April 13, 2020 • 11 mins
What if the Nazis won World War 2? What if Albert Einstein was from China? Today, we get to talk about alternate history, a fantastic little niche of a genre, all about "What-if History."
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
What if the Nazis had won? What if Einstein had invented time travel? What if I had gone
(00:14):
to that party?
My name is Ken Mears.
And I'm Melissa Fales.
And you're welcome to Writer's World.
(00:47):
Ken, what is what if history?
What if history is basically one of two things. It's either one, a story that takes place
on an alternate earth where there was some change in the past led to a different present.
Or it is two, a storytelling that point of departure or POD. Some great examples with
(01:09):
what if history elements would include Amazon's The Man in the High Castle, Back to the Future,
and even to some degree, Netflix's Bright. In fact, there's a whole YouTube channel
out there called Alternate History Hub that has a ton of fun and intellectual what if
histories.
According to Wikipedia, quote, alternative history, which is this what if history we're
(01:32):
talking about, is a genre of speculation fiction consisting of stories in which one or more
historical event occurs differently. These stories usually contains what if scenarios
at critical points in history and present outcomes other than those in the historical
record, end quote.
Alternative history fiction, according to standoutbooks.com, is concerned with stories
(01:57):
stemming from real life. An alternate history story begins with a simple fact that differentiates
the world of the story from our own and goes on to detail the events that might have occurred
if this fact was true, end quote.
Basically, alternative history is one big what if, hence the what if history title and
(02:19):
your reasons why you say this is the what if. Ken, is there a difference between historical
fiction and alternative history fiction?
For sure. We've already kind of defined alternate history, so I'll talk about kind of what makes
historical fiction its own beast. Historical fiction is basically a story that takes place
(02:43):
in the past. For example, a while back, I released a short story called hunted, a revolutionary
short story. In that story, we follow a young man as he supports the Tories during the US
Revolutionary War. What makes this story historical fiction instead of alternate history fiction
is the fact that I have no major point of departure. I would consider a point of departure
(03:06):
or POD as a critical part of any alternative history story. A POD is the point in history
where there was a change with any real ramifications to the progress of history. If I had made
it so that in my short story, the young man ends up helping the British win the war, then
it would be considered an alternate history. But since this has made up characters and
(03:28):
his life has no real effect on the progress of history, it's considered historical fiction.
Now before we dive into how to write alternative history, we're going to have a quick break.
(03:50):
Now that hopefully everyone has a clear understanding of what alternative history is, we are going
to dive deeper into the basics of writing alternative history. Here are my top three
tips for writing alternative history. Number one, and this tip comes from masterclass,
to quote, focus on one specific change to historical events, end quote. Standout books.com
(04:15):
had a good point that quote, unlike science fiction and fiction writers, the alternative
history writer is not endeavoring to create a new world, but to imagine our own under
different circumstances, end quote. You can always say in one sentence what an alternative
history movie or book is about. So with this in mind, it leads to tip number two, do your
(04:42):
research. Just like a college student preparing their thesis statement paper, I would recommend
that the author know their angle and every possible angle of that event they're trying
to write about and back it up. And this leads to point three. Number three, be aware of
how much your audience knows and remember that they are still an audience. An audience
(05:09):
wants a storyline, they want engaging characters, and they want a story, not necessarily a thesis
statement paper. Ken, what would be the basics to writing alternative history?
When writing alternate history, you always need to start with a POD. Without a POD, it
(05:30):
isn't an alternate history. Once you've identified a POD, you need to do your research, as you've
already kind of mentioned. Trust me, the research will be worth it. Many alternate histories
get a lot of crap over having not done their research. The kinds of people who tend to
read books in this genre are often history nerds that really want an idea of what it
(05:50):
would look like if, say, the Nazis won World War I. Basically, know your stuff. You don't
want a modern gun in the 1600s or a missile in medieval Europe. Then you need to think
about how exactly it differed and figure out the major changes in the timeline. If technology
developed differently, that sort of thing. If something fun to consider is what if you
(06:14):
wrote in a bit of magic. You could have a lot of fun with having a POD be magic entering
the world, much like Netflix's Bright did. You're right. We're doing the necessary research.
You will never, ever regret. Before we continue on with this discussion, I thought it might
be fun to give a little history of this genre. People have been asking what if questions
(06:38):
for a long time, even in the context of, man, what would we have done if it had rained?
And so I found the history of this genre very interesting. This is according to Masterclass.
Quote, alternative history fiction took off in the 20th century. But literary scholars
often cite 1490s Torent L'Eau Blanche by Jonet Moratel as the first published work of alternate
(07:03):
history fiction. It imagines a world where the Turks were prevented from seizing Constantinople.
