WRITING STEAMPUNK
is a specialized sort of creation. Not only do you get to enjoy an adventure in the past (or future or
in an alternative universe) you get to change HISTORY to suit your needs.
Steampunk falls within the Fantasy genre, being a subgenre of the subgenre Alternative History.
Steampunk is also a society, yes, but this book doesn't go into that.
This book won't tell you how to write a novel either.
It focuses only on the creation of Steampunk elements and twisting history to fit the needs of the
Steampunk writer.
You'll get lists of choices to make.
You'll get examples of how to use history to your own devices.
You'll get some beginning research help.
You'll get a list of published Steampunk titles to submerge yourself in while deciding what TYPE of
Steampunk tale you'd like to write.
And you'll get a list of publishers of Fantasy, the houses that publish Steampunk tales.
AVAILABLE through KINDLE and NOOK.
Trade paperback version available from Amazon.com.
is a specialized sort of creation. Not only do you get to enjoy an adventure in the past (or future or
in an alternative universe) you get to change HISTORY to suit your needs.
Steampunk falls within the Fantasy genre, being a subgenre of the subgenre Alternative History.
Steampunk is also a society, yes, but this book doesn't go into that.
This book won't tell you how to write a novel either.
It focuses only on the creation of Steampunk elements and twisting history to fit the needs of the
Steampunk writer.
You'll get lists of choices to make.
You'll get examples of how to use history to your own devices.
You'll get some beginning research help.
You'll get a list of published Steampunk titles to submerge yourself in while deciding what TYPE of
Steampunk tale you'd like to write.
And you'll get a list of publishers of Fantasy, the houses that publish Steampunk tales.
AVAILABLE through KINDLE and NOOK.
Trade paperback version available from Amazon.com.
CHAPTER ONE
What Steampunk Is
Steampunk is a hybrid, a blending of many bits and pieces of other genres to create a new genre.
Well, subgenre, actually.
Steampunk falls under the major genre heading of Fantasy.
Because it frequently takes place in a pseudo past it also falls under the umbrella of historical fiction.
I said “pseudo past,” right? That means Steampunk writers alter – sometimes mutate or mutilate --- history to fit their own purposes. Therefore it falls under
the Fantasy subdivision of Alternative History.
We aren’t going to stop there though.
Does it have a strong romantic theme? It can, which tucks it, sometimes, in the Romance field.
How about Action-Adventure? Absolutely! The majority of Steampunk tales incorporate just that! Thrills, chills, excitement!
Mystery? Suspense? Yep, put it in.
Horror or magic? Why not?
Science and invention and exploration? Yes, yes, and yes.
Steampunk can be dark; it can be silly.
It is the early science fiction of Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and others, recreated and embellished by modern writers.
Steampunk can have any of the following:
Victorian/Edwardian Setting
In other words, the island nations of Great Britain (encompassing Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Wight, etc.). Usually set partially within London, or
totally within London, though there is nothing wrong with plunking it all down in Dublin or Edinburgh or Cardiff. This can actually be any time period during the
Industrial Revolution which, while it began in the 18th century, we will put at 1800 on through and including the 1920s, perhaps even the 1930s.
American West
Frequently post Civil War era, but it can be set earlier. Settlement west of the Mississippi was limited prior to the 1850s when the various mining rushes
really began populating California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and Utah in particular. That doesn’t mean you can’t alter things. Go into the
cities: Denver and San Francisco are the best bets as there aren’t many large cities out this way until the 20th century – not even in Texas! Whether in the
outlands or the infant cities, American West settings are usually known as Weird West Steampunk.
American East
Head East, thou diligent Steampunk scribbler! Any large city east of the Mississippi or on the Mississippi is a candidate for a Steampunk setting as well: New
York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and those river cities of St. Louis and New Orleans can all offer fodder for your tale. In
fact, any locale that has something worth mining for a story, like manufacturing or shipping, is fair game, not just these I’ve mentioned.
