I Don't Believe In Suspension of Disbelief

Good historical fiction shouldn't require the reader to suspend disbelief. It seems to be all the rage now for writers to rely on fantasy to hook an audience. Time travel, reincarnation, the acquisition of super powers all seem to creep into many forms of popular entertainment.

When I taught 12-year-olds, one of the hardest concepts to get across to them was the very finite line between fantasy and reality. They have grown up believing that anything was possible because they had seen all manner of things happen in a movie. The hero with a handgun who can wing the bad guy in the shoulder from 100-yards. Space travel that has no limit and no fuel or oxygen concerns. Time travel that doesn't create jet lag or even swelling feet. They've seen it all with their own eyes.

One can punch a button on YouTube right now and find "authentic" moving pictures taken during the Civil War. These are modern films of course, that cinematic giants have "distressed" to look like old films with no disclaimers. A cursory search though would easily turn up that even the most primitive motion picture camera wasn't invented until 1878. But YouTubers aren't the most curious bunch. Like many of us, they operate in an almost perpetual state of suspension of disbelief. The comments with the video prove that many people, and not just 12-year-olds, take for granted that there are "home movies" of the Civil War. There are arguments about whether the videos are "real." Or complaints. Why aren't they in HD?! What great fun.

But real life is entertaining too. That's why I think that good historical fiction should take a reader back to the time where the story occurs. An author needs to make every effort to immerse himself and the reader into the past. The culture, the social norms, the way people talk, the everyday technology must be authentic. Every anachronism must be guarded against. The quickest way to ruin historical fiction is a mistake of fact where the reader either must ignore the mistake-suspend disbelief-or fling the offending tome away in disgust.