The 10 ESSENTIAL Elements of a Historical Fiction Script

What is Historical Fiction?

At face value, the definition of historical fiction is simple: a fictional story set against a real time period in the past. It is when we start to interrogate what constitutes ‘the past’ that the definition becomes blurry. Here, the complexities of the genre begin to unravel. How far back in time does the screenwriter have to go for their work to become a historical fiction script? 5 years? 50 years? 500 years?

The problem only becomes more convoluted when we consider the audience and their relationship to the past. For those who may have lived through the time period in question, it is far less likely to seem suitably historical. Given that all screenplays are set in some kind of time period, on whose authority can we distinguish historical fiction?

As a general rule of thumb, it is considered that a minimum of 50 years is a sure indicator of ‘historical’ writing. Ultimately, it is the objective of a historical fiction screenplay to take readers outside of their own moment in time and transport them to a period of events beyond their own reality.

The most important thing to remember when writing a historical fiction script is to create a story that could not have occurred at any other moment in history. Your script should reflect the period in vivid detail. From what they had to breakfast, to the type of shoes they wore, your screenplay should serve as a time capsule of the everyday experiences of your characters. If it can succeed in doing so, it can succeed as historical fiction.

Below we’ll explore the 10 essential steps to achieving a convincing historical fiction script. What makes historical fiction and what are the key elements of writing it?