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 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
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This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario. An index of topics can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"  Feel free to comment and interact. |
| Hemingway On Info-dumps Recently Max Griffin 🏳️🌈 did a quite comprehensive and well-written newsletter (and subsequent Newsfeed note - "Note: View this Note") about info-dumping. And I’ve brought it up in the past as well. So, looking through my notes et al., I found this: Something quite popular at the moment is "Iceberg Videos" - where you go deeper and deeper into more and more obscure information. They can be fun, infuriating and, generally, are useless and don't do what they say. But the concept is also used in writing, especially description and world-building. And reading a lot of things by unpublished writers, some books online, some other works, I think this iceberg is worth considering. The Hemingway Iceberg Theory Of Writing. Yes, Ernest Hemingway... in case you thought it was named after Mariel or Margaux... Based on the fact that, traditionally, 90% of an iceberg is said to exist under the surface of the water, this can best be summed up by: Hemingway said that only the tip of the iceberg showed in fiction—your reader will see only what is above the water—but the knowledge that you have about your character that never makes it into the story acts as the bulk of the iceberg. And that is what gives your story weight and gravitas. (Jenna Blum, The Author At Work, 2013) What this means is you can do all the work you want on world-building, but don't just info-dump it to tell your reader. Too often, I see this: You've created this magnificent world and these characters, and, goshdarnit, you're going to let everyone know all the work you've put in! Well, it's generally boring. If you think your story needs that much exposition, especially at the beginning of the tale, then maybe look at how your story starts. I would also include the overly detailed character descriptions so many beginner writers seem inclined to foist upon their readers. I know I'm going to cop abuse for this (I always do when I mention info-dumps), but I think this is important. If you are writing for yourself, great, do what you want. But if you are writing for an external reader, then maybe take Hemingway's advice into consideration. Just a thought. |
| Story Structure Writing Methods (Personal) There has been a lot of chatter in newsfeed and on newsletters about the writing methods people use. Do you use Socrates' 3-act structure? The Hero's Journey? Freytag's geometrical shape? Crisis-Conflict-Resolution? Some other style of writing? How do you structure your stories? Why do you use this and not this? You should try the snowflake method! You need to do the rising action method! People who don't use one method never sell! Magazines only look for this other method! In the end, do you use the Freytag's Pyramid, The Hero's Journey, Three-Act Structure, The Dan Harmon Story Circle, The Fichtean Curve, Save the Cat, The 7-Point Story Structure, The Snowflake Method, or some other method? So... what method do I use? No idea. And, more to the point, I do not care. I just write. I have an idea, and I write it. I don't think about anything like structure. I put in what needs to be in there. I know some of my stories seem to utilise the dictates of certain methods, it is only because my story-telling fell into that. In my opinion, looking at a story-writing method and sticking to that stifles creativity. Just tell a story. If it's good, people will like it. if not, they won't. If you're lucky, it will sell. if not, then it won't. This whole "which story structure writing method do you/ should you use" argument takes away from the one thing that we are here to do: Write a story! |
| NOUNS I was surprised that I was asked what “exactly” is a noun here, on a writing site, but I am nothing if not amenable to that sort of request (it’s the teacher in me), so I found my old notes. Okay, I can see why I was asked this. As such, here is a run-down on nouns. What is a noun? Simply put, a noun is a word we give to a thing. Now, that should be simple, but going through my teaching notes, there are actually some types of noun that can confuse people. Still, if a word relates to a thing, not an action or a descriptor, then it is a noun. Unfortunately, what a “thing” is, that is where the confusion comes. Types of nouns Basically, there are 6 types of noun. (1) Common nouns These are the things that you can see, feel, touch, or hear. e.g. cat, dog, lamp, light, shadow (2) Proper nouns: The names of things, people or places. These always start with a capital letter. e.g. Jane, Adelaide, South Africa, Mount Everest, Mars, Melbourne This also includes titles – Mount Lofty, Mr Smith, Lord Snooty – and this is where some confusion comes in. A word is only a proper noun and takes a capital letter if it is the exact name of something. However, in UK English (not US nor Australian) a title of a peer or royal maintains its capital without being part of a name. We would say, “The king went to Oxford.” The UK would say, “The King went to Oxford.” There is confusion when it comes to the names of things like monsters. Is it a name