As well as writing historical novels such as Death of a Princess, I also work as a scriptwriter for a number of True Crime and History podcasts. The latest is A Curious History of your Home, which you can listen to on BBC Sounds.
I explore the different requirements and challenges of the two types of writing in this Substack article I wrote for Inside History.
Here’s a snippet:
When I have my podcast hat on, I’m obliged to stick to the historical record and hold my fictionalising instincts in check.
It can be a challenge. The house style of the production company I work for is to create genuinely immersive podcasts. But we can’t just make stuff up. As writers, we’re encouraged to put ourselves in the action and imagine we’re looking over the shoulder of one of the principal participants.
One thing you’re never allowed to do is jump inside the head of the person you’re writing about. You can’t speculate what they might be thinking or feeling. Unless that is on record somewhere, in a diary for example.
Read more here.