We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our
Why don't writers who fictionalize history just write fiction? Why did Shakespeare call his character Richard III or King John? Why not call him Reginald I or Murray II? If a fiction writer does choose to use a real person's name, does the writer have any obligation to make the fictional character resemble the real one? In the two episodes that follow this one I use Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn as the basis as the models for fictional characters. In this episode I explain why and how I did it. Maybe you'll agree with what I did, maybe you won't. Give it a listen and decide. This first episode lays out what is involved in turning history, in the form of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, into fiction as a short story and a play.