or a type of monster? Does Gorgon have a capital ‘G’ and be a proper noun, when the individual Gorgons have names (Medusa, Stheno, Euryale)? There is no consensus on this. (3) Abstract nouns These are the things that you cannot see, feel or touch, but are still things. e.g. idea, thought, emotion, anger, sadness Months and days of the week are considered abstract nouns, and yet follow the dictates of the Proper Noun, having capital letters. I have read that these are considered Proper Abstract Nouns (and this can also include God in the Abrahamic context), but that is not recognised in many places. (4) Pronouns: Pronouns are the words that indicate a specific person or people or thing or things that are being referred to, though not by name. e.g. I, me, you, he, she, it, they, them, us, we Note that “I” referring to the person speaking, the narrator, etc., is a capital. This is a hold-over from Norse runes via Germanic words. It’s complicated, and we just accept it, nod and get on with our lives. (5) Collective nouns These are words that indicate a group of things. e.g. crowd (of people), pod (of whales), herd (of cows), troop (of kangaroos) These are often fun, and a full list of them reveals some weird ones. (6) Gerund verbs: The final group is where things get complicated. A Gerund verb is a verb where the “-ing” ending makes a verb into a noun. However, while a noun, it does can take not only adjectives but also adverbs as qualifiers. e.g. “I enjoy swimming.” ”I find shopping stressful.” We need to be careful that the word is actually used as a noun, and is not part of a verb. “I was swimming in the river last weekend.” This is a verb form. Generally, if there is a form of the verb “to be” involved, it is a verb, if not it is usually a noun. Yes, I know, complicated. Conclusion Being asked about nouns was intriguing to me, but looking back on my teaching notes, I can see why people are confused about it. Nouns are things, sure… but define what a “thing” is. So, I hope this helps! |
| Trends In Writing This is NOT a list of current writing trends because in six months it will be out of date. This looking at trends in general, writing to them, and selling them. First, a trend in writing is when people write the same sort of book. Think the rash of teenagers in a future dystopia trying to escape from/ overcome/ undermine the new overlords YA books that came out in the wake of The Hunger Games. We see them all the time, and they are not new. The slew of "lost world” styled novels that came out in the wake of Doyle’s The Lost World (1912) was lamented even back then. To show how good trends are, very few of the follow-ups remain in the public zeitgeist. Those that do = like Meyer’s Twilight, Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, etc. – often add a twist that does mark them out as different. Meyer took Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series and added teenaged angst, which can also be said to have taken Rice’s contemporary vampires and made them more overtly sexual; Riordan took Rowling’s Harry Potter series and focused on Greek mythology. Following a trend but making it their own. Next is: how long does a trend last? Answer: how long are the books selling? The vampire lover trend is still going, for example; the kid leading a space army trend died in only a few years. Should a writer join a trend? If you’re looking for a quick sale, maybe. But there are two things to realize: First, you will probably need to write and edit fast, because a trend may not be around long. This does explain why so many trend-chasing books are nowhere near as good as the originals – they were churned out quickly and with not enough care. And two, it does give a published author a reputation as just a hack – trend-chasing is seen as piggy-backing and not being original. This, by the way, is more the case for novels. While some see it as capitalizing (and I am in that boat) on what is popular, too many writers and especially publishers do not. A reputation as a chaser is hard to shake, apparently. When it comes to short stories, there will often be anthologies that will follow these trends. This is a means of getting better curated stories out there without the rush of a full-length novel. And often these anthologies will subvert the underlying trend. I appeared in an anthology in 2010 where the open call was, “Make vampires scary again. They don’t sparkle, they kill!” But it was advertised to appeal to the Twilight audience. Subversion can be fun! There is a publishing problem, however, that does make many writers feel they should follow a trend. I think at least half of the publishers I have submitted novels to in the past 15 years have asked a question along the lines of, “Name two other books your book is like.” Often they will have the word “recent” in there as well. So publishers don’t want to know, “What is your book like?” they want to know “What book is your book like?” Some have even asked, “What book or movie or TV series is your book like?” Now, I get that you need to have a built-in audience, but this does feel like it is pushing creative to be unoriginal. So, trends are there, always have been there, always will be there. As I mentioned, I have no problem in people following them, but on one condition: The writer is still writing what they want to write, and enjoy their own writing. While I have no doubt I could write a Twilight trend-chaser, I would not enjoy the process, and would only be doing it as a means of hopefully getting a publication. But I see writing as an art, and don’t like compromising myself. Others might feel different, and that is their right. I just don’t see it. It turns writing into a commodity – content creation – and not an art. In. My. Opinion. |
