Digital + printable planner for historical novelists
The Ultimate Historical Fiction Writing Planner
Research the period, weave fact with fiction, bring the past to life
Choose your format
What you get with the Goodnotes & PDF edition
- 84-page digital planner with clickable tabs, contents and back links
- Two designs: Classic and the colourful Pop design
- Printable US Letter versions of both designs
- Recommended Resources for Authors PDF
A hyperlinked PDF for Goodnotes, Notability, Noteshelf and other PDF note apps on iPad or Android tablets. Tap the tabs and contents to jump between pages.
About this planner
Plan your Historical Fiction novel from the first idea to publication day. The Historical Fiction Writing Planner is written for Historical Fiction writers, so its prompts, examples and story structure fit the book you are writing. Its 11 sections cover idea, period, fact & fiction, plot, protagonist, cast, world, write, edit, pitch & blurb and publish.
It comes as Goodnotes & PDF, Microsoft Word, Notion template, Scrivener template, Plottr template and E-ink edition, or as a printed, spiral-bound planner, so you can plan in the app you already use.
Sample pages
Take a look inside
Real pages from the Historical Fiction Writing Planner, in both designs. Tap a page to see it bigger.
What's inside
11 sections, 84 pages in the PDF
Idea7 pages
- What if? & premise
- Period & subgenre
- Comps & title library
Period6 pages
- The period
- Real events timeline
- Real people
Fact & Fiction4 pages
- Fact vs fiction tracker
- Sources
- Anachronism check
Plot10 pages
- Story structure
- Plot map & tension graph
- Scene lists & scene cards
Protagonist5 pages
- Protagonist profile
- Limits of their world
- Before & after arc
Cast5 pages
- Supporting cast list
- Six cast profiles
- Relationship web
World4 pages
- Setting: the big picture
- Specific locations
- Research list & notes
Write7 pages
- Plan of action
- Opening lines
- 100-day word tracker
Edit6 pages
- Historical checklist
- Plot holes & scene changes
- Beta readers & editors
Pitch & Blurb7 pages
- Logline & elevator pitch
- Hooks & taglines
- Blurb workshop & drafts
Publish7 pages
- Book details & cover brief
- Amazon keywords
- Categories & checklist
Section and page counts are for the Goodnotes & PDF edition; the other formats hold the same planning pages, arranged to suit each app.
Highlights
Made for Historical Fiction writers
Know the period inside out
- Real events timeline with history and story side by side
- Real people: the facts and the liberties you take
- Daily life, from food and clothing to money and medicine
- Language and speech checks, plus a family tree
Keep fact and fiction straight
- Track what's true, what you invented and why
- A sources log for fact-checking and acknowledgements
- Anachronism check for objects, phrases and attitudes
- Draft the historical note for the back of the book
Let history shape the plot
- Story structure beats, with real events as turning points
- Plot map, tension graph, scene lists and scene cards
- Limits of their world: what's expected, what's forbidden
- Six cast profiles, a relationship web and setting pages
Write, edit and publish
- Opening lines, daily word counts and a project tracker
- A Historical Checklist to revise against
- Blurb research, a workshop and two blurb drafts
- Cover brief, Amazon keywords and a pre-publish checklist
You might also like
Related planners
Historical Mystery Writing Planner
A crime from another age and a sleuth without forensics
Regency & Historical Romance Writing Planner
Balls, scandals, titles and a love that defies the rules of society
Western Writing Planner
Frontier towns, open range and a showdown at the end of the trail