Have you ever thought of writing a historical romance or cozy, but you didn't now how to start?

Or have you already written a historical novel but you need something to give away to your new subscribers?

Or maybe you don't know if historical fiction is something you'll enjoy writing, and you would love to dabble a little before going all in?

If that's you, then you can solve all three problems with a historical short story or novella.

My writing mentor is prolific.

He writes a short story in a day. In a couple of sittings. If it takes longer, it's not worth your time, he says.

He figures that selling the short story would bring in enough to justify one day's work, but no more.

And he's right. But surely, historical fiction takes more time, right? Research, the details and all...

Unless you already know a historical era by heart, then yes. The first time.

Otherwise, it may take an extra day or more, depending on how much time you can set aside for writing.

Naturally, this causes a problem.

When you write a novel or an epic series, you can add so many details. The clothing, their culture, housing, wars, politics, everything... There's no room for all of it in short fiction.

What must go?

And what must stay? You need to have enough detail to show your reader the era. And so little that there's room for the story.

The art of balancing the two...

But already since my yougth, I loved reading about other periods. It was so much pleasure to become a heroine from Napoleon Bonaparte's time. Or to be a Roman nobelity.

I read everything I could get my hands on. I had a lot more fun learning about past periods in time this way. And I remember it better.

It's so tempting.

You did a lot of research, and you now know the most intimate parts of your historical era. Truth be told, you know a lot more than necessary for just one story.

That's fine.

Just don't use it all in one story. Maybe not even in several. How do you avoid drowning your readers in details?

There's one technique you must know about.

It makes sure that the reader doesn't get bored or overwhelmed. It allows you to add enough historical atmosphere to your book so your reader feels he/she is living it. And not so much that they yawn and put the book aside for " later."

I've written several historical short stories, taking place in different eras.

I've written novellas. Lots of Amish Romance, which is a semi-historical genre. The Amish live and dress mostly like people did 300 years ago.

And each book taught me more about what to add and what to leave out.

How would you like to get access to all my years of experience with historical fiction in a short form?

I wrote my first ever novella, which turned out to be historical fiction, nine years ago.

I still remember how it felt to write it. I know which traps I should have avoided. And what mistakes I made.

Today, I know both how to write historical novels or series and also short stories and novellas.

I love how you can write a short story in one day.

Now you have a nice story to share with your readers. You can invite them into your world with a writing sample they can go through in one sitting. And make them want more.

I won't lie to you.

Writing historical fiction can be even more fun than reading about it. And a great way to try it out is to start with short fiction. This will allow you to dabble in your chosen historical era before you go all in.

Or fold your hand.

When you reach this point in the course, you've done half the work.

That's right. From here on it's just a matter of hours. That's how fast you have a story written, depending on how fast you can type and how long your story will be.

And sprinkled throughout the eBook, you'll find useful tips that has helped me since I wrote my first historical novella 9 years ago.

Since I loved reading historical fiction, it's something I thought a lot about writing.

But I didn't dare to start. It all seemed frightening. Luckily, my subconscious made the decision for me.

Whether I dared or not, my first character chose to live in the American West.

I had no choice but to write her story. And I definitely am glad I did. It showed me where I went wrong, where I could improve and also that I could write an (imperfection) historical story.

If this is your first historical short story or novella, it's a special experience. One that calls for champagne and celebrations. One you'll always remember.