| Writing A Play This is an extension of a previous column, more detailed. Now, as far as writing plays goes, I have only written four. One was performed by a high school drama club (they liked it because of the number of characters), one my daughter has been pushing her school to produce (and which some people on WdC have read for me, a Shakespearean sequel, written in rhyming couplets), and two others. One I think is really good; the other is… not. I have also written a musical. Lyrics and story, some music, and have had some other music written for me. So… this leads to the question: What is it with plays? (TMSeinfeld) What is a play? A play is a piece of writing designed for performance on a stage. There are also radio plays, but they are called “radio plays” or “audio plays” and this does not include those. Screenplays are for film or TV, and are a beast all their own. This will include only live performance plays. Generally, there are three sorts of play – the sketch, the monologue and the play. A sketch is a short piece involving very few characters, with one act and one scene, minimal props, lasting a very short amount of time. The performance equivalent of a short story or vignette. May be performance only, no dialogue, but can include dialogue. A monologue is a play designed for one person. Normally one act, length is dependent upon what the writer and performer can do. Barry Humphries’ Sandy Stone character was used in some wonderful monologues that lasted a good hour. A play, on the other hand, is a full and complex story involving multiple characters, usually across multiple acts (though one act plays do exist) and usually with multiple scenes in each act. There is dialogue, maybe soliloquy, stage directions, maybe scenery directions. So play is a piece of literature designed for performance in front of a live audience. Why write a play? Good question! As a piece of writing, it is hard to say why an idea will work better as a play than as a novel or novella. Sometimes it is because a work is very dialogue-heavy, and the play is the perfect medium for that. In other cases, there might need to be some physical action that does not translate well to the page. In still others, it might feel like a way to reach a wider audience. But there is more to it than just writing a play because the idea lends itself to the medium of a stage. A play is a great way to practise writing dialogue so that it is meaningful, so that extraneous words and phrases are removed, so that it becomes natural sounding and not stilted. It is so very good for just getting the skills of writing the spoken word. A play is also really good for learning to develop character. The characters need to come through in their actions, interactions and reactions as well as what they say. Yes, this is also dependent on the actors, but the stage directions are vital in this. A play teaches how to tell a story with less. There are the confines of space, there are the restrictions of the passage of time, there are minimal props available –all of it means the writing has to be tighter, which can only help with other forms of writing. Just writing a play can help refine some of the aspects of writing which can meander and get out of control if writing prose. What does a play involve? There are a number of things you need. First, like every other piece of writing, you need a story. Something has to happen. Which story arc you use – 3-act, hero’s journey, whatever – it is still applicable when writing for the stage. Next, you need characters. A play, especially modern plays, should not include too many extraneous characters. A rule of thumb is no more than 5 main characters, no more than an additional 7 characters/ extras. That is 12 actors. Even that is pushing the envelope. Crowd scenes need to be done through means other than employing 20 people to stand on a stage. With modern AV equipment, a lot of this is easier, but not every theatre group is going to have access to such equipment, and so this needs to be taken into account. Then we have the scenes, where the action takes place. Using scenes more than once does reduce props needed; if you have 3 acts with 3 scenes and each is in a different place, that’s 9 different lots of props, each of which will need to be set up and moved, etc. Outdoors can be done, but vagaries of weather is also very difficult. This leads to props. A play as written should only mention the props that are vital to the action; the rest is generally left to the director to colour and populate each scene, based on what they have available to them, money, time, etc. In the end, the playwright is only one person involved in producing a play. A playwright is not the be-all and end-all. Putting on a play is a very collaborative exercise. It is important the writer realizes this. Writing the play Before writing a play, the playwright must do two things: read play scripts and go and see a number of different plays being performed live in a