u/ComprehensiveBat1005

I would like advice for the decision of historical accuracy vs when I should make up my own characters. I’m writing a pirate story with a pretty unique concept I’ve been working on for a number of years. The story involves magical elements (kraken, black spot, curses). Without giving too much away, there’s 7 pirate lords and one must hunt down the rest.

With 7 “pirate lords” I looked to history for some of the most notorious ones and was captivated by their stories (Vane, Blackbeard, Robert’s, Bellamy…) The coolest part was that they were all alive around the same 3 years and interacted with each other. I began to work them all into my story while following real history as close as I could. Most real pirates I included have some sort of POV, some several. Not everything is accurate, especially the order of events, but I made it fit my concept and larger plot as best I could.

After a year, Ive finally finished my series outline and only just now realized how much of historical fan fiction this is. That’s what I was trying to avoid creating. I’m having trouble determining if I should scrap what I have and create original pirate characters, or correct my story to account for real history better. I want my story presented in a way that these events could’ve really happened, and real history doesn’t show what was going on behind the scenes, ie my story. (So not alternate history). The obvious choice for creative freedom is to make my own characters, but the obvious pitfall is I lose recognition for the 7 pirate lords. The 7 most prominent pirates would be folks known in history. If they’re all just made up then it seems like they really aren’t that important. I want to include as much real history as I can without losing accuracy and becoming alternate history. It seems like I can’t have both though. Anyone ran into these issues?

I would like advice for the decision of historical accuracy vs when I should make up my own characters. I’m writing a pirate story with a pretty unique concept I’ve been working on for a number of years. The story involves magical elements (kraken, black spot, curses). Without giving too much away, there’s 7 pirate lords and one must hunt down the rest.

With 7 “pirate lords” I looked to history for some of the most notorious ones and was captivated by their stories (Vane, Blackbeard, Robert’s, Bellamy…) The coolest part was that they were all alive around the same 3 years and interacted with each other. I began to work them all into my story while following real history as close as I could. Most real pirates I included have some sort of POV, some several. Not everything is accurate, especially the order of events, but I made it fit my concept and larger plot as best I could.

After a year, Ive finally finished my series outline and only just now realized how much of historical fan fiction this is. That’s what I was trying to avoid creating. I’m having trouble determining if I should scrap what I have and create original pirate characters, or correct my story to account for real history better. I would like my story presented in a way that these events could’ve happened, and real history doesn’t show what was going on behind the scenes, ie my story. The obvious choice for creative freedom is to make my own characters, but the obvious pitfall is I lose recognition for the 7 pirate lords. The 7 most prominent pirates would be folks known in history. If they’re all just made up then it seems like they really aren’t that important.

Im trying to make this post as broad as possible so it doesn’t get taken down. The underlying question is what degree one can bend historical accuracy on real characters before original ones should be made up. I believe much of it depends on the time period / story. For context in my example, I’m writing a series regarding the golden age of piracy. The concept of the story itself is completely my idea, and it has mythological elements mixed in (kraken, black spot, curses) in unique ways to serve the plot.

A large theme is how superpowers like England came to replace the last true form of the free man, and how pirate freedom was flawed in its own right which lead to their downfall. I won’t reveal the centerpiece, but I think I’ve got something really unique going here. For my story to work, I needed 7 different pirate captains to write about, so I delved deep into research on the famous ones.

What I learned and noted greatly enthralled me. I spent almost a year making an outline that mixes real historical characters (Blackbeard, Horningold, Vane, Bonnet, Roberts, Rackam, and more) with my own characters and story. Woodes Rogers is also included as a form of soft antagonist. For all the real figures, I keep their stories as accurate as possible unless the story demands otherwise, and even have several POVs from some of them alongside my original characters.

After finishing the outline and sitting on it for about a month, a realization hit: some may interpret this as historical fan fiction which is the last thing I want. I’m having trouble with trying to keep things accurate while also writing my own story. The story is caught in the middle of Black Sails’ grounded take and POTC’s full fantasy elements. Trying to strike something in the middle almost seems pointless. These once real figures are so critical to my outline now I’d hate to scrap my year of work just because I don’t want to bend peoples stories here and there. When I began, the thought of including tons of real pirates / figures seemed like such a good idea. Now I’m realizing people may take it the wrong way, especially when real history is changed. Again, I love the idea, but I want something that will sell. Has anyone else run into this historical fiction?

