Promoting Interdisciplinary Creativity in Steampunk Worldwide

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Goggles

Started this discussion. Last reply by dave bartram Apr 2. 8 Replies 2 Likes

I like the goggles thing. I have a pair. But why, in so many things, does almost every single character have to wear goggles? I mean, why? Surely you wear goggles 'cause you need them: for riding,…Continue

Writing like (the) Dickens

Started this discussion. Last reply by Ryan Black Sep 4, 2011. 9 Replies 0 Likes

I've heard several discussions around adopting a kind of pseudo-dickensian style and voice when writing steampunk. Some people hate it and some people think it's necessary. I think it can work if not…Continue

Hello

Started this discussion. Last reply by dave bartram Jul 18, 2011. 2 Replies 1 Like

Nice to be here. I've been writing Steampunk in the wilderness fro a long time. Great to find an oasis like this out here in the cyber desert. Looking forward to looking around.

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Philippa Jane Ballantine and dave bartram are now friends

Jun 1

Dan Kascak commented on dave bartram's blog post When is Steampunk not Steampunk?

"Is your story using Steampunk as a table spice, appetizer, or main course? Does it matter? Consider that many Sci-Fi movies cooked up in 50’s consisted of screaming, running, and shooting followed by a 30 second clip of a large insect climbing…"

Apr 8

Andrew Leo Hughes commented on dave bartram's blog post When is Steampunk not Steampunk?

"To borrow from the bard...The story's the thing."

Apr 6

Joseph Gatch commented on dave bartram's blog post When is Steampunk not Steampunk?

"I had recently read Hunt's Kingdom Beyond the Waves, which was touted as a steampunk adventure. Personally, it seemed more of a sci-fi novel than steampunk. Though it had many aspects of steampunk ie airships, automatons, and…"

Apr 3

Darke Conteur commented on dave bartram's blog post When is Steampunk not Steampunk?

"When I was at WFC on Toronto, they had a Steampunk panel and the one thing I took away from it, was how excited the panellists were to see the genre expand into new sub-genre's. That Steampunk itself, was a goblet that one would pour…"

Apr 3

Jeremy Brandon Murphy commented on dave bartram's blog post When is Steampunk not Steampunk?

"I am currently finishing the editing on a novel that spends about 60% of its content in a steam punk fantasy but the last half goes into very high tech. I wondered the same thing and wondered if it would irritate the SP community. I finally resolved…"

Apr 2

Jeremy Brandon Murphy liked dave bartram's blog post When is Steampunk not Steampunk?

Apr 2

dave bartram posted a blog post

When is Steampunk not Steampunk?

Stupid question? Possibly. Aren't genres easily defined? Sometimes. But what about when you are working in a genre and then there is other stuff in there that isn't part of the 'canon' and it goes beyond where that genre normally goes? What happens then? What would you do? You're reading a book and it's Steampunk - it says so on the jacket. And there is steam and airships and goggles and Victorians (or in this case the unreconstructed descendants of Victorians) in curious and challenging…See More

Apr 2

6 Comments 1 Like

dave bartram replied to dave bartram's discussion Goggles

"As do I! But excellent for frying bacon or cutting onions too."

Apr 2

Dan Kascak commented on dave bartram's blog post What is it with airships, anyhoo?

"A good read and essential for those who would use airships to deliver realistic fiction."

Mar 24

dave bartram commented on dave bartram's blog post What is it with airships, anyhoo?

"That Dan, is really the point - their shortcomings make for better narrative than almost anything else about them. Read Dr Eckener's Dream Machine if you haven't already - fascinating."

Mar 24

Erin Latimer replied to dave bartram's discussion Goggles

"None of my characters wear goggles unless they're about to drive or fly. I however, occasionally do for no reason whatsoever. :D"

Mar 17

Dan Kascak commented on dave bartram's blog post What is it with airships, anyhoo?

""... hard to control, easily affected by the weather, dangerous" and then some, a properly placed airship in a story can make an effective device for introducing chaos in a story. More complex than just sending in a man with a gun when the…"

Mar 17

dvsduncan commented on dave bartram's blog post What is it with airships, anyhoo?