theatre. Everything from the local high school drama club to a full-on professional travelling performance. In the USA, there are the Broadway and off-Broadway productions – seeing these can help as well. Also watch and read plays from the classics (e.g. Shakespeare) to early twentieth century to later twentieth century to modern. That will give you a better idea of how things have developed and changed, and where to aim your writing. When writing a play, you will need to perform. Not in front of anyone (necessarily), but you will need to make sure what is being said and what is being done makes sense. I had a friend who was an actress and, much to my ex-wife’s amusement, we would perform the whole play with each of us taking on numerous roles. Until you have a lot of experience writing plays and seeing them performed, guessing how things are going to go is not a good thing to do. It will also give you an idea of how long the play will last. As to the actual minutiae of writing a play, that is entirely up to the writer. But two things to remember – being over-prescriptive in actions and props and scenery and everything will turn off producers and directors, and not allowing for changes to be made to suit companies and available resources will see you get a bad name in your performance community. These communities are small, they talk, and getting black-marked is never good. Formatting The format of a play script differs from country to country, company to company, the whole lot. However, there are three things that all hold true: Each new speaker is a new block of text, well separated from everything else. Each action is a new carriage return. This needs to be obvious. No justifying of text, either. Each new scene needs to be well separated, and each new act should be on a new page. Dialogue, stage directions and actions, and scenery all needs to be differentiated on the page. Some want the name of the character speaking above the dialogue, some want it next to the first word. Some want stage directions in all capitals, some don’t. Some want scenery in italics, some don’t. Some want a different font for dialogue, some want it bolded. My suggestion is write it in a way that makes sense to you, and be prepared to completely re-format the work depending on what your intended production company wants. Don’t be precious about how it looks! Conclusion I know that writing a play is not for everyone, but it can be a fun thing to do and try, even if just once. Like I said, it can help with other aspects of writing as well, and a diversion is always good to try. Good luck! |
| Process Of Editing I was asked by a friend to read over a flash fiction piece for a school project (she is an ESL student doing high school at age 37; kudos to her, I say). The prompts were: young adult or children audience, exactly 500 words, mystery or ghost story. Here is what she gave me: The house was a large one, built at the start of the nineteenth century by a family that had fled Prussia. It had remained in the same family for generations, until, local stories said, the Great Depression, when the family’s fortunes took a downturn. The people said that they stayed there, as they did own it, but it fell apart, with holes in the roof, broken windows and peeling paint making it look like a deserted place. That was how it was when the two girls went to it. Emily, who was fifteen with blonde hair, brown eyes and a cute nose, was the one who had been keen, while Katy, who was sixteen with mousy brown hair she wore in a pixie cut, blue eyes and a body that was a little bit overweight, had not been as eager. But Emily, as was usual, got her way. It was late at night. They went to the front door and Emily pushed it and it opened with a loud squeak that made the two girls jump. “I want to go home.” Katy whined. “It’s been empty for years.” Emily told her off. “I just want to look around.” “I still don’t like it.” Katy said. They went in and they walked down the hallways with echoes being made by their feet. It was eerie. Suddenly they heard a creak. “What was that?” Katy asked. “Just the building moving.” Emily said. “They settle.” It came again and Katy screamed a bit. “That’s not settling.” She whispered. “Maybe there’s a raccoon or something. It could of got stuck here.” Emily said. “Whose there?” asked a person with a soft voice. It sounded like a girl. “We have to go!” Katy screamed. “We’re just looking around.” Emily said. A girl’s head appeared in the doorway. She looked about the same age as Emily and Katy. She was the same height as them and was wearing old clothes and her long hair was not brushed properly. She had blue eyes and her body was really thin. “We live here.” The girl said. “I’m Emily. This is Katy.” Emily said. “Is your family here?” Emily asked. “Its just me and my mom. She’s asleep.” The girl said. “How long have you lived here?” Emily asked. “All my life.” The girl said. “I don’t remember you from school.” Katy said. “I am home-schooled.” She said. “Do you have any friends?” Emily asked. “No.” The girl said. “We can be your friends.” Katy said. “Really?” The girl said and she was excited. “Really.” Emily said. “Wow! Thank you!” The girl said and then she suddenly faded in front of them like she was made of mist. Emily and Katy ran out of the house. “But your my friends!” The girl called after them. Emily and Katy stopped. “Does