Go Elsewhere
Go where no Steampunk writer – or few of them – have gone and see what you can dream up using other locations in the world. Australia had gold rushes
and was very much like the American West; the Orient was just opening to the West and looking very mysterious; and as Steampunk tales can go exploring,
there’s jungles and mountains and ice caps for the dauntless to seek out.
Go REALLY Elsewhere
An alternative universe or parallel world where steam power is still the preferred mode of energy and/or Victorian ideals or elements are prevalent is also
an option – build the entire world to your specifications.
Head into the Future!
A future where Victorian ideals or elements are still the mode, of course – it’s been done at least once, so why not do it again?
Stick with the 19th century Sci-Fi Classics
Take a leaf from the history of the 20th or 21st century and journey to the depths of the ocean, to the Moon or to Mars, only do it in the 19th century – Jules
Verne and H.G. Wells took us there but it can be done again in your own inimitable way.
And if none of these appeal to you?
Just because these are the most common settings that HAVE been used, and are therefore familiar to readers, doesn’t mean they are the only ones that can
be used. You can dream up any type of setting.
We’ll go into each of these a bit more later on, but for now we’re moving on. Why? Well, there’s still a bit more grounding in the genre…er, subgenre…to do
before we can get steam up. Think of this as shoveling those first chunks of coal in the boiler.
The true charm of Steampunk for a writer is that there are few things set in granite, or even in diamond. Steampunk is flexible, even if the iron of a steam
engine isn’t.
Rules of the Road
Obviously there do have to be some rules or guidelines to ensure that your tale be considered Steampunk. Based on what is currently available to readers,
here’s what these “rules” are:
1) As Steampunk stories are remakes, updates, reconfiguring, inspired by the first science fiction stories ever written, they need to be, in essence,
Victorian. It doesn’t matter where in the world or universe or alternative universe or parallel dimension they take place, the feel, the setting, is one with the
Victorian world.
2) The story involves steam driven machines, clockwork mechanics, doing things that similar devices were incapable of actually doing in the time
period. For Verne and Wells this was science fiction. For the 21st century writer of Steampunk, this is Alternative History.
3) The storyline uses elements of magic or that appear to be magic (such as conjuring, slight-of-hand, magician’s tricks).
4) Because Steampunk is Alternative History, if set on Earth or involving the citizens of Earth, historical figures can appear or be mentioned. Queen
Victoria herself has figured in a number of stories, though she might not recognize the portrait painted by a Steampunker’s pen.
5) Paranormal creatures and the fae can become featured performers in your piece. Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a Victorian release and Wilhelm and
Jakob Grimm collected all those peasant tales and combined them in a book of fairytales during the 19th century. Categories here range from vampires and
were-creatures to faeries, pixies, trolls, dwarfs (the magical variety), banshees, etc. So can creatures of spirit such as ghosts, gods, demons, djinn, imps,
devils and angels.
6) Science is very much a part of the Victorian era, and thus beings created by science are welcomed in Steampunk tales. These can be robots,
cyborgs, people with mechanical limbs, creatures built from spare biological parts (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a Regency tale rather than a Victorian
one, but it is still within the time of the Industrial Revolution, and considered a reaction to the creations of the Industrial Age). You can also breed your own
biological creature or being. Or make your hero disappear (Wells’ Invisible Man) after downing a bit of formula.
7) Mystery, suspense, danger, and frequently a ticking-clock feature (i.e. as there is a time limit in which to accomplish something by) can be part of
Steampunk story. Not only was the science fiction genre created in the closing years of the 19th century, the mid to late part of the era gave birth to the
mystery novel, the detective, with Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle leading the way.
8) Time travel has been a fictional trope for a long time but it really kicked into popularity when science fiction was born. H.G. Wells’s hero in The Time
Machine went forward to a world that appeared nearly pre-historic, but authors in both fantasy and romance have been tossing characters back into the
past for a couple of decades now. The trick is to make the process by which the traveling is done believable…and Steampunkishly creative for your
audience.
