Thursday, September 17, 2020

Why I Write Historical Fiction Pt. 2


 

Hello Readers! 

This post is part of a short series I'm doing on why I write HisFic. Today I'm focusing on why it's so important. 

Let's get started, shall we? 

I heard a most concerning conversation while swimming at my Grandparent's pool a couple weeks ago. Two kids were talking, I'd guess they were in their early teens. The kids were talking about school starting up with COVID and what it's like, then they moved to their favorite subjects. Neither one liked history. The younger of the two asked if the older one if they knew who the sixteenth president of the US was. Neither one knew. Neither one cared. It shocked me. 

Most kids these days don't like history. I honestly don't blame them. What they teach for history in the public schools these days isn't what really happened. History today has been twisted to fit the agenda of those who want us to forget God, forget what really happened, forget that socialism is a bad idea. 

Daddy said that as a kid, history was boring, nothing new, or exciting. Just as one character in the audio drama by Heirloom Audio put it: "History is nothing but dead men and dates." That might be one way to look at it, but as I've dug deeper and deeper into the history of the world, I'm always finding new things. I'm always learning about a new person, place, or event. In my opinion, history is far from boring. 

History is the key to the past, if we don't understand what really happened all those years ago we are going to repeat mistakes over and over again. 

I write historical fiction because I want to know what happened. Most writers shy away from this genre because the amount of research is scary, takes too much time. Why do that when you could create your own world? 

Historical fiction is important to me because I want people to know about the brave men and women who took a stand for what was right. I want people to know of the battles fought, won, and lost. I want people to know that even when things couldn't get any darker, there was a light. There is hope. 

Blessings,

Mattie May 



2 comments:

  1. This is a beautiful post!
    I hate how true it is that history is being manipulated for such agendas. Schools leave out so many important things and change the narrative to suit their desires. And now there's even talk of American history books being banned in some of the States.

    HisFic is most definitely a way to reach people who aren't being taught such vital parts of this world's life as well as to honor and respect the people within those parts whose pasts, deaths, sacrifices, etc., are being blatantly ignored and then forgotten.

    Write on, Mattie.

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