BY REBECCA PICKENS
The historical fiction writers I’m fortunate to coach often tell me that writing dialogue is the task they worry most about. I get it! Historical dialogue done well can immerse readers in the time period and amplify the voices of characters in a way that feels authentic and faithful to the period. But it’s a delicate balancing act. Just as historical fiction writers must avoid dialogue that sounds too modern, it’s also important to avoid language that feels too archaic.
Historical dialogue succeeds when it bridges the gap between the past and the present—when it feels historically accurate yet accessible to a contemporary audience.
It Starts with Research
Most of the historical fiction writers I know are drawn to the genre in part because of a love of research. If that sounds like you, I have good news! Crafting effective historical dialogue begins with research. Studying the way people spoke during that era, the vocabulary they used, and the social and cultural influences on their speech patterns can help you imagine what your characters would have sounded like in the time that they lived.
Primary sources like letters, diaries, newspapers, and speeches from the time period can provide a sense of the vocabulary and expressions people used. Memoirs or autobiographies can also offer a more intimate glimpse into everyday language.
Although dramatized, films can help you hear a modified version of the natural flow of speech from the period. Listening to the way characters interact in historical films can be instructive in the way they maintain an air of authenticity while remaining accessible enough for contemporary audiences.
Characters from different regions, social classes, and age groups often speak differently, and these distinctions should be considered while researching. Although these differences might complicate matters a bit at first, they offer a perfect opportunity to reveal important details about the people you write about.
Avoid Overwhelm
While dialogue should reflect the era it’s occurring in, it is important not to confuse readers with outdated or unfamiliar language that might distract from the story you’re telling.
So often in writing, less is more, and in the case of historical dialogue, this is also true. To avoid alienating or distracting modern readers, selecting just a few carefully chosen words to represent the time period is often highly effective.
Using period-appropriate but recognizable language like replacing "no problem" with “the pleasure was all mine” can subtly transport readers back in time without sounding forced or too stilted.
Figurative Language: A Dead Giveaway
When I provide a developmental edit for a historical fiction writer, one of the areas I spend considerable time on is idiomatic language. Oftentimes, idiomatic phrases are so familiar to our ears that we assume they’ve existed forever. It’s easy to accidentally insert a figurative expression that sounds old but came into being long after your characters might have lived. The good news is that a historically accurate idiomatic phrase will lend your writing an instant air of authenticity.
Understand Social Hierarchy and Class Distinctions
The way people speak can vary greatly depending on their education and status. The upper class might use more formal speech, employing long, complex sentences and refined vocabulary, while working-class characters may speak more directly and succinctly.
In many eras, men and women might have used different speech patterns. Characters may pause more often in their speech, or use more elaborate phrasing when they are addressing someone of higher status. The cadence of their sentences might be longer and more complex than modern speech. Honorific titles such as "Your Grace" or "Sir" might be used to convey respect more prevalent in bygone eras.
Speech Patterns and Non-Verbal Cues
Communication during any period in time is about more than just vocabulary. Much can be understood by non-verbal cues like a bow, a curtsey, the way one laughs, holds a fork, or shows they’re tired.
Test Your Dialogue
Reading your dialogue aloud can help you know if it sounds authentic. Listen to hear whether the words flow naturally or if something feels too modern or stiff. Historical speech patterns often have a distinct rhythm. Slower, more deliberate speech might be appropriate for your setting, especially if you're writing about a time when people took more time to articulate their words. Listening to your dialogue will help identify areas requiring revision.
Balance is Everything
A study of speech patterns and societal expectations of the past balanced with an awareness of contemporary readers’ expectations will ensure your dialogue is both authentic and accessible.
Historical dialogue isn’t just about the words, of course. It’s about capturing the essence of a unique time in history.
How do you perform this delicate balancing act? I’d love to know! Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Rebecca Pickens is a certified book coach, developmental editor and host of Self-Editing Essentials: Group Coaching for Fiction and Memoir Writers. She works with writers at all stages of the creative journey to help them start, finish, and get their stories into the hands of readers.
During long winters in Northern New York, she writes literary fiction spiced with a dash of magical realism. In the bright bursts of summer, her attention turns to flash fiction. Her short fiction has been nominated for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers and, most recently, The Pushcart Prize. She is currently at work on a novel.
Yes, Rebecca, stellar dialogue is, indeed, a balancing act. In my own ancient Arabia (Nabataea) novel, The Stone Cutter, I had the extra challenges of writing English dialogue for a culture existing over a millennium before the English language had even been invented. On top of that, the Nabataeans didn’t leave any archives, written records, or literature of any kind. So we don’t possess writings even in their own language (whatever that was, which is debatable).
For my part, I attempted to write in a very classical, hopefully timeless way. In order to get at what that is, I’ve read a lot of classic English literature scattered over some centuries, hoping to distill what is the best of English, and…