Where did all the Big Timelines go?

[Emperor-of-New-Zealand]

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

Maybe because they didn't start reading the timeline three weeks earlier? That seems kind of obvious.

As for myself, I will likely never attempt a timeline. I'll freely admit that I don't have the patience or the ability to commit to such a project. I do love to do research, but it tends to be sporadic and all over the place rather than with any particular focus. Having been here since 2009, I sometimes think I should have started a timeline by now, but my biggest fear would be starting something and it being really bad/uninteresting, or starting something and it being really good that people constantly badger me for more, which, frankly, would put me in the mindset of, "this is too much pressure, fuck it, hiatus time!"

 

[Emperor-of-New-Zealand]

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.)

I'm with you there, and I hesitate to criticise our own Sea Lion Press, but having just finished A Greater Britain on Kindle, I noticed the editor failed to differentiate between 'then' and 'than' basically the entire way through. While I was able to still enjoy the timeline, it was really quite jarring.

 

[Japhy]

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

Do you understand how writing and feedback work?

To go back to the OP, the issue is that the style has changed. Folks on the site like things to be more self contained Timelines with a beginning, a middle and an end and with a focus. Writers follow the taste. The dramatic world spanning timelines don't get the feedback for otherwise now.

 

[drewmcgunn]

I'm with you there, and I hesitate to criticise our own Sea Lion Press, but having just finished A Greater Britain on Kindle, I noticed the editor failed to differentiate between 'then' and 'than' basically the entire way through. While I was able to still enjoy the timeline, it was really quite jarring.

Not to derail the OPs topic about the dearth of long TLs on this sub-forum, but editing a self-published book can run anywhere from $200-$1000 US. A cool cover, anywhere from $100 to $500.

 

[Emperor-of-New-Zealand]

Not to derail the OPs topic about the dearth of long TLs on this sub-forum, but editing a self-published book can run anywhere from $200-$1000 US. A cool cover, anywhere from $100 to $500.

I must not understand what editing entails - I always assumed it was just re-reading what you've written line by line and fixing any faulty syntax or grammatical/spelling errors.

 

[DominusNovus]

I must not understand what editing entails - I always assumed it was just re-reading what you've written line by line and fixing any faulty syntax or grammatical/spelling errors.

Editing is best done by someone other than the author, and encompasses more than just grammar, but narrative mistakes, as well.

 

[Grouchio]

So the moral of the story here is to never try ambitious timeline projects because you will only fail in the end, is what I'm getting?

If that's the case, then how come Male Rising was successful in it's endeavor to rewrite history up to the present day?

 

[Geordie]

So the moral of the story here is to never try ambitious timeline projects because you will only fail in the end, is what I'm getting?

If that's the case, then how come Male Rising was successful in it's endeavor to rewrite history up to the present day?

No.

That's the exact opposite of the lesson you should be learning.

Try something, but don't put off writing anything because it might not be "your" Malé Rising. If you have an idea, and think it's got legs for more than a tliad, then write. What happens will happen. It may be your magnum opus, it may be a fun little thing that goes less than ten pages.

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" dies not mean that perfect is unattainable. It means that you should acknowledge that good is good, and celebrate that fact. It's certainly better than nothing, with vague promises of perfect at done stage in the future.

 

[Sevarics]

Because I have a real life and career that eat up most of my brainpower

 

[Virginia Liberal]

Some tls do make it all the way up to present day. It all just depends on what real life throws at the authur

 

[drewmcgunn]

I must not understand what editing entails - I always assumed it was just re-reading what you've written line by line and fixing any faulty syntax or grammatical/spelling errors.

I'm doing that now on my Forget the Alamo story. I'm catching quite a few of them, but the truth of the matter is that I'm too familiar with my story to catch all of the important errors, from typos, to passive verbs, to weak modifiers and the like. Oh, I've caught all (or nearly) the they're, there and their type errors, but I need a professional set of eyes to do a final text editing and proofreading. For my 56,000 word Book 1, I'm looking at around $220 to $250 US.

