Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Dates, dates and more dates...

So although I've hashed out a lot of my historical timeline, it's more of a flow of ideas than a set timeline--ie no dates.

Part of the problem is that I'm not sure when to place my story.

Aesthetically it will be similar to the Victorian era at mid-point of Industrialization. But it is set in a fictional world [at least that's the current plan] with the main country having similarities to America [melting pot of cultures, land of prosperity, etc], but with Victorian/English manners and politics. There will be other influences as well, but that's the basics.

The issue is that 1895 in this world might not be anything like 1895 is in our own or at least the dates no longer have the same relevance assuming this world is more than just a slight alteration to the time-line.

For now I think I might use placeholder dates and then either omit the dates in the story [I've seen it done before with a very simple "5 years ago"..or "It was a new decade"] or pick dates I'll be happy with.

In fact, the only time I've seen dates used in some steampunk novels is to reference something that really happened in our own history or a variation of that event. Or to state factual dates for the reader to understand the world.


After all, if the date has no real significance to the reader, do they really need a number?

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Historical business and easter eggs.

This week I plan to start laying out a historical timeline.
I'm not sure how indepth I will go, but I want to make sure I have a clear idea of the events in the past and the events in the future.

It's weird, but I think it's safer for me to layout the history and facts of the entire series before focusing on the novel. Or at least make it familiar enough that it's in the back of my mind as I write. That way you end up with nice little easter eggs that make more sense once you read the other books.

OOO...so excited.

I'll post an abridged version of the timeline at the end of the week.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Absent, but not out of the game

I haven't posted in a little while because I've been so darn busy. But things are churning and I'm trying my hardest to get it all written down before it alludes me.

I have a lot of planning to do, or at least enough planning that I can rewrite the first book. I think it will all become clearer when I am forced to mark it all down on paper instead of floating in the endless "what if" of my mind.

Hopefully I can get a start on writing this month--if not, I hope to at least have it together enough to get some sort of encyclopedia together.

Ooo...so excited!

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