by Daniel Ottalini

Alternate History is one of the most interesting genres available to writers today. Yet, building a believable alternate history timeline to integrate into your own novel or novel series can be a chore in both research and delivery. If you’re not sure what alternate history is, you’re not alone! Alternate history is a branch of historical fiction & fantasy / science fiction writing. It explores what might have happened had certain specific historical events, figures or situations had existed or happened differently. 

Alternate history incorporates real history while also integrating a point of divergence. This key part is a specific place where the original timeline (OTL - also referred to as Our Time Line) has changed. Some popular current examples include Man in the High Castle, the Fallout Universe and the Last Of Us.

You’ll often find several common tropes linked into alternate history, such as the South winning the Civil War, a change in victor for WWI, WWII, the Cold War, etc.. But others exist as well. The assassination (or non assassination) of famous individuals such as Elvis or Abraham Lincoln, or a change in exploration or discovery by certain individuals (What if all our cars had been electric from their earliest invention?). This is how alternate history can be a wonderful introduction and change to a story.

For clarity’s sake, just retelling a story from a different person’s point of view (such as the Killer Angels series about the Civil War, or Band of Brothers) is simply historical fiction, even if the character is an author creation. To get true alternate history, you have to have a different outcome that impacts the timeline.

A Point of Divergence

So what about that point of divergence? All too often, authors feel like it has to be big. Big changes are easy to identify for the reader. But I would argue that smaller changes leading to bigger changes provide the reader with more to dig into. It also is much more believable.

In the universe of my series, the Steam Empire Chronicles, the Roman Empire still exists. The divergent point centers around the non-assassination of Julius Caesar, but like a branch on a tree growing in a different direction, that isn’t the primary focus of the series. The series focuses on the challenges to the empire in OTL around the 1850s. But that original change led to many others. Brutus turns in the conspirators rather than join them, as he was Caesar’s best friend. This allows Julius Caesar to avoid a civil war, triggering additional changes down the line. 

So if you’re planning on writing an alternate history novel or short story, you’ll have to decide on your point of divergence, but also on your novel’s focus. Is it on the ‘grand new historical narrative’ as it happens, or are your characters looking back on it in bits and pieces? This gives you more freedom as a writer.

You don’t have to explain every bit and piece of history that has happened since your point of divergence if you don’t want to. Sometimes, it’s just enough to live in that world later on and deal with the repercussions. Harry Turtledove & S.M. Stirling have written a multitude of alternate history series, some dealing with the immediate timeline around a point of divergence (What if all technology failed at this particular point & time) and afterward (How would Europe look if Charlemagne had been defeated some three hundred years ago?).

Including Real People

Another serious question to ask yourself is how will you incorporate OTL personalities? Are they major parts of the novel? Side players, or not included at all? Generally, the farther you get from a point of divergence, the fewer major players from our own timeline will be involved. The wonderful thing is they don’t have to be major parts. This is where doing your research really comes into play.

In my own novels, there are no famous historical figures at all, because the major point of divergence is nearly two thousand years before the events in the plot. Yet in Harry Harrison’s Stars & Stripes trilogy about an alternate history British involvement in the American civil war, all the major historical players take center stage for all three books. The biggest thing to consider here is simply ‘is what this famous person doing in this alternate timeline plausible?’. This depends on so many factors it's hard to list them all out, but consider this - what if Elvis had remained in the army rather than rejoin society? How would that have changed history? Seemingly minor, but potential, well, song changing!

So you’ve got your point of divergence, your main players, and your plot - now what? Well, you need to decide how three key areas may have changed (Or may be changing, if you’re writing about the point of divergence itself).

Geopolitical

First, geopolitical repercussions; do different leaders rise or fall? Do different countries exist because of this point of divergence? What if Montezuma’s young daughter and heir to the Aztec empire had converted but then led a revolution among his former subjects? Would we see an independent Mexico more quickly? How might a last minute series of stops in the rust belt have impacted Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the 2016 presidential election? In the Steam Empire Chronicles, the current emperor can trace his lineage back to Julius Caesar himself (or claims to), and while the Empire still exists, there are major ‘new world’ empires facing off against their sparse colonies in OTL North & South America. 

Economy & Technology

The second thing to consider is economy & technology. Some technologies are born from conflict. A world with less conflict tends to develop different technologies. My Romans have trains & airships but no guns because their legion model and steam powered war machines don’t need additional them. Adding gunpowder explosives to their artillery was considered risky enough. Large empires tend to stagnate, but new technologies can also lead to new economic opportunities & costs. These provide so many wonderful story options. You don’t have to explain how everything works, but the reasoning behind them - ‘Airships make it easier to travel among the far flung components of the empire’ can give you ideas about what might be prioritized. 

Society & Culture

Finally, society & culture are additional cornerstones of in-depth alternate history. Especially considering the change (or lack of change) in the economy & technology above, how is your society handling the changes? Many people don’t like a lot of change very quickly, leading to strikes, riots, and generally anger among the populace. If they have a voice in government, you’ll have political disagreements as well. If not, you’ll likely have a rebellion on your hands soon enough. Religion(s) is included in this, and can be a cornerstone of your story. It all depends on what you focus on in your storyline. 

A warning and a reminder though - just because good alternate history should touch on all these areas doesn’t mean you have to explore each one in depth! Unless you’re writing a history book of your alternate world, you won’t have the time or reasoning to touch base on everything. Better to leave it as small snippets of the story worked into your writing.

For example, I waited three books to barely touch base on how religion has changed in the empire. It wasn’t important in earlier books, so it didn’t need to have a focus! Show, don’t tell with your writing. It’s always fine to save some ‘holes’ in the writing for later. Alternate history thrives on the what ifs, and making them believable makes your story one for a new age. 

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About Daniel

Daniel Ottalini is the author of The Steam Empire Series, a fantastical Roman-Steampunk Alternate History story brought to life in his award-winning debut novel, Brass Legionnaire. Daniel has been an avid reader all his life, starting at the grand old age of three. As a young boy, his room was overflowing with books, trains, airplanes, and toy soldiers. Since publishing his first novel, Daniel has gone on to publish four more, Copper Centurion, Iron Tribune, Steel Praetorian and Laurel Emperor. In addition, he has published several novellas. He’s also branched out into writing up his Dungeons and Dragons Campaign ideas, characters, and story write-ups.

When not writing in his minuscule free time, Daniel is a full-time teacher. He lives in Maryland with a large supply of writing paper, plastic toy soldiers, and resource books and his wife.

Modern Papyrus - www.danielottalini.com

If you like what you’ve read, I encourage you to check out my own award winning Alternate History Series. You can get Legion Rising (Books 1-3 of the Steam Empire Chronicles) though Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and D2D (as well as all other platforms) and Shattered Crown (Books 4-5, plus the prequel The Last Gladiator) through Amazon, B&N and D2D as well. I also encourage you to come visit my blog and check out my Roleplaying Game (RPG) projects as well. I’ll be at the Maryland Renaissance Festival for a book signing on Labor Day Weekend if you’re in the Mid-Atlantic. Thanks so much for reading, and I look forward to your comments!

Top image by Deleyna via Midjourney.