History SoYouWantTo / WriteASteampunkStory

The landscape of the poorer parts of the Western world has also been dealt with by authors like Emile Zola and Hector Malot in France, just like Arthur Conan Doyle in Britain - a [[RealityIsUnrealistic realistic]] steampunk work should portray accurately the difference between the luxury of the upper and middle-upper classes and the depressing industrial quarters -- and the darker side of British imperialism. What does steampunk look like from the point of view of a sugar plantation in the West Indies?

Perhaps the great steampunk technology doesn't end up changing the world and merely becomes a lost, undiscovered curiosity? Perhaps the consumption of wood and coal at such an accelerated rate hastens environmental catastrophe as people attempt to fix the planet with the very same steampunk that destroyed it? What if Victorian Britain isn't the [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory Politically Correct]] ThemeParkVersion, and instead the one where the fantastic Steampunk factories [[NoOSHACompliance are just as hazardous to the workers as other factories of the real Industrial Revolution]], London is a UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper-Era WretchedHive, and the [[EvilBrit British]] [[AristocratsAreEvil Monarchy]] blatantly [[TheEmpire uses its Steampunk technology to rule the world with an iron fist?]] What other kinds of Punk might you bring in -- UsefulNotes/LeonardoDaVinci's Clockpunk machines having permeated everyday life, or CattlePunk, heck why not try Bamboo Punk while you're at it?

Also dirt. [[TheDungAges A lot of it]]. The similarity of clothing and appearance of the Steam Age people to modernity makes us think of them as the [[CoolOldGuy old uncles and grandparents - only a bit wacky]]. The Steam Age was ''dirty''. Coal burning is smoky as Hell. Northern European climate is foggy, damp and muddy. [[TheSavageSouth Colonial climate]] is horribly hot for people who did not have air conditioning and [[WhatAnIdiot who insisted to wear thick wool clothes]] in the tropics. Formal clothing was expensive, hard to replace for people who were rather poor, but who needed to have [[ValuesDissonance an appropriate appearance]] and hard to wash by hand, so they were worn until they were torn away for good. Bathing was difficult and expensive in cities, nearly impossible in the wilderness. The weary, sweaty and dusty appearance [[CattlePunk of the cowboy and man of the West]] was the norm rather than the exception. [[Literature/AsianSaga James Clavell]], as a modern man, did not have the squeamishness of a 19th century author and [[{{Squick}} touched with great detail]] the dirt of everyday life in the 1840s and 1860s.

Perhaps the great steampunk technology doesn't end up changing the world and merely becomes a lost, undiscovered curiosity? Perhaps the consumption of wood and coal at such an accelerated rate hastens environmental catastrophe as people attempt to fix the planet with the very same steampunk that destroyed it? What if Victorian Britain isn't the [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory Politically Correct]] ThemeParkVersion, and instead the one where the fantastic Steampunk factories [[NoOSHACompliance are just as hazardous to the workers as other factories of the real Industrial Revolution]], London is a UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper-Era WretchedHive, and the [[EvilBrit British]] [[AristocratsAreEvil Monarchy]] blatantly [[TheEmpire uses its Steampunk technology to rule the world with an iron fist?]] What other kinds of Punk might you bring in -- Leonardo Da Vinci's Clockpunk machines having permeated everyday life, or Cattle Punk, Bamboo Punk?

You could avoid London altogether; it's really overused as a steampunk setting. Try the old US of A: you can mix pure steampunk Back East and CattlePunk Out West. Consider UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany with its rapidly growing industries and proud military tradition. Or, if you want to focus on the gritty aspects of your meat-grinding factories, or the clash between unrealistically high tech and an ignorant, semi-feudal society, try UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia and the beginning of the struggle of its workers and peasants for the Revolution. UsefulNotes/RedOctober itself, or your equivalent thereof, is a pretty good chance to mix and match themes of steampunk and [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalypse]]. Or, if you want an exotic setting outside of the West, try UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, which was in the midst of rapid modernization under Emperor Meiji after the Boshin War brought an end to the samurai-dominated feudal system.

The ''[[Film/WildWildWest Wild Wild West]]'' movie starring Creator/WillSmith and Creator/Kevin Kline had the potential for being a great steampunk film. Its giant spider mecha still remains visually impressive. However, the film squandered a lot of its opportunity for Franchise/JamesBond-style action-adventure in the 19th century for screwball comedy. Unfunny screwball comedy at that.