9) Beings created via magic are another trope used in Steampunk. Golems, homunculi, and zombies are among these.
10) Practitioners of magic, though these do not need to be wizards, witches, sorcerers or shamen. They can be humans with a found or stolen conjuring
book.
If there is any guideline that cannot, should not, be broken it is this two-parter:
The story must reflect the world of early science fiction tales in some way
AND it must include a being either mechanically, biologically, or magically constructed,
or with a paranormal, fae or spirit nature, or a person turned into a monster via a mysterious disease.
Copyright 2011 Beth Daniels
What Steampunk Is
Steampunk is a hybrid, a blending of many bits and pieces of other genres to create a new genre.
Well, subgenre, actually.
Steampunk falls under the major genre heading of Fantasy.
Because it frequently takes place in a pseudo past it also falls under the umbrella of historical fiction.
I said “pseudo past,” right? That means Steampunk writers alter – sometimes mutate or mutilate --- history to fit their own purposes. Therefore it falls under
the Fantasy subdivision of Alternative History.
We aren’t going to stop there though.
Does it have a strong romantic theme? It can, which tucks it, sometimes, in the Romance field.
How about Action-Adventure? Absolutely! The majority of Steampunk tales incorporate just that! Thrills, chills, excitement!
Mystery? Suspense? Yep, put it in.
Horror or magic? Why not?
Science and invention and exploration? Yes, yes, and yes.
Steampunk can be dark; it can be silly.
It is the early science fiction of Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and others, recreated and embellished by modern writers.
Steampunk can have any of the following:
Victorian/Edwardian Setting
In other words, the island nations of Great Britain (encompassing Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Wight, etc.). Usually set partially within London, or
totally within London, though there is nothing wrong with plunking it all down in Dublin or Edinburgh or Cardiff. This can actually be any time period during the
Industrial Revolution which, while it began in the 18th century, we will put at 1800 on through and including the 1920s, perhaps even the 1930s.
American West
Frequently post Civil War era, but it can be set earlier. Settlement west of the Mississippi was limited prior to the 1850s when the various mining rushes
really began populating California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and Utah in particular. That doesn’t mean you can’t alter things. Go into the
cities: Denver and San Francisco are the best bets as there aren’t many large cities out this way until the 20th century – not even in Texas! Whether in the
outlands or the infant cities, American West settings are usually known as Weird West Steampunk.
American East
Head East, thou diligent Steampunk scribbler! Any large city east of the Mississippi or on the Mississippi is a candidate for a Steampunk setting as well: New
York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and those river cities of St. Louis and New Orleans can all offer fodder for your tale. In
fact, any locale that has something worth mining for a story, like manufacturing or shipping, is fair game, not just these I’ve mentioned.
Go Elsewhere
Go where no Steampunk writer – or few of them – have gone and see what you can dream up using other locations in the world. Australia had gold rushes
and was very much like the American West; the Orient was just opening to the West and looking very mysterious; and as Steampunk tales can go exploring,
there’s jungles and mountains and ice caps for the dauntless to seek out.
Go REALLY Elsewhere
An alternative universe or parallel world where steam power is still the preferred mode of energy and/or Victorian ideals or elements are prevalent is also
an option – build the entire world to your specifications.
Head into the Future!
A future where Victorian ideals or elements are still the mode, of course – it’s been done at least once, so why not do it again?
Stick with the 19th century Sci-Fi Classics
Take a leaf from the history of the 20th or 21st century and journey to the depths of the ocean, to the Moon or to Mars, only do it in the 19th century – Jules
Verne and H.G. Wells took us there but it can be done again in your own inimitable way.
And if none of these appeal to you?
Just because these are the most common settings that HAVE been used, and are therefore familiar to readers, doesn’t mean they are the only ones that can
be used. You can dream up any type of setting.
We’ll go into each of these a bit more later on, but for now we’re moving on. Why? Well, there’s still a bit more grounding in the genre…er, subgenre…to do
before we can get steam up. Think of this as shoveling those first chunks of coal in the boiler.
