Where did all the Big Timelines go?

[Virginia Liberal]

Which is why I am never gonna write a timeline past the 18th century if I ever write one.The way how people quotes the exact amount of gunpowder produced by a particular state in civil war and 20th century timelines scares the shits out of me.

I have to say that that and some other issues kept me from posting a couple of timelines. I have had one going for a little over a year now or close to it. I don't up date all that often normally every month or so No one really ever gives much feed back but I keep plucking away at it. Here is the link https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/god-save-these-american-states.381215/ I also have a link below in my siginature. Feed back is always welcome.

As to research I do what I can but honestly with a wife, five kids a full time job, and attending Grad school online my life is busy.

 

[Valena]

Needing to do a lot more research, running out of narrative steam/other forms of writer's block, feeling the need to retcon certain things as they become more aware of the topic(s) they are studying, have any number of IRL issues come up, or even just losing interest for a while.

I had to actually rewrite earlier chapter in A&D once this function became available, due to becoming more aware of marriage law of PLC than when I first concieved the plotline, so that the thing looks more plausible.

ISOTs into fictional worlds are also nice mental exercise, which may SEEM less taxing that actual top class TL. Currently I am writing a Rupert of the Rhine into (book) 14-years old Viserys Targaryen mental ISOT (on fai.org.ru, I am unsure about English version since I doubt my skills about writing dramatic fiction in English and translation may come rather dry compared to orignial).

 

[PhilippeO]

what about self-publishing ? isn't some author here successful enough to get published. with cost of epub publishing so low some author might go to publish route ?

 

[Augenis]

what about self-publishing ? isn't some author here successful enough to get published. with cost of epub publishing so low some author might go to publish route ?

The TL format doesn't really fit for books, imo. That's why most popular AH books are novels with the alternate history as worldbuilding rather than the focus.

 

[Al-numbers]

Speaking from experience, writing a TL is easy but committing to it is very much otherwise. I've been stopping-and-starting on my own work since 2014, often leaving it for long periods due to studies, life issues, tiredness, and getting burned out from all the research. The idea of what would happen and why it happened is enticing, but not much to sustain. To those who have greater commitment than me, you people are amazing.

And since we're sharing timelines, here's the aforementioned work of mine: Of Rajahs and Hornbills: A Timeline of Brooke Sarawak

 

[GlobalHumanism]

Speaking from experience, writing a TL is easy but committing to it is very much otherwise. I've been stopping-and-starting on my own work since 2014, often leaving it for long periods due to studies, life issues, tiredness, and getting burned out from all the research. The idea of what would happen and why it happened is enticing, but not much to sustain. To those who have greater commitment than me, you people are amazing.

And since we're sharing timelines, here's the aforementioned work of mine: Of Rajahs and Hornbills: A Timeline of Brooke Sarawak

This by and large and the need to retcon at certain points sometimes can make the writer feel like Sisyphus, so to speak.

 

[John7755 يوحنا]

RIP, RobertP. Now there was a guy who could crank out absolutely gargantuan timelines. He definitely had a lot of passion for the hobby.

Unrelated, but there's also a major challenge that many timelines face: If they start too early on in history, then the timeline can quickly become so divergent from actual history that it is both hard to write and hard to related to. If they start too recently, then it is easy to become overwhelm with the sheer amount of available info.

The hardest point of this for me, is coming up with so many different names. Especially for the western world and Far East Asia, that I am not a great expert in.

 

[Deleted member 67076]

There's still a large number of 'big timelines' out there. The issue with writing so much is however 1) There are a ton of notes that need to be kept up and analyzed to make sure everything is internally consistent 2) there's more research that needs to be done and 3) real life tends to kick you in the ass after a while.

I've written down close to 100 pages for my own timeline, and every update seems to get harder because I need to look at each thread there is and make sure it all weaves back together, which isn't helped because, well real life .

Which is why I am never gonna write a timeline past the 18th century if I ever write one.The way how people quotes the exact amount of gunpowder produced by a particular state in civil war and 20th century timelines scares the shits out of me.

Thats why you should write only on subjects no one knows about, like East Africa or the Caribbean.

 

[Avrorrange]

Speaking from experience, writing a TL is easy but committing to it is very much otherwise. I've been stopping-and-starting on my own work since 2014, often leaving it for long periods due to studies, life issues, tiredness, and getting burned out from all the research. The idea of what would happen and why it happened is enticing, but not much to sustain. To those who have greater commitment than me, you people are amazing.

And since we're sharing timelines, here's the aforementioned work of mine: Of Rajahs and Hornbills: A Timeline of Brooke Sarawak

I agree.Even as a reader,there's a good number of ongoing timelines I've stopped reading precisely because once past a point of seeing the effects of a POD,it's gets less interesting overtime.

 

[Indicus]

Which is why I am never gonna write a timeline past the 18th century if I ever write one.The way how people quotes the exact amount of gunpowder produced by a particular state in civil war and 20th century timelines scares the shits out of me.

That's why I plan to write a TL on Mughal India.

 

[Sersor]

I stop my Massalia ATL because after 100+ years down the road, with lots of major PODs, it was really difficult to visuallise this "new world".
At the moment i am writing a new one and i am planning to have at least ten chapters ready before start posting it.