Pirates are right in the middle of limited documentation allowing creative liberties, and also having enough recorded that people will notice major discrepancies with certain characters. My question is I guess do you think something like this could work? I would hate to scrap all my work on the real pirates I’ve been writing about, but making 7 original ones seems cleaner. I just loved the history so much I found it enthralling to include as much reality as I could, but it ended up constricting certain plots and may turn people off when certain pirate’s accuracy falls apart.

I’m writing a series regarding the golden age of piracy. The concept of the story itself is completely my idea, and it has mythological elements mixed in (kraken, black spot, curses) in unique ways to serve the story. A large theme is how superpowers like England came to replace the last true form of the free man, and how pirate freedom was flawed in its own right which lead to their downfall. I won’t reveal the centerpiece, but I think I’ve got something really unique going here. For my story to work, I needed 7 different pirate captains to write about, so I delved deep into research on the famous ones.

What I learned and noted greatly enthralled me. I spent almost a year making an outline that mixes real historical characters (Blackbeard, Horningold, Vane, Bonnet, Roberts, Rackam, and more) with my own characters and story. Woodes Rogers is also included as a form of soft antagonist. For all the real figures, I keep their stories as accurate as possible unless the story demands otherwise, and even have multiple POVs from some of them.

After finishing the outline and sitting on it for about a month, I’ve come to realize some may interpret this as historical fan fiction which is the last thing I want. I’m having trouble with trying to keep things accurate while also writing my own story. I’m caught in the middle of Black Sails’ grounded take and POTC’s full fantasy elements. Trying to strike something in the middle almost seems pointless. My writing is bound to the stories of real events and figures, but they’re so critical to my outline now I’d hate to scrap my year of work just because I don’t want to bend peoples stories here and there. When I began, the thought of including tons of real pirates / figures seemed like such a good idea. Now I’m realizing people may take it the wrong way, especially when real history is changed around my larger concept. Again, I love the idea, but I want something that will sell.

Pirates are right in the middle of limited documentation allowing creative liberties, and also having enough recorded that people will notice major discrepancies with certain characters. My question is I guess do you think something like this could work? Or am I better off scrapping what I have and making 7 pirate captains on my own. I just loved the history so much I found it enthralling to include as much reality as I could, but it ended up constricting certain things and may turn people off when certain pirate’s accuracy falls apart.

I’m writing a series regarding the golden age of piracy. The concept of the story itself is completely my idea, and it has mythological elements mixed in (kraken, black spot, curses) in unique ways to serve the story. A large theme is how superpowers like England came to replace the last true form of the free man, and how pirate freedom was flawed in its own right which lead to their downfall. I won’t reveal the centerpiece, but I think I’ve got something really unique going here. For my story to work, I needed 7 different pirate captains to write about, so I delved deep into research on the famous ones.

What I learned and noted greatly enthralled me. I spent almost a year making an outline that mixes real historical characters (Blackbeard, Horningold, Vane, Bonnet, Roberts, Rackam, and more) with my own characters and story. Woodes Rogers is also included as a form of soft antagonist. For all the real figures, I keep their stories as accurate as possible unless the story demands otherwise, and even have multiple POVs from some of them.

After finishing the outline and sitting on it for about a month, I’ve come to realize some may interpret this as historical fan fiction which is the last thing I want. I’m having trouble with trying to keep things accurate while also writing my own story. I’m caught in the middle of Black Sails’ grounded take and POTC’s full fantasy elements. Trying to strike something in the middle almost seems pointless. My writing is bound to the stories of real events and figures, but they’re so critical to my outline now I’d hate to scrap my year of work just because I don’t want to bend peoples stories here and there. When I began, the thought of including tons of real pirates / figures seemed like such a good idea. Now I’m realizing people may take it the wrong way, especially when real history is changed. Again, I love the idea, but I want something that will sell.

Pirates are right in the middle of limited documentation allowing creative liberties, and also having enough recorded that people will notice major discrepancies with certain characters. My question is I guess do you think something like this could work? Or am I better off scrapping what I have and making 7 pirate captains on my own. I just loved the history so much I found it enthralling to include as much reality as I could, but it ended up constricting certain things and may turn people off when certain pirate’s accuracy falls apart.