The true charm of Steampunk for a writer is that there are few things set in granite, or even in diamond. Steampunk is flexible, even if the iron of a steam
engine isn’t.
Rules of the Road
Obviously there do have to be some rules or guidelines to ensure that your tale be considered Steampunk. Based on what is currently available to readers,
here’s what these “rules” are:
1) As Steampunk stories are remakes, updates, reconfiguring, inspired by the first science fiction stories ever written, they need to be, in essence,
Victorian. It doesn’t matter where in the world or universe or alternative universe or parallel dimension they take place, the feel, the setting, is one with the
Victorian world.
2) The story involves steam driven machines, clockwork mechanics, doing things that similar devices were incapable of actually doing in the time
period. For Verne and Wells this was science fiction. For the 21st century writer of Steampunk, this is Alternative History.
3) The storyline uses elements of magic or that appear to be magic (such as conjuring, slight-of-hand, magician’s tricks).
4) Because Steampunk is Alternative History, if set on Earth or involving the citizens of Earth, historical figures can appear or be mentioned. Queen
Victoria herself has figured in a number of stories, though she might not recognize the portrait painted by a Steampunker’s pen.
5) Paranormal creatures and the fae can become featured performers in your piece. Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a Victorian release and Wilhelm and
Jakob Grimm collected all those peasant tales and combined them in a book of fairytales during the 19th century. Categories here range from vampires and
were-creatures to faeries, pixies, trolls, dwarfs (the magical variety), banshees, etc. So can creatures of spirit such as ghosts, gods, demons, djinn, imps,
devils and angels.
6) Science is very much a part of the Victorian era, and thus beings created by science are welcomed in Steampunk tales. These can be robots,
cyborgs, people with mechanical limbs, creatures built from spare biological parts (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a Regency tale rather than a Victorian
one, but it is still within the time of the Industrial Revolution, and considered a reaction to the creations of the Industrial Age). You can also breed your own
biological creature or being. Or make your hero disappear (Wells’ Invisible Man) after downing a bit of formula.
7) Mystery, suspense, danger, and frequently a ticking-clock feature (i.e. as there is a time limit in which to accomplish something by) can be part of
Steampunk story. Not only was the science fiction genre created in the closing years of the 19th century, the mid to late part of the era gave birth to the
mystery novel, the detective, with Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle leading the way.
8) Time travel has been a fictional trope for a long time but it really kicked into popularity when science fiction was born. H.G. Wells’s hero in The Time
Machine went forward to a world that appeared nearly pre-historic, but authors in both fantasy and romance have been tossing characters back into the
past for a couple of decades now. The trick is to make the process by which the traveling is done believable…and Steampunkishly creative for your
audience.
9) Beings created via magic are another trope used in Steampunk. Golems, homunculi, and zombies are among these.
10) Practitioners of magic, though these do not need to be wizards, witches, sorcerers or shamen. They can be humans with a found or stolen conjuring
book.
If there is any guideline that cannot, should not, be broken it is this two-parter:
The story must reflect the world of early science fiction tales in some way
AND it must include a being either mechanically, biologically, or magically constructed,
or with a paranormal, fae or spirit nature, or a person turned into a monster via a mysterious disease.
Copyright 2011 Beth Daniels
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| EXCERPT |
The additions to the list of published Steampunk novels has been moved to the blog section of
WRITING STEAMPUNK JR is for those who have a good handle on
the 19th century and on research for the period. It concentrates only
on the Steampunk elements, on creating alternative history for this
genre. It also lacks the list of published Steampunk fiction -- which
can be found at www.WRITINGSTEAMPUNK.vpweb.com in the blog
section.
Available only for Kindle at $2.99
the 19th century and on research for the period. It concentrates only
on the Steampunk elements, on creating alternative history for this
genre. It also lacks the list of published Steampunk fiction -- which
can be found at www.WRITINGSTEAMPUNK.vpweb.com in the blog
section.
Available only for Kindle at $2.99