it matter that she’s a ghost?” Emily asked. “I guess not.” Katy said. Katy and Emily went back to their new ghost friend and they had a good time. Now, she is a reader, and her oral English is very good, with just a hint of her accent. She has a good vocabulary, and is picking up punctuation and grammar well. Anyway, here is how I helped her: The house was a large one, built at the start of the nineteenth century by a family that had fled Prussia. It had remained in the same family for generations, until, local stories said, the Great Depression, when the family’s fortunes took a downturn. The people said that they stayed there, as they did own it, but it fell apart, with holes in the roof, broken windows and peeling paint making it look like a deserted place. That was how it was when the two girls went to it. Emily, who was fifteen with blonde hair, brown eyes and a cute nose, was the one who had been keen, while Katy, who was sixteen with mousy brown hair she wore in a pixie cut, blue eyes and a body that was a little bit overweight, had not been as eager. But Emily, as was usual, got her way. This is all an info dump. The descriptions of the girls mean nothing to the story, and the house history feels like it is just told. Make it more organic. Emily and Katy stopped at the bottom of the path, looking at the old house. In the murkiness of the early night, the peeling paintwork, shattered windows and holey roof made it look more like a derelict building than they had imagined. It was some distance out of their town, and they only went past it rarely when travelling with their families, and like this, it was beyond what they had expected. ”I don’t like this,” Katy whispered. ”It’s just an old house,” Emily said, laughing as she spoke. ”They say it’s haunted.” ”Come on. They say that about every old house.” ”But no-one knows what happened to the family!” Katy shook her head. “My dad says that a family came here from Prussia and built it like in the nineteenth century and they lived there forever but they lost it in the Great Depression. Dad says they stayed here and died because they couldn’t afford anything.” ”And my grandma says that’s all bunkum,” Emily countered. “They just moved out because they ran out of money.” Emily smiled, looking at her friend out of the corners of her eyes. “I’m going in. You can stay out here.” Katy sighed. She might have been a year older than her friend, but Emily always got her way. Like now.Note how I introduced the history in a conversation. It was late at night. They went to approached the front door and Emily pushed it. and iIt opened with a loud squeak, making that made the two girls jump. “I want to go home.,” Katy whined. “It’s been empty for years.,” Emily told her offcountered. “Come on, I just want to look around.” “I still don’t like it.,” Katy said.whispered, her voice trembling. They went in and they walked down the hallways with echoes being made by their feet. It was eerie. passive voice, wordy and then tell. They entered and made their way down the hallway, each step echoing in the empty shell of the building, making it seem like there were more than the two of them there. Katy grabbed Emily’s arm; Emily didn’t want to admit it, but having Katy so close made her feel better about being in here, in the darkness. Suddenly they heard a creak. A creak sounded from deeper in the house, surrounding them like a physical force. “What was that?” Katy asked, clutching Emily tighter. “Just the building moving.,” Emily said. “They settle.” It came again and Katy screamed a bitlet out a strangled scream. “That’s not settling.” S,” she whispered. “Maybe there’s a raccoon or something. It could ofhave got stuck here.,” Emily said, forcing herself to sound more confident than she felt. “Whose’s there?” asked a person with a soft voice. It sounded like a girl.they couldn’t see in a soft voice. “We have to go!” Katy screamed. Emily ignored her friend. “We’re just looking around.,”she Emily said.called into the darkness A girl’s head blue light appeared in the doorway, followed by the head of a girl about their mid-teen age with disheveled hair and a body that looked painfully thin.. She looked about the same age as Emily and Katy. She was the same height as them and was wearing old clothes and her long hair was not brushed properly. She had blue eyes and her body was really thin. “We live here.,” The girlshe said. Emily offered her a grin. “I’m Emily. This is Katy.,” Emilyshe said. “Is your family here?” Emily asked. “It’s just me and my mom. She’s asleep.,” Tthe girl saidreplied. “How long have you lived here?” Emily asked. “All my life.” The girl said. “I don’t remember you from school.,” Katy said, keeping hold of Emily’s arm. “I am home-schooled.” She said.The girl shrugged and gave them a sad smile. ”home-schooled” does not work with the final reveal “Do you have any friends?” Emily asked. “No.” The girl said.The girl shook her head. I don’t think she’d answer with words. But what a weird first question. Why not her name or something? “We can be your friends.,” Katy said. “Really?” The girl said and she wasappeared excited. “Really.,” Emily said. “Wow! Thank you!” Tthe girl said and then she suddenly faded in front of them, fading like she was made of mist, the blue light disappearing with her. Emily and Katy turned and ran out of the house. “But youryou’re my friends!” Tthe