How to sort out and filter the materials for a historical novel?

I wanted to write a historical novel and began to collect materials, but I realized that there were too many materials. I didn't have enough money to buy them, so I could only borrow them from the library. However, I wouldn't be allowed to paint them. Professional historical novels had to be relevant to many historical details, such as official positions, clothing, and so on. I couldn't remember them, and it was too simple to take notes. What reasonable and effective method was there to make the materials orderly, clear, and easy to remember? Moreover, it had to be fast and efficient. It was not a joke, but a historical novel like Er Yuehe's Yongzheng Dynasty. Thank you very much.

Answer 1

It was very important to organize and select materials when writing a historical novel. Here are some tips for organizing and filtering historical materials:

1. Decide on the theme and storyline. Before you start writing, you need to determine the theme and plot of the story so that it remains consistent throughout the novel. This helped to filter and organize the materials to ensure that the story line was clear.

2. Collect historical information. You need to collect historical information about specific historical events, people, places, and backgrounds. This information could be obtained through books, papers, museum collections, the Internet, and many other channels.

3. Sorting and organizing. sort historical data by time, place, and people and put them together. This helped to better organize the material and made it easier to find and quote.

4. To ensure the authenticity of history. When writing historical novels, one needed to ensure the authenticity of historical events and characters. Careful investigation and research were needed to ensure that the story matched historical facts.

5 Pay attention to details. Historical novels usually involved a lot of details, so it was necessary to ensure that these details were true and credible. He needed to pay attention to the historical background and the identity of the characters to ensure that all the details matched the history.

6. Make changes and polish. After the first draft was completed, it needed to be revised and polished. Check the story's cohesiveness, logic, and accuracy of language to ensure the quality of the novel.

It took patience and meticulous work to sort out and sift through historical materials. Only after careful preparation and selection could a wonderful historical novel be created.