"Please forgive me if I was overly defensive of my beloved airships. I only meant that familiarity with the aeroplane tends to colour the public view of airships. They seem quaint and cumbersome by comparison. Certainly the best know of these are the…"

Mar 16

dave bartram commented on dave bartram's blog post What is it with airships, anyhoo?

"Oh, I wasn't comparing then to anything, just commenting on what I was reading. Vulnerability to adverse weather seemed to be their greatest weakness, that, and the whole hydrogen thing. I think I said it somewhere that they you have to do…"

Mar 16

dvsduncan commented on dave bartram's blog post What is it with airships, anyhoo?

"I would agree that the early airships were ungainly creations with significant vulnerabilities and shortcomings. Having conceded that, I must point out that we tend to measure them against the abilities of heavier than air craft. That is not…"

Mar 10

Profile Information

Blog/website: http://www.litopia.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/davebartram

Introduce yourself!: Aspiring writer of steampunk fiction for the YA and adult markets. Sometime artist with a professional and personal interest in psychology.

What do you hope to find at The Steampunk Writers & Artists Guild?: a place where the pitfalls and possibilities of steampunk fiction and imagination can be discussed and explored

How did you hear about us?: twitter - @airship embassy

Dave bartram's Blog

When is Steampunk not Steampunk?

Posted on April 2, 2013 at 1:30am 6 Comments 1 Like

Stupid question? Possibly. Aren't genres easily defined? Sometimes. But what about when you are working in a genre and then there is other stuff in there that isn't part of the 'canon' and it goes beyond where that genre normally goes?

What happens then?

What would you do?

You're reading a book and it's Steampunk - it says so on the jacket. And there is steam and airships and goggles and Victorians (or in this case the unreconstructed descendants of Victorians) in curious and…

Continue

What is it with airships, anyhoo?

Posted on March 8, 2013 at 8:30am 9 Comments 0 Likes

I like airships. Steampunk loves airships. Many great writers have written them into their stories, even I’ve tried to write them in my stories. I think they have a great aesthetic and are a very cool concept, but I’ve been reading a lot about airships lately and now I’m not so sure..

I’m still half way through the excellent ‘Dr. Eckener’s Dream Machine’ by Douglas Botting – the fascinating account of the Graf Zeppelin’s famous circumnavigation, and that’s what got me thinking.…

Continue

Steampunk isn't as different as you think it is.

Posted on April 29, 2012 at 2:00pm 4 Comments 3 Likes

I've read a lot of steampunk fiction over the last few months and most of it, I am sorry to say, isn't very good. And there is, I think, a reason for this - the assumption that writing steampunk is somehow different from writing in other genres.

Much of it seems to work on the premise that if you shoehorn enough steampunk ephemera into a story it'll be a good steampunk story. I don't think this is quite right.

A good story will stand alone without the props and gewgaws. if…

Continue

Long time...

Posted on November 7, 2011 at 3:21pm 2 Comments 1 Like

I have written anything here for a good while. Sorry about that. Life and all that getting in the way a bit. That and the dreaded WIP. Three years I've been working on it. And I now have 23K words and a plan. Not much to show for three years, you cry. Well, maybe not. But behind those 23K of good words (not my appraisal btw.) lies a trail of I would guess 300K plus of dodgy ones written in about 40+ drafts of the first half of the WIP.

If I was a cricketer or played baseball I guess…

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Comment Wall (3 comments)

At 12:15am on July 15, 2011, Lia Keyes said…: Welcome to the Guild, Dave!

At 12:16am on July 15, 2011, Lia Keyes said…: Btw, if you want your twitter link to work, it needs to be written like this:

http://twitter.com/davebartram

:)

At 1:08pm on July 28, 2011, David Mark Brown said…: So sorry, Dave. It looks like you might have "liked" the post on accident, thus sending it to your Facebook profile. I promise I have not been spamming.