girl’s voice called after them. Emily and Katy stopped. “Does it matter that she’s a ghost?” Emily asked. “I guess not.,” Katy saidreplied. Katy and Emily went backreturned to their new ghost friend and they had a good time., not sure what was going to happen, but ready for a new adventure. Now, this is a quick edit I gave her – she gave me a whole hour to read it over! – and she took it and then added or took some more words to make the 500 hard word count. The things in italics are my notes for her. While this is a quick one, I think it does show the sorts of things editors can look for in a work. Now, I did 2 things wrong here. One, I rewrote the opening for her. I would normally not do that, but detail everything I thought was not working, and offer suggestions. However, she is a good friend, and she accepted it. Two, I added way too many extra phrases, and this relates to number one. If I do not know a person I am editing so much, I will not do that. However, I have shown this with my own editing no-nos included to give an example of how to (hopefully) make a work a little more readable for a reader. Improved? That is a matter of opinion. Anyway, I hope this helps someone. |
| Paragraphing In Fiction Another request from a WdCer. When do we use paragraphs? This is a very good question. I have seen a deal of poor paragraph usage in not only the writing on WdC, but also in other places, and even some books. A hundred-plus years ago, paragraphs were seen as optional, especially in the “new literature” school – Joseph Conrad eschewed them often – but readers quickly came to realise that it made work difficult to read. As such, there is a simple acronym to remember when looking at a new paragraph: TiP ToP. Time Place Topic Person Which means whenever there is a change in time, place, topic or person, then there is a new paragraph. Why use paragraphs is probably a good question to start with. Three reasons – to prevent confusion in the reader, to give the reader a mini-break, and to organise the information given. When writing an essay, I have already covered paragraphing here: "20240222 How To Write An Essay (In General)" . If I do say so myself, it is a nice and succinct overview of how to write a non-fiction essay (or fiction essay that you want to look formal and professional; you do you).So, when writing fiction, TiP ToP comes into play. Let’s look at these. A Time jump requires a new paragraph. Even if only a few seconds, it cannot stay in the same paragraph. Again, this is to prevent confusion in the reader. A change of Place into a new paragraph also prevents confusion, and allows for that natural mini-break to occur when telling a story. When taking into consideration Topic, this seems to be more for non-fiction, but in fiction can mean when the action changes. In simple terms, here's an example: driving in a car is one paragraph, getting out of the car is a different paragraph. These subtle little changes in what is happening, in the action, is a change in topic of what is happening in the story. The final one, a change in Person, is where a lot of paragraphing falls down. Every time a new person speaks, new paragraph. Every time a different person does something, new paragraph. Even if written in first person PoV (explained here: "20240121 Point Of View" ), when describing what one person is doing, then another, new paragraph.This then beggars the question:How long should a paragraph be? How long is a piece of string? A paragraph is as long as it needs to be, but making a paragraph too long is pushing the envelope. There will undoubtedly be a place where a longer paragraph can be split. The most common long paragraphs involve description; in this case when a new aspect is being described, change paragraphs. Having said that, capital-L Literature works can have paragraphs as long as two pages (or more). This is because of the dictates of the genre, and the expectations and understanding of the readers. Long paragraphs slow everything down and involve a lot more concentration. The same does not work, for example, in an action-adventure piece, where you want everything to be happening at a faster pace. Most genre works, in fact, need shorter paragraphs. How short? One word is fine. One sentence is perfectly acceptable. These really short paragraphs can highlight tension, add a sense of foreboding, that sort of thing. They can also be an effective way of introducing a narrative turning point. Long or short, it is what the work needs or warrants… so long as TiP ToP is followed. tl;dr: A new paragraph happens when there is a different time in the story, there is a different location, there is a new character, there is a new action, a different character speaks, and a new idea is introduced. Hope that helps someone! |
