Kelly ChastainMarch 20, 2026

Before You Die in a Research Rabbit Hole: Historical Fiction Starter Docs

I, too, love historical fiction. And yet it can be a little daunting at the outset. Not only are we writing a whole freakin’ novel, we have the added layer of research. You might only have the items on your writer’s wish list to go off of, or a vague description of your characters or plot. You could start there.

But I’m guessing you’re reading because you’ve done that in the past and quickly found yourself mired in notes and research while muttering, “Where did I put that?”

Grab the comprehensive starter guide and checklist for historical fiction writers, whether you’re writing about the ancient world or the 1900s. Paid subscribers on our Substack get all of the templates and worksheets.

My must-have documents when planning a historical novel

  1. The Primary Sources Document. This usually looks like a bibliography with links. I also make sections in this document with headers to further organize the research I’m doing. The Era, Fashion, Politics, Real People/Historical Figures, Epistolary sources, Books, etc….
    1. You’ll keep track of the title of the article or book, but also give yourself a little blurb that will help you to remember this specific document. Example: The artist’s revolt where they call the mayor all sorts of nasty names.
  2. Character templates. At least for my two primary characters. These are a must if you’re using real people from history, because it will help you to understand them more fully. If you use Scrivener (and if you don’t, we really need to talk) they have a pre-built character sketch and it’s a great starting point. The better you know your people, the easier it will be to find the areas you want to embellish with fiction.
    1. Sub-document: Character Tree. This is vital if you’re trying to keep track of real historical figures. Who’s related? Who’s not? Which family members belong together? Who belongs to which faction? You’ve seen the epic lists of characters in the beginning of books like Wolf Hall, and this is where it comes from. Not only does a character tree help your reader, it also helps you as a writer. Even if all of your characters are fictional, this exercise is still a fantastic way to keep the who’s who of your world organized.
  3. Timeline. Your story is set during a specific time and for a specific duration. Example: Post War Berlin 1945-1947, or the first three years of the Ming Dynasty, or Jazz Age New York City from 1927 until the Crash of ‘29. A timeline doc not only helps you keep the order of events correct, but it also shows you where gaps exist in your story. Perhaps a ton of time passes without much going on in your plot, or there are whole sections of your book that transpire over a weekend. This document can help you decide how to structure your story based on the timeline.
  4. Story Snatches. This includes the initial spark of the story. Was it a documentary you watched, another book you read, or a recurring dream you’ve had since you were a toddler that you absolutely cannot describe other than a past life experience? Asking for a friend. This can include:
    1. Bits of dialogue that’s come to you
    2. A fascinating person from history you want to know more about
    3. An artifact or item from a time period you find yourself drawn to. I particularly love old pocket watches.
    4. Festivals or Rituals
    5. A place you love and feel drawn to
    6. An argument or climactic event happening between your characters
  5. Research Questions I Might Need Help With. This is basically your research to do list, and I suggest starting with your local library. Librarians are the most valuable and underused resource on the planet, and yes, that’s a hill I will die on. This document includes things like:
    1. How do I figure out what women wore in the lower classes during this time period?
    2. What were the social norms then, and what would instantly mark a person as an outsider in this place?
    3. What’s the best way to find images, schematics, or maps that were created in this era?
    4. Anything that you’ve obsessively Googled, and couldn’t find a satisfactory answer to, goes in this document.
      1. Then take your list to the library and thank me later.

Want this broken down in video form? We’ve gotcha covered for that too:

 

Even if you’re partway through a project, it’s still a great time to start curating these docs. And another great time is during our Writing Community Hour over on The Rogue MFA YouTube channel every other Thursday evening at 4pm PST/ 7pm EST. The full calendar of dates is on our Community page.  Subscribe to get notified, and if you’re interested, please fill out our quick survey so we can expand these in the future with you in mind.

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Kelly ChastainMarch 5, 2026

The 5-Minute Set Up That Makes Your Writing Sessions a Million Times More Productive

Today we kick off our first Writing Community Hour over at The Rogue MFA YouTube channel. We gather every other Thursday at 4pm PST/ 7pm EST. The complete schedule is listed on our community page.

Bri put together a great post called 5 Ways to Write When you’re Not Writing, because sometimes you’re motivated, but maybe not necessarily inspired. We can also help you get unstuck. If you want to join, but you don’t know what to do in the hour this graphic can help.

No matter where you’re at, we can’t wait to hang out with you and get some writing done together. Here are a few more ways to approach it.

If You Want to Finish Something

There’s nothing quite like the dopamine rush of checking a box or crossing something off a list.

  • Write a character’s backstory that outlines their internal conflicts, their trauma responses, and why they’re just so darn stubborn/independent/brazen/nihilistic
  • Clean up that one scene that you know isn’t quite working, and that you’ve been avoiding, because you think it’s going to take way more time or work than it actually will
  • Write a list of the worst things that could happen to your characters, followed by a list of scenarios that will bring the worst to life, followed by a list of ways each character might each handle the scenario. (Hello, nascent plot outline)
  • Read the articles you’ve been saving in your “research file” instead of just squirreling them away like a bushy-tailed archivist
  • Write the pivotal emotional moment for your characters that you’ve been avoiding. This could be anger, a confession, declarations of love, grief, etc…

If You Want to Figure Something Out

When things stop being inspiring, or you know that something’s just off, here are some questions you can ask to help get you back on track.