Tops of alternate history trickle in during the 19th century and early 20th century, but
a true bloom of the genre sparked during the Cold War era. Alternative history fiction
continues to thrive in the 21st century, particularly as films and television adaptations are created
(07:28):
from alternate history books. End quote. I thought this was super interesting because
not all book genres have a genre. But this one, I mean, have a history. And so this one
does, which I thought was interesting. Before we address our next question, we will have
a quick break. The next question we will be addressing is why would someone want to write
(08:01):
this type of literature? I think the most obvious reason someone might want to write
this type of literature is to say something. In The Freedom Factor, which is a great romantic
alternative history story, the author shows what would happen if the British won the American
Revolution. And the author says that it would have been a bad thing. I feel that reading
(08:26):
alternative history is reading an engaging creative paper where this is good because
X, Y, Z. Or this event could have happened differently because X, Y, Z. This is what
the event shows. These are my reasons. And as the author, this is what I'm trying to
show and say. That is the general history. And now I'm curious about your personal history,
(08:51):
Ken. You wanted to do this episode and I honestly hadn't thought of alternative history much
in writing at all. So Ken, what sparked your interest in the alternative history genre?
I have to say that I kind of sparked my own interest in it. I've always been a question
asker. And so what if things kind of always have fascinated me? When I found out that
(09:13):
there was an entire genre devoted to that question, well, quite simply put, it piqued
my interest. My interest got going when I wrote Hunted, even though it wasn't an actual
piece of alternate history. It falls fairly close. I found it exciting to get to tell
a story using real pieces, people, places, and things that really did exist. Is Hunted
(09:34):
on your blog? Yup. You can just find it right under the short story section of my website.
Awesome. So Ken, can you think of any reason why someone might want to write this type
of literature? I honestly think that anyone who loves history, even to a smaller degree,
would enjoy writing this form of literature. You may want to write alternate history because
you just love getting lost in history and research and want an excuse for that, which
(09:57):
I may sometimes be guilty of. The thing about alternate history is that it satisfies our
curiosity in a way nothing else can quite accomplish, especially when you're the one
writing it. So alternate history presents to us a whole realm of ways everything could
have gone differently, and it shows how small little things can change the course of human
(10:17):
history. And I inspired to write a what if history book now, but we hope today's episode
was helpful. If you like our podcast, please share it with your friends and family. For
sources and the transcript, visit writersworldpodcast.weebly.com. And our Instagram is at writersworldpodcastofficial.
(10:38):
There is no apostrophe. Our Patreon is patreon.com slash writersworldpodcast. And if you want
your questions, comments, random facts answered, our email is writersworldpodcast.gmail.com.
Until next time, I've been Ken Mears. And I've been Melissa Fales with Writers World.
And keep on writing.
What if the Nazis had won? What if Einstein had invented time travel? What if I had gone
(00:14):
to that party?
My name is Ken Mears.
And I'm Melissa Fales.
And you're welcome to Writer's World.
(00:47):
Ken, what is what if history?
What if history is basically one of two things. It's either one, a story that takes place
on an alternate earth where there was some change in the past led to a different present.
Or it is two, a storytelling that point of departure or POD. Some great examples with
(01:09):
what if history elements would include Amazon's The Man in the High Castle, Back to the Future,
and even to some degree, Netflix's Bright. In fact, there's a whole YouTube channel
out there called Alternate History Hub that has a ton of fun and intellectual what if
histories.
According to Wikipedia, quote, alternative history, which is this what if history we're
(01:32):
talking about, is a genre of speculation fiction consisting of stories in which one or more
historical event occurs differently. These stories usually contains what if scenarios
at critical points in history and present outcomes other than those in the historical
record, end quote.
Alternative history fiction, according to standoutbooks.com, is concerned with stories
(01:57):
stemming from real life. An alternate history story begins with a simple fact that differentiates
the world of the story from our own and goes on to detail the events that might have occurred
if this fact was true, end quote.
Basically, alternative history is one big what if, hence the what if history title and
(02:19):
your reasons why you say this is the what if. Ken, is there a difference between historical
fiction and alternative history fiction?
For sure. We've already kind of defined alternate history, so I'll talk about kind of what makes
historical fiction its own beast. Historical fiction is basically a story that takes place
(02:43):
in the past. For example, a while back, I released a short story called hunted, a revolutionary
short story. In that story, we follow a young man as he supports the Tories during the US
Revolutionary War. What makes this story historical fiction instead of alternate history fiction
is the fact that I have no major point of departure. I would consider a point of departure
(03:06):
or POD as a critical part of any alternative history story. A POD is the point in history
where there was a change with any real ramifications to the progress of history. If I had made
it so that in my short story, the young man ends up helping the British win the war, then
it would be considered an alternate history. But since this has made up characters and
(03:28):
his life has no real effect on the progress of history, it's considered historical fiction.
Now before we dive into how to write alternative history, we're going to have a quick break.