| Alternate History This is going to be a weird one, but I recently had an alternate history novel taken into third round of reading at a publisher. My story is set in 1770 when Captain Cook discovered Australia in British eyes… but another civilization had already taken Australia thousands of years earlier. With this on my mind, I thought I’d write about an oft-overlooked genre. 1. What is it? Alternate history is a form of either science fiction or fantasy (it does depend on how it is written) where something happens in the past different to the way we know it. One of the best-known examples is The Man In The High Castle by Philip K. Dick, which is a tale set in 1962 (which was when it was written) after the Axis Powers had won World War II. I know it has been made into a movie and TV series, and there is sort of travel to our world involved (my memory of the book is it involves a novel), but the main world is the focus of the story. The Axis winning WW2, or Germany winning WW1, or the Russian Revolution not happening, or the Confederacy winning the US Civil War are the most common themes in alternate history stories. They have become clichés… and have resulted in some interesting works. 2. What does it involve? Alternate history involves a lot of research. You have to not only understand the era where the timeline diverges in your story, but the effects that were put into place by those events happening. That last is really important, because the writer has to understand that things were going to be very different if any of the events happened. And the further back the events, the greater the effect on the present. A lot of steampunk can be considered alternate history, but good steampunk does take at least a passing knowledge of the way steam and clockwork machines operated at the end of the Victorian era, and how dirigibles and trains worked. For what it’s worth, future prognostication – as seen in much science fiction – is not a part of alternate history, despite some of the writers pushing for it. So, in my case, I had to research the different nations of Indigenous Australians, the technology available to the ancient invading race that takes over the country around 2000BCE, some 4000 years before the story, the geology of Australia, where the invaders would have landed based on water and ocean movements and the vegetation and water supplies pre-colonisation. I had more research material written out than I did book (which ended up at 90k+ words). But you do need to do your research well. People will know otherwise! The next step is the alternate histories that sell well are based around people in these worlds, not over-arching stories that read like a history book of events. Pick some characters and centre the action around them is always the best way to go. In comics, the What If…? series from Marvel and Elseworlds series from DC take their own stories and histories and do alternates for them. A female Captain America, Peter Parker saving Uncle Ben, the young Kal-El found by the Waynes in Gotham as an infant, Kal-El landing on Earth in the Middle Ages of Britain – all of these are amazing stories that use the fictional worlds to make other, alternate fictional worlds. 3. Works That Don’t Work So, this section could be contentious, but here are some alternate history stories that do not work, and why they do not work: * Yesterday (film, 2019): This film sees the lead character sent to an alternate world where there were no Beatles, as in the band. This means there is no Oasis as well. However, there is still rock and pop music like we have it today, including Ed Sheeran. But… the Beatles were not just a band that influenced Oasis. They enabled pop-rock to become mainstream. They affected Bob Dylan, who went electric, who invented folk-rock, and who led directly to Sheeran. They really made the stadium show a “thing”. They enabled experimental music to become mainstream, even harder rock. The story treats them just as a band of people who wrote some nifty songs; their impact on Western popular culture is so diminished, it might as well have been “what if The Honeycombs hadn’t existed?” (I don’t mind this film, FWIW, but the idea behind it always takes me out of the story.) * Bright (TV movie, 2017): This film is very much fantasy-minded, with elves, orcs and magic in a modern setting. But, in a world with orcs, who are looked down on, there are still Africans in America who were once slaves when orcs are portrayed as the repressed group, the Alamo happened, and the world is exactly as it is now, just with fantasy creatures that have been there with humans for thousands of years. That makes no sense; the change to history had no impact on our world at all. Ridiculous. ("MOVIE #2 – BRIGHT" )* December 7th, 1941: A Different Path by David L. Alley (1995): This book takes one basic conceit – that Japan decided to attack the USSR instead of the USA in World War 2 – and makes assumptions that do not make any sense. They defeat the USSR (yes), causing it to fall apart, then take over SE Asia before conquering and killing everyone in Australia with no resistance. This somehow makes the UK give up, the Germans get the atomic bomb and nuke NYC… it makes even less sense now. (Terrible book, but the writing was not horrible; I only read it after finishing my negative reviews, or else it might have made the list.) So, why highlight the negative? Because I think we can learn more from the mistakes of others than trying to pastiche copy the great works of the good examples. Speaking of which: 4. Works That Work The best alternate history stories stay in their timeline and do not look at how the world would change. One Upon A Time… In Hollywood (film, 2019) is a great example of this in film; my favourite trilogy – Harrison Harrison’s Eden trilogy – is another good one in this vein. Anyway, here are some of my favourites that do work, and why they work: * 11/22/63 by Stephen King (2011): A man gets