The Gentlemen Rankers: genre

Welcome

This blog is just to record my experience of writing a story. That is something I have wanted to do all my life. I guess it is now or never.

I am just doing it for fun. I do not really intend to publish it. Mind you, I shall give that a try if I ever get it finished :).

The blog is only intended for me to keep a diary of my thoughts and for some of my close friends, especially those at the Richmond Writers' Circle (bless them for their patience).

If you have found your way here by accident, comments are welcome - especially the kind ones.

If you are, like me, attempting to write your first novel, please share the ups and downs.

Friday, 2 March 2012

Steampunk - the art of Victorian Futurism - Jay Strongman

Knowing I am labouring over my story my delightful friend Sabine bought me "Steampunk - the art of Victorian Futurism" by Jay Strongman. I really enjoyed it but it did make me think. As a child I did read most of the antecedents of the Steampunk genre. And I did know that there was such a genre. I had NO IDEA though that it was so well developed and widespread. Y said I'd have to write fast to catch up. But what can I do to make more than a tiny addition to all the really clever things that have preceded me? I shall just have to plod on.

Saturday, 18 February 2012

Mash up

I conceived 'The Gentlemen Rankers' as a steampunk mash-up. Mash-ups seem to occur more often in steampunk than in most other genres. Mash-up means bringing together several characters from real life and / or works of fiction. An example is Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which brings together characters including Alan Quatermain (King Solomon's Mines) Mina Harker (Dracula), Dr Jeckle and Captain Nemo (20,000 leagues under the Sea). There are earlier examples such as in the works of Phillip Jose Farmer or even William Rushton's Dr WG Grace's Last Case.

What these offer an author such as myself are powerful memes (more about memes later) that can be deployed to intensify the thought streams within a story. n "The gentleman Rankers" most characters aside from the gentleman rankers themselves are real people or famous fictional characters. The derivation of the gentleman rankers themselves I'll discuss another time.