably actually just about all I do need of one now I think of it.

My story is about someone researching his ancestry... so it'll be a bit of a wander through several centuries. Given I'm writing for fun I'm keeping my tongue firmly in my cheek and trying to avoid getting bogged down in research :-)

Well, seeing as how I only read historical fiction, that's what I write! Maybe someday I'll branch out... Yes, it can certainly be daunting to do a historical for NaNo, but the way I figure, I still have a month to do the research. OVER a month yet, at this point! I tend to stick to early 20th century, which I already have a good grounding on from previous novels, so that cuts down on the amount of research I need to do before November rolls around.

This year's story idea is still simmering, so will post back once I firm things up.

I've always enjoyed historical fiction...and then I watched 'Master and Commander,' and read the Bloody Jack books, and the whole thing just sort of exploded. Now I LUUUUUURRRRRRRVE ships. Huzzah!

My novel also centers around WWII - however the setting is Czechoslovakia. I heard about an event that took place in a small village and from that moment I knew I had to write the story.

I'm a history buff in general and especially the time period of the US 1860's. I have spent the better part of a decade researching for a Civil War trilogy currently in process. It is a rather technically challenging work, but for NaNoWriMo I am going to write a Western sequel to the trilogy. Its (in my mind) considerably less technical in nature and should be a lot of fun to write.

The precise nature of my fascination with the Civil war dates back to my reenacting days and subsequent discovery of an ancestor (great-great grandfather) who was an Illinois Civil war veteran.

Sorry to get off topic and all, but Blue Belly...what unit were you with when you were reenacting?

Although I usually write Fantasy, I wanted to try something different this year. I'm writing a story set in a ficitonal Purtian town called Winthrop Village located just outside Williamsburg. Set in the year 1735-6, I was inspired by the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 to create this story. I'm going in a bit of a different direction as far as the accusations go. I'm not trying to imitate the Salem saga but do something a little different.

Although my official genre is listed as Historical Fiction; I classify it as...

Historical Romantic Religious Suspenseful Thrilling Mystery with a hint of horror.

Like most everyone else here, I like history and love reading historical fiction. This is my first time to write it, though.

All historical periods are interesting, and I could choose just about any! But I chose my place first (the Mariana Islands) and then chose a time period that has some recent scholarship so I have a handy reference. Yes, I'm lazy! I'll be writing about the mid 1870's and the Spanish deportations of political "prisoners" to the ends of Spains dwindling realm--Guam and Saipan. What happens when sophisticated Europeans with intense political opinions are stranded on remote islands with almost no communication "home" and facing a small population of traditional islanders, typhoons, drought, and more? What happens when quiet, peace-loving islanders are forced to endure the dumping of hundreds of outcasts and criminals by their colonial masters in their midst, without sufficient food or protection? I guess I'll find out!

I wrote a historical short story earlier this year and a few people gave me some feedback on it, regarding expanding the story into something novel-sized. The idea got caught in my head and now I think I'll give it a shot. My story takes place in 16th century medieval India; my background is Indian so it's not a complete unknown to me, and obviously I find my own culture/heritage interesting.

I did a course Short Stories last year. There I had to go to the archives to look up something interesting about the place I lived in.
I did not find everything I wanted to know.
I am doing another course now: Children and Youth stories.
So I decided to look up more about theJews in Maarssen who went to Utrecht, about 8 km further on and to write about it in November.

A little more on why I chose my time period. I'm moving it to 1968, when another broadcast was done of War of the Worlds which inspired another panic, though perhaps not as widespread as the original. My purpose for moving it is that I'll be able to include more ideas I had, therefore giving me more material. There was more about aliens and more "alien sightings" at that point, and I can include things like tin foil hats, which I've only traced back to the 1950's so far. So moving it to later will give me more material, and I can use more of my ideas. :D

Well there's nothing wrong with changing time periods ;) . As it is--it looks my own story might be shifting from the French Revolution to Vienna, Austria about the same period!

To all the people on this thread--best of luck !

Well, historical fiction has traditionally been my favorite type of fiction to read, and last year I did an extremely mainstream fiction, which was fun, but I wanted more of a challenge. I didn't have to research at all last year, but this year I am going to have to. I chose WWII Germany, and I'm writing about Nazis, from the point of view of a German soldier, so it's going to be difficult.

Hey, thought I'd chip in with my novelling-intent.

I've chosen the Edwardian era moving into WWI, basically because it's something I have been reading about and researching during the course of the year. I figure it's better than waiting for the proverbial bolt from the blue. Having said that; plot... characters... no clue as yet!

I've been a history geek since my parents took me to the first museum when I was 5. Living in places rich in history added to it; so I've more or less soaked history up all my life. Small wonder I write about it, non fiction and fiction. :)

The periods that have come to interest me most are the Romans and the Middle Ages.

Awesome! I see I'm not the only one interested in Japanese culture.

Mine is set in the Meiji era, around 1890 or so. My MC is half American/half Japanese--definitely not something any one of those cultures would've accepted at that time.

My book also has the yakuza in it, lol. I've never been one to be interested in the whole underworld of organized crime but this is a major part of the book. Too bad I've been having issues with trying to find research for the yakuza in this time period.

Anyway, I just chose it because I'm fascinated by the Meiji era and the time of "westernization" and how it conflicted in society (hence the reason I made my character part American and Japanese--the conflict in her represents the conflict of the whole East meets West thing.)

Historical fiction is pretty much the only genre I ever write in though--I love getting lost in time :)

I've always loved history since I was a tiny tot reading the Horrible Histories books and being led wide-eyed around museums and castles by my mum and dad. I love being transported when I read, too, so that's what draws me to historical fiction. :)

I write about the Romans in Scotland, and I think that's probably because when I was wee my dad would take me on walks and tell me about the Antonine Wall and the fort under the park, or about the legend of the lost legion. I've been fascinated ever since. :)

Attention--all those interested in pirates!

My NaNoWriMo 2006 novel was about them. (Now it's the California Gold Rush.) I found some good Websites on pirates, but unfortunately, I remember only one besides Wikipedia. Visit ThePirateKing.com. It has a lot of information.

Why am I writing Historical Fiction? Well, I'm not...not exactly, that is. It's science fiction involving time travel. It's about a wagon train to California in 1849. It's about love between a man from the past and a woman from our century. And much, much more. But the sci-fi is more like fantasy than hard science fiction. And NaNoWriMo wouldn't let me choose a mix of genres. It should be fantasy-historical-romance.

I'm a medievialist. The say "write what you know."

Actually, I became a medievialist because I wanted to write stories about the MIddle Ages. My teachers said "write what you know," so I proceeded to find out. I don't remember when that happened, but I know the decision was set by the time I was 12.

Well, I picked Historical fiction because that's where my story idea wanted to live. :o)

I've been kind of fascinated with the Great Depression-era US: ca 1930's. I read "Grapes of Wrath" earlier this summer, and I really loved it, and it just really made me want to know more about that time period out in the middle west. So I started researching it online just for my own knowledge, and I came across stories of people who were teenagers or in early twenties at the time, and left home to "ride the rails" (stow away in boxcars) across the country usually west to california) to either find work to help support their families back home, or just to escape their lives. It was fascinating, and I want to write my own fictional story based on these accounts.
My story is going to be kind of a mixture of genres: Historic/Drama/Romance.