a chance to go back in time and stop the assassination of JFK, and does so, but the world falls apart because of that decision. While the consequences of the outcome are not harped on, they are still there because it presents JFK surviving as not necessarily a great thing. Yes, the story is mainly focused on the man organizing himself to stop the assassination, but it is still a great tale. * Watchmen by Alan Moore (writer) (graphic novel, 1986-7): I am focusing on the graphic novel because it is more interesting. Superheroes are real, and their existence changes the world, especially Dr Manhattan, including having Nixon serve four terms as president and technology not advancing as much because the world doesn’t need to after Dr Manhattan basically wins the Vietnam War for the US. The consequences are logical, and the police state scenario, the way heroes are treated and all the rest makes sense. *1945 by Robert Conroy (2007): In this book, the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki do not stop the war; some Japanese generals, in desperation, kidnap Hirohito to stop him from signing the surrender, and basically continue the battles. A third atomic bomb is dropped, but the US people are getting upset because the US soldiers who were in Europe are not going home but are being sent to Japan, so more and more of them die. McArthur is killed. The USSR and China do not sign an agreement, so they are tense, and this means Korea is not split, and so there is no Korean War. Yes, consequences beyond just more US soldiers dying and the war continuing. Some well-done and well-thought-out scenarios in entertaining media forms. 5. Conclusion This is one of those genres that fluctuates in popularity, but it is in the process of going through a resurgence, so there are some markets opening up. Short stories more than novels at the moment, but they are there. One argument I have read is that any fictional story is an alternate history, and there is an element of that, I agree. But to take an event and change it to change the world is something that is an interesting generic diversion. Could be a fun thing for a writer to try. Hope I have piqued your interest! |
| 20240909 #2 Book Available? My son surprised me by sending me a link. I thought my first book was no longer available, but it seems Creative print - Amazon's old publishing arm - have taken it over and it is actually still available. If you are religious... then this humour book will offend you in all manner of different ways. There used to be a 1-star rating and review about the way it offended some American Christian, but all ratings/reviews have been removed. Still... my first book is still out there! |
| Monster Dictionary Update I have not been posting much in my blog lately because it seems I might finally - finally! - have finished the monster dictionary I have been working on for the past 15+ years. Yes, this started as something for me to collate the information I wanted for writing in one place, became a labour of love, and then devolved into a complete obsession. What it was was simple - I wanted to have the creatures and names of creatures from all folklores, legends and mythologies from around the world, nothing created for literature, and nothing from pop culture, with the original stories and myths and maybe some developments. Then I decided to separate a section at the end for cryptids, those creatures that could possibly exist, based on biological science, and that people do think exist. Then... then it grew. What I thought would be maybe a thousand animals and humanoids and gods which were not depicted as humans sort of grew. Almost 7 thousand names have now been collated for over 5 thousand beings. So, in February, this was where I stood, thinking I was close to the end:  Well, it is now September 9 as I type this, and after going through 2 books that added around 150 new creatures (!) to the list (mainly from Lapland, Finland, Australia and south-east Asia) and more words, we are now at:  You can see the pages, the word count, and it also shows I used 10-point Times New Roman font in two columns per page. Also, this is from near the end, showing I have included references, though there are no in-text citations. It's not an academic piece; it is something that should never have blown up quite like this... My list of names is at:  ,showing all names. 1360 of these names are alternate names or spellings of the various creatures, meaning we have 5617 individual creatures. AT THE MOMENT! Is it over? I hope so. But there will surely be a creature somewhere from sometime that I've missed. I have asked many people to give me ideas for monster I might have missed. This year, I have received a number of suggestions. Sorry, but no-one has found one I haven't got. Three quarters were beings I already had, and the rest were creatures from literature/pop culture, creatures from RPGs, or scarypasta/ SCP creations from online sources. The last books I have read (around 7 of them) were all written before the Internet corrupted and distorted what people think is the "reality" of these myths. Anyway, I am strange... and does anyone know a publisher who wants a 460-plus page book (before I even add the Index, which I will do once I am sure I have finished!) with over quarter of a million words? |
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