(03:50):
Now that hopefully everyone has a clear understanding of what alternative history is, we are going
to dive deeper into the basics of writing alternative history. Here are my top three
tips for writing alternative history. Number one, and this tip comes from masterclass,
to quote, focus on one specific change to historical events, end quote. Standout books.com
(04:15):
had a good point that quote, unlike science fiction and fiction writers, the alternative
history writer is not endeavoring to create a new world, but to imagine our own under
different circumstances, end quote. You can always say in one sentence what an alternative
history movie or book is about. So with this in mind, it leads to tip number two, do your
(04:42):
research. Just like a college student preparing their thesis statement paper, I would recommend
that the author know their angle and every possible angle of that event they're trying
to write about and back it up. And this leads to point three. Number three, be aware of
how much your audience knows and remember that they are still an audience. An audience
(05:09):
wants a storyline, they want engaging characters, and they want a story, not necessarily a thesis
statement paper. Ken, what would be the basics to writing alternative history?
When writing alternate history, you always need to start with a POD. Without a POD, it
(05:30):
isn't an alternate history. Once you've identified a POD, you need to do your research, as you've
already kind of mentioned. Trust me, the research will be worth it. Many alternate histories
get a lot of crap over having not done their research. The kinds of people who tend to
read books in this genre are often history nerds that really want an idea of what it
(05:50):
would look like if, say, the Nazis won World War I. Basically, know your stuff. You don't
want a modern gun in the 1600s or a missile in medieval Europe. Then you need to think
about how exactly it differed and figure out the major changes in the timeline. If technology
developed differently, that sort of thing. If something fun to consider is what if you
(06:14):
wrote in a bit of magic. You could have a lot of fun with having a POD be magic entering
the world, much like Netflix's Bright did. You're right. We're doing the necessary research.
You will never, ever regret. Before we continue on with this discussion, I thought it might
be fun to give a little history of this genre. People have been asking what if questions
(06:38):
for a long time, even in the context of, man, what would we have done if it had rained?
And so I found the history of this genre very interesting. This is according to Masterclass.
Quote, alternative history fiction took off in the 20th century. But literary scholars
often cite 1490s Torent L'Eau Blanche by Jonet Moratel as the first published work of alternate
(07:03):
history fiction. It imagines a world where the Turks were prevented from seizing Constantinople.
Tops of alternate history trickle in during the 19th century and early 20th century, but
a true bloom of the genre sparked during the Cold War era. Alternative history fiction
continues to thrive in the 21st century, particularly as films and television adaptations are created
(07:28):
from alternate history books. End quote. I thought this was super interesting because
not all book genres have a genre. But this one, I mean, have a history. And so this one
does, which I thought was interesting. Before we address our next question, we will have
a quick break. The next question we will be addressing is why would someone want to write
(08:01):
this type of literature? I think the most obvious reason someone might want to write
this type of literature is to say something. In The Freedom Factor, which is a great romantic
alternative history story, the author shows what would happen if the British won the American
Revolution. And the author says that it would have been a bad thing. I feel that reading
(08:26):
alternative history is reading an engaging creative paper where this is good because
X, Y, Z. Or this event could have happened differently because X, Y, Z. This is what
the event shows. These are my reasons. And as the author, this is what I'm trying to
show and say. That is the general history. And now I'm curious about your personal history,
(08:51):
Ken. You wanted to do this episode and I honestly hadn't thought of alternative history much
in writing at all. So Ken, what sparked your interest in the alternative history genre?
I have to say that I kind of sparked my own interest in it. I've always been a question
asker. And so what if things kind of always have fascinated me? When I found out that
(09:13):
there was an entire genre devoted to that question, well, quite simply put, it piqued
my interest. My interest got going when I wrote Hunted, even though it wasn't an actual
piece of alternate history. It falls fairly close. I found it exciting to get to tell
a story using real pieces, people, places, and things that really did exist. Is Hunted
(09:34):
on your blog? Yup. You can just find it right under the short story section of my website.
Awesome. So Ken, can you think of any reason why someone might want to write this type
of literature? I honestly think that anyone who loves history, even to a smaller degree,
would enjoy writing this form of literature. You may want to write alternate history because
you just love getting lost in history and research and want an excuse for that, which
(09:57):
I may sometimes be guilty of. The thing about alternate history is that it satisfies our
curiosity in a way nothing else can quite accomplish, especially when you're the one
writing it. So alternate history presents to us a whole realm of ways everything could
have gone differently, and it shows how small little things can change the course of human
(10:17):
history. And I inspired to write a what if history book now, but we hope today's episode
was helpful. If you like our podcast, please share it with your friends and family. For
sources and the transcript, visit writersworldpodcast.weebly.com. And our Instagram is at writersworldpodcastofficial.
(10:38):
There is no apostrophe. Our Patreon is patreon.com slash writersworldpodcast. And if you want
your questions, comments, random facts answered, our email is writersworldpodcast.gmail.com.
Until next time, I've been Ken Mears. And I've been Melissa Fales with Writers World.
And keep on writing.
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