 

[Major Crimson]

Hate to be a disgusting hack but my pre-1900 TL (The Red Crowns, about the fictional ideology of Imperial Socialism, a first "World War" between France and Britain and much more!) has a pretty long scope in mind, so far it's only gone 1870-1900ish but there are plans all the way up to like 2020 and there are 15 chapters already. I think some of the massive, massive ones aren't there but there are still ambitious little projects like mine

I think as the site has created more and more subforums others have stolen a lot of the thunder of pre-1900. As others have said, people stick to ASB or Fandom whilst post-1900 has WWII (and a lesser extent WWI) to tide it over, as well as Anglo-American political stuff and the Cold War but they're now being hurt by every post-2008ish pod being in Chat so eh. I think the site has been divided up into more subforums which makes it more logical but also divides the community more starkly, leading to this.

 

[CeeJay]

[Blatant plug] I'm pretty comitted to seeing this here timeline through to (nearly) the present day. I find it helps to have a project in mind beyond just thinking up a timeline.

 

[Practical Lobster]

I'm still here as well. I'd say that Rise of the White Huns counts among this forum's long timelines. And it's not gone, just resting until my real life calms down.

Still, it is a great rarity for long timelines to reach completion. Most die before they reach that point, in my short experience. Might as well give it your best shot and have fun on the ride, right?

 

[SlyDessertFox]

Speaking from my own experience, my timelines die off/end up on long hiatuses because of laziness, competing visions for where I want to go with it, general dissatisfaction with my own writing, and plain losing interest in the topic. Which is why I've never managed to reach a point where I've made a timeline that counts as one of the forum's long ones.

 

[Mental_Wizard]

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?

Small it is now perhaps, but there is a massive TL just beginning. Blatant self-advertizing here, but it's true. Union of the Seas... see the thread says Eclipse. Note it says Volume I before every chapter. Volume II will come. Eclipse will end in a very long while, and then "Book II" will be started. It's gonna be huge.


As for a TL that isn't mine- @Joshuapooleanox 's Cesare Borgia TL isn't 500 pages per se but it's pretty detailed and long. An excellent read on par with the old classics for sure.

 

[The Undead Martyr]

It's easy to over/underestimate something like this. Obviously if one takes the time the board has been active other than the last year that rather larger period of time will have a lot more timelines in it. Similarly, if one discounts large timelines that you personally are not interested in/currently reading then that will remove quite a few currently active ones. The other issue is that often large timelines progress very slowly as they go on, as the author might have any number of problems including: 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. This does not mean that these TLs no longer exist, but they won't be on the front pages and thus will be much less visible. It's exceedingly rare for very high quality TLs to be pumped out in a year or two, the only example that comes to mind is Male Rising which IIRC took at most two years. I sometimes wonder if TLs would be better served being posted like a TV series, one big series of posts a year or so before going 'off air' until the next 'season' is ready.

Speaking for myself I would say that the biggest advantage is:
Kbow where you want to go, and enjoy the journey.

Having been a rough outline of events well in advance has a massive boost on your ability to actually write. Out a TL. Of course one should not be fully locked in to forcing timelines along an architectural script- be like GRRM and play the gardener. If you have a good idea along the way use it, even if it goes against what you originally had in mind.

In that regard is say yes and no t9 the above. On the one hand I prefer to keep something of a buffer- having a few updates ahead of time gives you the skeleton with which to develop the plot. OTOH there are benefits to getting active feedback and scrapping/rewriting future goals as the story evolves.

 

[Halocon]

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

Amen to that. RIP, How Far We'll Go. I may return someday...

 

[Neptune]

My timeline involves Habsburg Austria but I keep pausing for long periods because I can't speak German or Hungarian and sometimes feel that I'm incapable of rendering a century of European politics in writing. Also it feels pretty implausible sometimes. Also I'm not a very good writer.

 

[Thesaurus Rex]

Mine's not big! But AH takes a lot of research to write properly and I always get anxious when I do it because I don't want to get things wrong.

Mine's absolutely massive and I've been studying it off and on ever since it's inception...which was 4 years ago. From a practically 0% understanding of the subject. I've got a ways to go still.