''Thief'' and ''Dishonored'' in particular are rather different takes on the whole esthetic altogether, all the more that they also cross over into the {{New Weird}} genre/style. The ''Thief'' series is set in a world reminescent of the late-medieval or early modern era, filled with lots of mysterious folk magic, where the industrial revolution also arrived early thanks to church influence. Despite how incongruous these setting elements might sound at first hearing, the developers actually took [[ShownTheirWork great care]] to integrate the alternate technological developments into the fantasy setting's society in a convincing way. Even one that is [[AmbiguousTimePeriod deliberately timeless]] (medieval-level technologies seamlessly coexisting with archaic takes on 18th and 19th century tech). Many rivalries and power plays between various technological and cultural factions, such as the Hammerites, Pagans, Mechanists, Keepers, city authorities, etc., occur in the setting. The series is also explicitly FantasticNoir, with the protagonist a snarky, but humane master thief, who has the mannerisms of a classic FilmNoir antihero. ''Dishonored'' chooses a similar approach to that of ''Thief'', but goes about it in its own way: The society might look quasi-Victorian at first glance, but culturally and religiously, they're an [[https://onelastsketch.wordpress.com/2017/10/21/interregnum-aesthetics/ odd blend]] of 17th century Cromwell-esque puritanism and a form of ''atheism'', they also have some Georgian era features in fashion and esthetics, and the main power source of the industrial advances is neither coal or (crude) oil, but ''whale oil'' - it's used to power everything from lamps (the original use) to firearms (instead of gunpowder) and even vehicles. ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_oil Not as daft]] as it might sound.) In the first game, the protagonist's tale of clearing his name and enacting vengeance also has a vibe reminescent of ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo''.

While ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' movie mostly suffers from comparison, the film shows many of the common pitfalls which might turn off fans. The treatment of RL locations, mixing up dates regarding when Historical Domain characters were supposed to have lived, and places it swerved from the fiction it emanated hurt the narrative overall.

The [[Film/WildWildWest Wild Wild West]] movie starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline had the potential for being a great steampunk film. Its giant spider mecha still remains visually impressive. However, the film squandered a lot of its opportunity for James Bond-style actuon-adventure in the 19th century for screwball comedy. Unfunny screwball comedy at that.

Steampunk is also an aesthetic. Technology affects the world around us in great ways, and a world based on steampunk technologies would be quite different in terms of politics, attitudes, fashions, etc. You need to keep this in mind; your reader will not be convinced if you simply transplant modern society with a slightly steampunk makeover. Consider how things would be different. This particularly goes towards PoliticallyCorrectHistory; [[ValuesDissonance attitudes were quite different in the nineteenth century, and a society based on these attitudes would be unlikely to produce many people who thought exactly like a modern human being from a western nation in the early twenty-first century. If you do have someone with these attitudes in your story, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance at least suggest that their attitudes place them quite at odds with most of the people around them]].

Perhaps the great steampunk technology doesn't end up changing the world and merely becomes a lost, undiscovered curiosity? Perhaps the consumption of wood and coal at such an accelerated rate hastens environmental catastrophe as people attempt to fix the planet with the very same steampunk that destroyed it? What if the Victorian England isn't the [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory Politically Correct]] ThemeParkVersion, and instead the one where the fantastic Steampunk factories [[NoOSHACompliance are just as hazardous to the workers as other factories of the real Industrial Revolution]], London is a UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper-Era WretchedHive, and the [[EvilBrit British]] [[AristocratsAreEvil Monarchy]] blatantly [[TheEmpire uses its Steampunk technology to rule the world with an iron fist?]] What other kinds of Punk might you bring in -- Leonardo Da Vinci's Clockpunk machines having permeated everyday life, or Cattle Punk, Bamboo Punk?

Steampunk is also an aesthetic. Technology affects the world around us in great ways, and a world based on steampunk technologies would be quite different in terms of politics, attitudes, fashions, etc. You need to keep this in mind; your reader will not be convinced if you simply transplant modern society with a slightly steampunk makeover. Consider how things would be different. This particularly goes towards PoliticallyCorrectHistory; [[ValuesDissonance attitudes were quite different in the nineteenth century[[, and a society based on these attitudes would be unlikely to produce many people who thought exactly like a modern human being from a western nation in the early twenty-first century. If you do have someone with these attitudes in your story, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance at least suggest that their attitudes place them quite at odds with most of the people around them]].

You could avoid London altogether; it's really overused as a steampunk setting. Try the old US of A: you can mix pure steampunk Back East and CattlePunk Out West. Consider UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany with its rapidly growing industries and proud military tradition. Or, if you want to focus on the gritty aspects of your meat-grinding factories, or the clash between unrealistically high tech and an ignorant, semi-feudal society, try Imperial Russia and the beginning of the struggle of its workers and peasants for the Revolution. UsefulNotes/RedOctober itself, or your equivalent thereof, is a pretty good chance to mix and match themes of steampunk and [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalypse]]. Or, if you want an exotic setting outside of the West, try UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, which was in the midst of rapid modernization under Emperor Meiji after the Boshin War brought an end to the samurai-dominated feudal system.

