11 February 2014

Building a Steampunk World

It feels like ages since I've done any proper world building. I did so much of it for several years running, and then poof! Nadda. Just last month, that began to change. I love to read steampunk stories. I attended Steamcon V last October. These days, it is my favourite costuming genre to peruse online and find excuses to build. For a couple of years now, I've wanted to write my own steampunk story in my own steampunk world. My first attempts were with potential co-authors, but for varying reasons we simply couldn't get on the same page. (No pun intended.) Then I tried for months to work on an idea of my own, but the damned thing wants to come out as a movie script and that is just not something I can deal with right now. Plus, it has too many ambiguities even for me, and I am a classic example of a pantser. Now, at last, I'm in a groove. A writing groove, a world-building groove, a steampunky groove.

I've built the framework of the world and the general mores of two societies. I've done research that was more than just a string of increasingly unrelated distractions. I've presented a number of hurdles to my characters, and they are working hard to leap each of them in their arduous journey towards their HEA.

Now, if you'll excuse me, the two fine gentlemen talking at me inside my head would really appreciate having their story written down. I oughtn't keep them waiting.

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