 

[Behemoth]

I've only read maybe a couple of big timelines during my relatively short time on the site. I'll avoid plugging in any of my ideas for TL's here but I can safely say that real life takes over sometimes. Also, some of these timelines appeal to a specific group of readers and the TL may not be on the front page that often.

 

[TheLordProtector]

The TL format doesn't really fit for books, imo. That's why most popular AH books are novels with the alternate history as worldbuilding rather than the focus.

Yeah, certainly. I've considered self-publishing too, but that was before I realized the proles out there want actual CHARACTERS, not historical narration. The curs!

 

[Geordie]

Over the past few years I've been noticing a steady decline of new timelines and/or authors in this sub-forum. I miss the old threads for timelines such as Look to the West, or The Tudor Rose or A More Personal Union, or For want of a Hammer, and other goodies from the past. I've been seeing quite a lack of new timelines from any of the eras before 1900 that I would be more than willing to help people work on. I feel like there are so many possibilities and ideas that could be thrown around to make some truly excellent timelines, and that such potential energy is not being used.

So what gives? Where has our energy gone and what can we do to get ourselves back on our feet again?

The most obvious answer to this:

Write one yourself.

Now, I'm not really in a position to talk, seeing as I've done nine years on this site and finished two short TLs and three vignettes, but really, if you want to see something, make it happen.

I also second the wise user who calls for us to make sure that the perfect does not become the enemy of the good. I have done that far too often. I am hoping to crank out an idea or two in the next few months, in order to keep that tendency at bay.

 

[Geordie]

The TL format doesn't really fit for books, imo. That's why most popular AH books are novels with the alternate history as worldbuilding rather than the focus.

I think that it depends.

To look at Sea Lion Press' output, Agent Lavender is a novel, where the characters are key. It owes just as much to spy capers and thrillers as it does to standard AH timelines. Dislocated to Success (adapted from Arose from out the Azure Main) comprises fictional memoirs, and is therefore a narrative account. Look to the West, Fight and be Right, A Greater Britain and the Lecternverse (Fourth and Fifth Lectern) are presented as excerpts from history books. The ratio of emphasis on characters to history changes between each of these, and, to be honest, within these books at various times.

But to say that there is not a market for timelines is demonstrably untrue. Several board members have literally found such a market.

 

[A Most Sovereign Lady]

May perhaps they just... finished?

 

[drewmcgunn]

I think that it depends.

To look at Sea Lion Press' output, Agent Lavender is a novel, where the characters are key. It owes just as much to spy capers and thrillers as it does to standard AH timelines. Dislocated to Success (adapted from Arose from out the Azure Main) comprises fictional memoirs, and is therefore a narrative account. Look to the West, Fight and be Right, A Greater Britain and the Lecternverse (Fourth and Fifth Lectern) are presented as excerpts from history books. The ratio of emphasis on characters to history changes between each of these, and, to be honest, within these books at various times.

But to say that there is not a market for timelines is demonstrably untrue. Several board members have literally found such a market.

I've looked at Sea Lion Press' output and they've culled some good strong narrative stories from some of the writers on these boards, but they're a little too narrowly focused in what they produce, IMO.

 

[Geordie]

I've looked at Sea Lion Press' output and they've culled some good strong narrative stories from some of the writers on these boards, but they're a little too narrowly focused in what they produce, IMO.

If you have recommendations, or a submission, I'm sure the people behind the Sea lion would appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Alex Zetsu]

I have to say that that and some other issues kept me from posting a couple of timelines. I have had one going for a little over a year now or close to it. I don't up date all that often normally every month or so No one really ever gives much feed back but I keep plucking away at it. I have a link below in my signature. Feed back is always welcome.

As to research I do what I can but honestly with a wife, five kids a full time job, and attending Grad school online my life is busy.

Have a POD 3 years before your pain POD and say that faction X stockpiled gunpowder?

Honestly, I'm a bit annoyed at the people that pluck away and complain a certain fact that a TL is wrong... but they don't give any feedback three weeks earlier in the stage it could have been fixed, especially when the OP asks about it

 

[drewmcgunn]

Yeah, certainly. I've considered self-publishing too, but that was before I realized the proles out there want actual CHARACTERS, not historical narration. The curs!

I've read tons of alt history on Amazon, some of it pretty good, and some of it... not so much. I'm in the process of taking my narrative timeline through the process of self publishing. The 2nd draft is over here.

My problem with posting my TL in the Pre-1900 is that the POD required the assistance of ASBs. While my story over in ASB is 60+ chapters long (over 100,000 words), I chose to take the story, which is really three distinct events and publish them separately. The kicker was writing characters that people actually cared about. When you do that, honestly, the narrative becomes as important as the historical research.

Oh, and something about self-publishing being cheap... that's true, but it's not free, not really. In order to achieve success, one has to have a kick-ass cover, a solid blurb on Amazon, a marketing strategy and solid editing.

One of my pet peeves, when reading indie Alt-history authors is shoddy editing. That's my .02 (published books, not Alt.hist.com Timelines.)