Alternate History, The Good

Continuing from Alternate History, The Bad. What might have happened if this post had not been written? I don't know, but it would have been pretty bad. Probably something about what I ate today. That would have been pretty lame...

What makes good Alternate History?

It's Epic, but It's Personal
There's a lot going on, but the reader can empathize with all the characters. Alternate History with historical figures as characters is like a mystery novel, the reader should be trying to figure out how this historical figure will react to this new situation before the author reveals it.

A well-written history book is interesting, because it's not just dates, but about people being people. Everybody who's a people empathizes with people. And all the history stuff will keep the sociopaths interested, so you're golden.

The Alternate History is just as interesting as the Real History
That is, it stands up as a story unto itself. If the reader has Done The Research, they should be able to See Your Work, but if the reader doesn't know Istanbul from Constantinople, they should still have a good time exploring the streets.

Unless you're writing an alternate history of the Civil War, because then you'd better not patronize them or they'll reenact burning you in effigy. Those guys are hardcore.

It Makes You Laugh
at least once. Richard Nixon as a gas station attendant. Ha!

It Makes You Think
Just like good historical fiction lets you empathize with The Past, alternate history lets you empathize with The Present. Like all good Speculative Fiction, it should also prepare you to empathize the Future.

Fin

Since it was a two-parter, I would be remiss if I didn't have a related video clip. From the other great game by the same company set in a somehow even softer Alternate History, I present to you the Greatest Cut-Scene of All Time.

"This is the Pentagon."


Short, and Sweeeeeet. Once again, those of you afflicted by nostalgia will be much more affected by the first appearance of Kane.

Anyways, that was my first primer on introducing a character.

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I drink a lot of caffeine, and I prefer to take it in the form of green tea. It has zero calories and is easy to make in large quantities so as not to disturb my writing.

It is also incredibly cheap if you don't get all picky.

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250 words? Yes
Short Story "Cosmast Rhyt"
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Reading - "Tai-Pan" (James Clavell)

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Bonus: Link

Alternate History, The Bad

I just finished writing a rather good alternate history short story ("Kritarchy"), so I'm in the mood to discuss the genre and why I like it. Also, how you and I can prepare ourselves to write it better. Part I!

There's nothing more embarrassing than bad alternate history. "What's bad Alternate History?" you may ask.

Mixing hard and soft alternate history.
Alternate History (AH) asks the question "What if X Happened?" & "What Happens Next?"
Hard AH focuses on the question "How could X have happened?"
Soft AH focuses on the question "Wouldn't it be cool if X happened?"

Both are fine, it's a range. But! if you posit a world where zeppelins rule the skies and sea and construct an alternate history out of the sequence of events and historical divergences it would have taken to make that happen, you've done Hard AH. If you posit the same world with the statement that "Religion banned mankind from going over [Zeppelin Top Speed] mph!" you've done Soft AH. If you don't bother to give a reason at all, you've written Steampunk. I suppose we could call that "History Opera".

Basing the whole plot on a single point of divergence.
Using the above example, even if the Hindenburg hadn't exploded, zeppelins wouldn't have been the primary means of air (and/or sea) power and transportation. It's not a binary conclusion.
(Rahul Kanakia continues along those lines over at Blotter Paper.)

Too much history, not enough people.
or Too many people know too much about history.

"It's a good thing we Spanish beat the English with our Armada in [year X], or the world would be a Different Place (Author nudge nudge Reader wink wink)! For instance, we might not be Space Papists in [year X+500]!"

Well, it's not always that egregious, but just because it's about history doesn't mean you should break Rule One: character is key. Think about the people you know (who aren't researching an Alternate History piece). Have they ever mentioned a historical date when talking about their day to day life or technology?

If it's Soft AH, feel free to include a "alternate history textbook" or an "alternate historian", though. That's traditional.

I'm going to cut it in half here. This post will be The Bad, tomorrow will be The Good.

This is the very first Alternate History to which I was ever exposed, and it simultaneously manages to achieve all the Bad features above and Be Awesome. Those of you who had a similarly squandered youth will feel my nostalgia, the rest of you will suffer and love it.

"I wonder if it will be raining"


One of my favorite video game openings.

That and "Guns of the South" (Harry Turtledove) were my gateway drug to Alternate History.

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In my alternate history, court women dress in funny clothes and wave fans coquettishly in front of their bad teeth.

Wait, that's just history.

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250 words? Yes
Short Story "Cosmast Rhyt"
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Reading - "Guns of the South" (Harry Turtledove)

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Batshit Insane Dreams

I'm a lucid dreamer, by nature, because I'm insane, and by practice, because such dreams inform my writing and I might as well gain something for lost sleep. Here's a typical night with dramatic pictures and tomfoolery. The dreams generally fall into four categories, but you can probably figure it out from the pictures, so I won't fool around with alliteration.

We're on the high seas roaring through space on a smuggling expedition to catch us a whale and then use it to start a nuclear chain reaction that'll destroy the system and rescue our parents from a fate worse than death: Living Without Hope. Following that, a light lunch on Adventure!

Features snappy dialogue and grand swashbuckling, boiled in a tragedy stew and filled with comic relief and asteroids. Good, but ephemeral, times are had.

Why, hello lady. Yes, you are indeed in rather a "squirrely situation". Let me chase the squirrels away. Shoo, shoo. Now, let's have a long talk about our plans for a future relationship while we share a chaste popcorn.

(Dammit subconscious! You do realize that in a dream a man can do whatever he wants.)

Certainly, but a gentleman never would.

(Gah! I hate you, me. This is the only part I star in!)

This is where it starts to get weird. Visions of grand projects, lectures on grand schemes, whole Q&A sessions. All of it presumably cobbled together by my vast reading.

Essentially narrated Power Point presentations, but in my dreams they're all well-rehearsed and to the point. That's how I can tell.

Then the heavy stuff rolls in, and this is why I bothered to practice lucid dreaming in the first place. If I'm going to suffer through it, I might as well remember it.

This is the part of the dream-cycle that seems to last forever, but it's also the part that's most vivid, most real. Whatever element of my imagination takes the most precedence arrives, often fully formed with characters and emotional backdrops.

It's not always sad, but it's always intense.

Wake up, write it all down. Craft some good stories, go back to sleep.

If I need a break: Drink.

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078 Interpwatate

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250 words? Yes
Project "Untitled"
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Reading - ?

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