Shannon Elizabeth Heffner asked Sharon Kay Penman:

Which do you find more difficult in your writing process: the development of characters that exist as real historical figures, or the development of characters who are imaginary and serve the important role of fleshing out the story?

Sharon Kay Penman Well, Shannon, I use very few purely fictional characters in my historical sagas; the only important fictional character was Ranulf, half-brother to the Empress Maude. We know that Henry I had at least 20 illegitimate children, so I figured one more couldn't hurt. His Welsh kin were fictional, too. But that was unusual. Whenever possible, I like to use people who actually lived; for example, abbots, sheriffs, etc. With real historical figures, I start out with a mental image, at least with the men. Many medieval women fell through the cracks and we know very little of their personalities or private lives--not unless they did something dramatic to allow writers to "fill in the blanks." If I had to judge, I'd say it is harder to make real people come alive on the printed page; with purely fictional characters, as in my mysteries, I have greater freedom, can make them as dramatic or humorous or vengeful as I'd like!

flag