Also dirt. [[TheDungAges A lot of it]]. Similarity of clothing and appearance of the Steam Age people to modernity makes us think of them as the [[CoolOldGuy old uncles and grandparents - only a bit wacky]]. The Steam Age was ''dirty''. Coal burning is smoky as Hell. Northern European climate is foggy, damp and muddy. [[TheSavageSouth Colonial climate]] is horribly hot for people who did not have air conditioning and [[WhatAnIdiot who insisted to wear thick wool clothes]] in the tropics. Formal clothing was expensive, hard to replace for people who were rather poor, but who needed to have [[ValuesDissonance an appropriate appearance]] and hard to wash by hand, so they were worn until they were torn away for good. Bathing was difficult and expensive in cities, nearly impossible in the wilderness. The weary, sweaty and dusty appearance [[CattlePunk of the cowboy and man of the West]] was the norm rather than exception. [[Literature/AsianSaga James Clavell]], as a modern man, did not have the squeamishness of a 19th century author and [[{{Squick}} touched with great detail]] the dirt of everyday life in the 1840s and 1860s.

You could avoid London altogether; it's really overused as a steampunk setting. Try the old US of A: you can mix pure steampunk Back East and CattlePunk Out West. Consider UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany with its rapidly growing industries and proud military tradition. Or, if you want to focus on the gritty aspects of your meat-grinding factories, or the clash between unrealistically high tech and an ignorant, semi-feudal society, try Imperial Russia and the beginning of the struggle of its workers and peasants for the Revolution. UsefulNotes/RedOctober itself, or your equivalent thereof, is a pretty good chance to mix and match themes of steampunk and [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalypse]]. Or, if you want an exotic setting outside of Europe, try UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, which was in the midst of rapid modernization under Emperor Meiji after the Boshin War brought an end to the samurai-dominated feudal system.

You could avoid London altogether; it's really overused as a steampunk setting. Try the old US of A: you can mix pure steampunk Back East and CattlePunk Out West. Consider UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany with its rapidly growing industries and proud military tradition. Or, if you want to focus on the gritty aspects of your meat-grinding factories, or the clash between unrealistically high tech and an ignorant, semi-feudal society, try Imperial Russia and the beginning of the struggle of its workers and peasants for the Revolution. UsefulNotes/RedOctober itself, or your equivalent thereof, is a pretty good chance to mix and match themes of steampunk and [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalypse]]. Or if you want an exotic setting outside of Europe, try UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, which was in the midst of rapid modernization under Emperor Meiji after the old samurai-dominated feudal system was abolished in 1868.

What ho! You are no doubt here, good reader, because you have an interest in steampunk -- [[AlternateHistory alternate worlds]] dominated by mighty machines of steel and brass, powered by formidable steam engines forging adventures and empires the likes of which ''our'' world has never seen! A fine setting for [[ScienceFiction scientific romance]] and [[TwoFistedTales classic adventure throwbacks]], the steampunk genre offers writer and reader alike the chance to explore strange and exotic worlds and thrill to fantastic and unique adventures. If you would like contribute to this genre, then good reader, read on!

As noted above, consider the setting your story carefully; a story set [[AlternateHistory within the nineteenth century]] [[ShownTheirWork will need historical research]] in order to make sure that it is convincing and accurate. A story set in an world with simple [[ThemeParkVersion Victorian flavor]] or the use of a original world would not need such historical investigation (or any for that matter), but it still will need great heaps of information for World Building, from macro to micro. Steampunk is in many ways all about details and consistency.

Heroes of a Steampunk story might be a well-to-do, well-educated, respectable white man, in a top hat and tailcoat -- but even the Victorians were just as likely to turn that archetype on its head, as Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Frankenstein can attest. When re-exploring a lost era, why not look to the fringes of society -- unconventional women trying to hew their own path in life, racial minorities, come to London from the outskirts of Empire and facing prejudice as they win their fortunes; and you can't go wrong with a Dickensian HeartwarmingOrphan with a promising destiny. Creator/CharlesDickens immortalized a dirty, overcrowded London -- and such a city will produce all kinds of heroes.

Consider also how a reliance on steam technology rather than oil or gas would affect politics on a local, national and international scale. Are anti-technology Luddites still a problem? Does steam technology have a better or worse impact on the environment? Consider regions such as the Middle East -- because of the West's dependence on its oil supplies, it's a region of great global influence and, correspondingly, great global conflict and strife. Steam power, however, works just fine with any combustible fuel, and Europe and America have so much coal that Middle East oil can be dispensed with (apart from small amounts for lubrication). Where are the ''new'' political hotspots in your steampunk world?

You could avoid London altogether; it's really overused as a steampunk setting. Try the old US of A: you can mix pure steampunk Back East and CattlePunk Out West. Consider UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany with its rapidly growing industries and proud military tradition. Or, if you want to focus on the gritty aspects of your meat-grinding factories, or the clash between unrealistically high tech and an ignorant, semi-feudal society, try Imperial Russia and the beginning of the struggle of its workers and peasants for the Revolution. UsefulNotes/RedOctober itself, or your equivalent thereof, is a pretty good chance to mix and match themes of steampunk and [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalypse]].