Add to FavoritesWriting historical short stories and the proverbial light bulb. By then I was aware of a softly growing trend in literary short fiction, authors who were taking on historical research for short stories. EIGHT RULES FOR WRITING HISTORICAL SHORT STORIESSetting out to write my own historical short stories in the years following my rental-car revelation, I wrote a series of short stories set at Hollywood studios as the Golden Age of animation came to an end. Here’s what I’ve learned from a decade of trying to write historical short stories: my eight rules of historical fiction. The meticulously researched historical short story is a relatively new form, a growing trend.