Today I've got a guest post from Christian Porter, whose debut novel, Shadow Precinct, has just been released by Aziza Publishing. Shadow Precinct is a wildly inventive tale, kind of a ninja murder mystery set in an alternate world where Japan, instead of bombing Pearl Harbor, sent an invasion of Kamikaze swordsmen.You can order the book in paperback form from Aziza publishing by visiting www.azizapublishing.com and clicking the "Shop Aziza" link. I've even got a coupon code for you to get an extra two bucks off: SPCP201209PROMO.
Now here's the author, to tell us about the process of creating an alternate history. Take it away, Christian:
I
have been asked over the course of writing my first novel what the hardest part
was. Honestly, I lost count of the hard
parts a long time ago. Am I writing a cool and engaging story? Will the reader be able to visualize the
events in their mind? Have I actually
written anything or have I been awake so long I am now hallucinating? There have been a lot of obstacles that I had
to overcome to make it to the finish line, many of those obstacles were
self-imposed. I had to become confident
enough and determined enough to see the story through from beginning to end,
but I also had to have a plan. I’d like
to provide some gems about the process that I used to create the fictional
history for my novel, Shadow Precinct.
When
I first had the idea for the story of Shadow Precinct, I knew immediately that
I wanted to incorporate real events into the history. There had to be a reason why the alternate
version of the United States that exists in the book became what it is. If you are creating an extensive history or
backstory for your story, I would suggest starting with an initial premise and
work backwards from that. For me, the
initial idea was: What would the US be
like if firearms were heavily restricted?
For you it may be: What was life
like before dragons? What was life like
before the zombie apocalypse? You get
the point. From this initial premise, I
had to consider the many events that would lead up to such an event to come to
pass. Of course, it wouldn’t be
something that happened overnight, there would have to be a substantial
snowball effect to create the particular set of circumstances. One of the most helpful ways to do this is to
establish a timeline.
Start
your timeline with the earliest major event that you want the reader to be aware
of. There are two things you should be aware of. One, you should always be sure anything you
add to the timeline eventually leads your world to the major event of your
premise. Two, try not to overdo it
here. You don’t want to inundate your
history with a bunch of pointless facts.
There’s a fine line between adding weight to the story to enhance
believability and drowning it in details that will hinder the reader’s
experience. Your timeline will become a
valuable tool in your writing arsenal going forward.
Lastly,
I know this may come as a bit of a shock, start writing. You have ideas about where you want your
story to go, now it’s about the getting there (the fun part). Fortunately, you have a handy timeline to
help guide you in your writing. Keep in
mind that the timeline is not concrete, it should be ever growing and changing
as your story does. As you come up with
new story elements, ask yourself how it fits into the continuity you’ve already
established. Sometimes, you’ll have to
rework some aspects to make sure everything fits as it should. It’s a back and forth process that I’ve found
to be immensely helpful in my writing, and hopefully it is in yours as
well.
Christian Porter is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C. He has had jobs as a programmer/designer in the video game industry, and most recently as a technology coordinator for a network of charter schools in New Orleans. He drew his inspiration for his debut novel from many different places: comic books and anime, old school kung-fu movies with awful voice dubbing, hip hop music with lots of curse words, action movies with awesome one-liners, and visionary science fiction films with awe-inspiring settings.
People can view concept art or contact him at his website: www.shadowprecinct.com
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