Alternate History
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- 4/6/2009 |
- 10:00 am
Some of the best fiction writing involves the art of taking a reader into an alternate reality, often because of some tweak in history. I happen to love this exercise, because it allows you - the author - to take liberties with real people and real events, and filter them through your own imagination. Let's explore...
Occasionally an author will pen a novel that asks "what if...?" For instance, what if Germany and Japan were victorious in World War II? Or what if Atlantis hadn't been destroyed thousands of years ago (assuming it really existed) and actually flourished into modern times? Or what if...
Your imagination could fill in endless blanks. The idea is to take an historical event and suppose that it turned out differently. Some authors make their living with this approach; Harry Turtledove is one such example.
Your exercise for this month is to write a quick two or three-page short story where history has changed. Things could turn out much worse, or they could turn out much better...but the idea is to let your creative juices flow, and unwind the story with a completely different ending.
In a way, this is almost an exercise in both historical writing and fiction, all wrapped into one. Mix in a dash of biography for a little more fun, too! Perhaps Lincoln wasn't assassinated at Ford's Theater; what else would he have accomplished? See what I mean?
As always, be sure to share your story with others!
