Steampunk 101

The Victorian Era

Now, obviously, one of the most important parts of writing a steampunk novel is the Victorian setting: it's part of the very definition of steampunk. 

What is the Victorian Era, Anyway?

The Victorian era is a period of history that spans from 1837-1901. Now, why those dates? Well, that's because of where we get the name for the Victorian era: Queen Victoria, the British monarch at the time. Those years span from when her rule started to when she died. Though the Victorian Era is specifically in reference to British history, steampunks can take place anywhere in the world, as long as the setting is somewhere between the years of 1837-1901-ish. In fact, one of my favorite steampunks of all time (though it probably more resembles dieselpunk, which is like steampunk but during the world wars) is a bit of an alternate history that starts with the assassination of Duke Ferdinand, the event that started World War One.

Why Is This So Important?

It can be argued that steampunk is a sub-genre of historical fiction (depending on the sort you're writing, of course) so the time period is really, really important. However, unlike historical fiction, you're really pretty flexible with the time period. You can write a story based anywhere in the world, and as long as it has the feeling of the 19th century and some steam-powered technology, it will be classified as a steampunk. 

So, it's really important to get at least the feel of the time period right.

What is the Victorian Era All About?

As far as Britain is concerned, the Victorian Era was an era of peace: there weren't really any huge conflicts, and the empire really reached its high point during the Victorian era. The latter point of the Victorian era in western Europe, called belle epoque, was a golden age for the arts: Gaston Leroux's famous novel "Phantom of the Opera" was based on this time period. It was a time of technological advancement, romanticism, economic prosperity, all that good stuff. A lot of steampunks are written during the belle epoque period (albeit, usually in London instead of Paris) because of all the innovations that happened at the time. 

Of course, there was a... darker side to the Victorian Era. The civil war happened in America, which killed a crap ton of the population, Jack the Ripper murdered women in absolutely horrible ways in London, horrible diseases like typhoid and cholera hit in epidemic levels because of increases in population, the industrial revolution exploited the lower classes, people were all about ouija boards and stuff like that. Basically, the Victorian Era was like the weird, kind of cool, kind of demented baby of the Renaissance (when the arts exploded and technology advanced) and the dark ages (when everyone died of the plague). 

What Does That Have to Do With Steampunk?

This has a lot to do with the sorts of things you can include in your steampunk story. Maybe your book is a post-apocalyptic thing, so you use cholera to kill a good chunk of the population (which could have very well happened). Maybe you have a suffragette character (if you're at the tail-end of the era, of course), or maybe your character works in a mine and never sees the light of day, unless it's Sunday. Not only do you need to use the idealism and optimism of the period, but you need to have that dark underbelly filled with gruel-eating factory workers and typhoid epidemics. These are all elements that you really need to think about when creating the storyline and the characters of your steampunk novel. Where is it going to take place? What elements do I need to put into my book? These are the sorts of things you need to ask. 

But What if I Want to Write an American Steampunk?

Guess what? There's a whole special part of steampunk that's just for steampunks (and a few other genres) based in America: Weird West. Weird West refers to books that take place in the American west (think "Tombstone"), but adds a little twist to it: so, steampunks in the west, as well as ghost stories and other historically inaccurate versions of the American west would qualify as Weird West. So, instead of all those advancements in technology and bustling cities that you would do for your average steampunk, you would write it in a lawless land where it's every man for themselves and even the women can beat the crap out of you. What's an example of this, you might ask? Well, "Wild Wild West", of course! 

How Should I Research the Era for My Particular Steampunk?

The first question you need to ask is where your steampunk takes place. Why is that important, you may ask. Well, what was going on in remote villages in Imperial India, for example, was totally, completely different from what was going on in the high society of Paris. Once you decide on that, find some good resources and WRITE THEM DOWN. Seriously: I can't even tell you how many good sources I've lost just because I never wrote them down. Wikipedia is a good place to start, but use caution: anyone can edit those articles. Instead of just using the wikipedia article, scroll down to the references/further reading section of the article, and see what sort of sources it has. If it cites itself, then don't use that article. Check the websites, and see if they're okay. If they are, use those websites to do your research. Always have multiple sources: that way, you can find the consistencies and decide what sort of things are up for debate. After all that, you can pick and choose what sort of things you want to really focus on for your book, and you'll feel a lot more confident when you start writing that book. 

Well, that's what I've got on the Victorian Era. If you have any questions about the era, you can use your new researching skills to find the answer, or you can PM this account. I hope that this book has been helpful, so far. Be sure to tell me how helpful this was in the comments: this instructional thing is kind of a first for me...

Next time, we'll be talking about most people's favorite part of steampunk: the technology.