  • Do my characters make choices or do things just happen to them? OR if they’re making choices, do they actually have consequences? If your character didn’t get what they wanted, and would be fine after a nap and a snack, the stakes aren’t high enough. Let them make a decision that could fuck their whole life up.
  • What character could I remove entirely without it impacting the plot? Who’s not earning their keep here, or which characters are doing the same work in the story? Sometimes we run out of steam because we’re writing the same scenario, relationship, or problem with two separate side characters when one would be far more potent. Redundancy can make your work drag.
  • What promise did I make in the first chapter and am I delivering on it? This helps you to identify where your B plot may have taken over to the point where the whole book has shifted. It’ll shed light on where you’ve gone off course in the story, and how to get yourself back on track.
  • What would happen if I cut my favorite scene? Oh, this one’s a heart breaker. Especially when you love it and it’s the most beautiful writing in the whole book. A beautifully written scene that doesn’t belong will run your story off the rails and not in a good way. You can always paste the language into a new doc and use it in a later project, so it’s not gone forever. But the key is to get honest about whether or not it’s serving your story. If not, give it the boot.
  • What feedback do I keep hearing and also keep dismissing? Sometimes it’s not the feedback itself, but the mountain of work required to fix the issues. Once we dig into it, we often find it’s not nearly as hard as we made ourselves believe it would be. Sometimes, we dismiss feedback because it isn’t immediately obvious to us how to fix the issue. You have an hour to brainstorm ideas.

If You Want to Improve Your Writing

Choose one scene where something important happens and:

  • Focus on your character’s interiority. Instead of focusing only on what they do, dig into what they think, feel, and fear in that moment. What connections and conclusions have they drawn? What do they believe, know, or understand that they didn’t before this scene started? Help your readers see the change.
  • Focus on your character’s movement. Sometimes, you’ve created a rich inner world, but the characters themselves feel like they’re floating in space or the conversation reads like talking heads in a room. Get into their movements, mannerisms, and body language that supports or belies their inner state.
  • Ratchet up the sensory details. We understand the world through our senses, and when you add sensory detail to your story, your world and characters feel more real to us. Rely less on sight, and see how you can incorporate smell, sounds, taste, and touch, particularly texture. If you want guidance, grab the free mini course, and use that as your structure for the community writing hour.
  • Sharpen your dialogue. Cut it by 30% and you’ll make it faster, less monologue-y, and it will sound more like real people talking. Let them cut each other off, stammer, change the subject, and tell each other no.

We can’t wait to see you at The Rogue Community Writing Hour!

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Kelly ChastainFebruary 12, 2026

Writing Alone is Overrated. An Accountability Group Takes it to the Next Level.

Sometimes wrangling the people in our lives to help us with accountability isn’t an option. We either can’t find the type of people we need, or we need steel-plated boundaries with the ones we have. Exhausting.

Good news! Not all is lost. Let’s go outside of our hometown and look at some of the most helpful accountability tools available. And who can help most? Strangers on the Internet.

Sprints

There are a few different types, but the gist is the same. You sit down and you write for a specific amount of time with no distractions or editing. Just writing as many words as you can.

  • Group or Community Sprints – These happen in real life and on the internet. They were a big part of the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) machine, and the added dose of competition never hurt. Usually, these took place in regional hubs and meetups. You can still find group writing sessions and sprints in local creative spaces like community centers, bookstores, and libraries.
  • Solo Sprints – Folks who sprint on their own tend to use the pomodora method. 25 minutes of keyboard mayhem, followed by a 5 minute break. After 3 or 4 cycles, they take a 30 minute breather.

Project-Based Groups With a Targeted End Goal

The most famous of these before their scandalous fiery end was NaNoWriMo. The idea was to write a novel (or 50k words) in a single month (November). There were stats, badges, word trackers, and a lot of encouragement around. Bri was in HEAVEN watching that little graph chart up.

  • If you’re into the gamification aspect of NaNo, Trackbear, is a way to track your writing progress and customize your writing goals. And you can also use a good, old-fashioned spreadsheet.
  • Groups like NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) still exist, and can be a great way to find accountability for a specific project.
  • Bri and her romance writer’s group do RoWritMo (Romance Writing Month) every November, with custom-designed, romance-themed badges for progress and milestones. They’re always open for new challengers to join!

Contests

There’s nothing like cash prizes and a deadline to keep you in the chair.

  • Reedsy posts a prompt every Friday, and writers submit their story by the following Monday for the chance to win $250. If you’re looking for a way to sit down and write anything, this is a great strategy.
  • If you need a little more time, but still like the structure, several literary magazines have contests with cash prizes and publication attached. The competition guidelines are typically published months in advance and let writers know the theme or craft-based parameters.

Online Writing Communities

We think the best one is ours, The Rogue Writing Community Hour over on The Rogue MFA YouTube channel every other Thursday evening at 4pm PST/ 7pm EST. The full calendar of dates is on our Community page. 

We’re curious! What does your ideal community look like? We’d love to hear from you so we can make ours even better. The survey takes 2 minutes, and after telling us what to do, you’ll be heady with power. Muahh! Thanks in advance, truly.

My Ideal Community

Whether you find accountability and community among friends, or join a larger collective online, we’re stoked that you’re taking your work seriously.

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