I wanna have my novels and short stories be linked being set in a shared universe. The way I wanna do this is having a fictional state in the U.S. How what would be the best way to go about doing this? I'm considering making a "bible" for this fictional setting. Is that a good idea? If so then how would I go about writing one?
Just my opinion but I'd just write the first story or book for now. Planning out a series, extensive world building or research and etcetera are, to me, much easier than writing so it's too easy for me to get sidetracked with them. And I don't know how many times I've heard someone else's elaborate plans to create a multi-book universe then seen them not even finish the first book. Another reason is sales. People frequently say they don't care, their universe is their baby etc. But they often change their minds when no one is interested in publishing or buying their work. If that was the case for me, I'd start over with something else the next time, let alone write six or eight sequels to a book that didn't grab much interest. So, personally, I wouldn't omit the universe bible idea but would probably leave it for later. Maybe take notes for it along the way or drop in a noncommital reference to it in your first book, though. Good luck with your project, either way.
I'd just write the story set in a fictional state of the USA. And see what happens. You don't need a Bible. Just write it, and include the stuff you think the story needs to have. It will evolve. What is this state's name? At what point did it enter the Union? Is it made up of parts of other states, or Canada, or is the location totally fictional? Lies between the border of California and Oregon, or something like that? People can certainly get their head around a fictional place—if you get them oriented from the start. (The State of Aurelia entered the Union on 9 February, 1958. Ever since then it's been home to the Makepeacers and very few other people—because, despite their name, Makepeacers are a prickly bunch of so-and-sos if you get too close. They own large dogs, have burly sons, and collect weapons of all sizes and shapes. They smile a lot, but the smiles aren't the sort that make newcomers feel welcome.) What will be a lot harder to do is get your readers interested in reading a lengthy 'bible' prequel or add-on. And, as @Ma'am pointed out, that is a huge, potentially detrimental tangent for you. Just keep a record of what events and places and timeframes you include in your fictitious state as you write about it, so you don't lose track. I wouldn't make a huge construction project out of it ...a project that will eat up half your life. Just get writing, take notes, and you'll be fine.
If you are writing a series its a good idea to compile a 'bible' as you go but theres no need to do it on your first book I noticed on reviewing my dusty miller books so far that basher bache loses his right leg in a mine field in book 1 but by book 4 he's lost his left leg....oopsie
Thanks for the advice. It might not be but I think it could be a good way to develop my worldbuilding skills.
Others have already said what I would have said about series. As for a 51st state, are you doing this in a parallel reality? If not, annexing territories has fallen very much out of favor. You COULD extend statehood to Puerto Rico, but that really wouldn't be any different than choosing one of the existing fifty. Or you could have part of an existing state split off to form a new state, and the issues that led to that split could help define your new state as distinct from the state from which it seceded. But I'm really not sure what the fifty-first state buys you.
A whole 51st state? Where is it? That's a huge problem as even Americans are fairly well aware of what the country looks like. If you wanted to go all Harry Turtledove, I think Texas had or has the right to split into up to five different states. You could have a situation where the state of Houston or Crockett split after the Mexican-American war, or perhaps a free state carved itself off from the Confederacy in the same way West Virginia did in 1861. But geography is a very serious problem, perhaps a fictional city like Castle Rock or Gotham would be better?
The way people tend to deal with fictious african countries (dogs of war, fire force, wild geese etc) is to insert them between real ones and just accept that it doesnt exist and call that out in the back matter dogs of war was equitorial ginuea in everyway that matters - fireforce was zimbabwe in my book wild justice - "Meremba" sits between south sudan and the CAR If you apply that here you could say that your fictional state has i dunno my ammerican geography that well but say california to the west and nevada to the east
My advise? Add 2 states instead. It'a not gonna impact us sales that much. But for some reason A LOT of europeans especially were somewhat taught at one point or another us guys have 52 states. So a lot more people looking for 50vs52 states meaning your book would maybe pop up in discutions. Not a big niche. But hey. You don't need the other to be important to the story to be there. You know what i mean?
Don't know if this helps you, but I've maybe got a similar situation going in my romantic suspense series. Only I don't name the state. I leave the reader free to infer that it's in the middle tier of the American Midwest, anywhere between Missouri and Ohio, even though it has mountains in the south that are more like West Virginia or Arkansas. It's a state where sympathies were divided in the Civil War, the northern part being pro-Union and the southern end having strong Confederate sympathies, which is a lot like Missouri, but it isn't Missouri. And so on. I've given my nameless state a middling large city where the action begins, and named it based on words from Shawnee, the Native American language most prominent in that swath of the US in the 1800s. I've considered actual historical immigration patterns in the Midwest and endowed my characters with names and ethic backgrounds that reflect that. It seems to work, in general True, my invented geography might be a little awkward in that my protags have to say they attended "State U" instead of "Blank State University," but I'm trusting that my readers will buzz past that and not care. None of my beta or ARC readers questioned my setting, anyway. When and if I reach the point where anyone's going to the state capital, that might get interesting. But I'll jump off that bridge when I get to it.
One 51'st state that might work would be superior. The upper peninsula of michigan was going to become a state, but they voted not to. In another world it could be the 51st state
I dunno, the number of kids in Illinois and Michigan who just say they are going to/went to "State" is pretty high, I wouldn't bat an eye at that. Springfield! I dare you to find the Shawnee word that means "Springfield" and use it, it'll be a nice Easter egg for those who know or bother to look it up. <rushes off to Google> <comes back ten seconds later> I couldn't find one, but you have to do this! Pleeeeaaaaase?
Hee hee. Don't tempt me. My imaginary city is called "Wapatomekie," which is a corruption of the Shawnee words for "the white man's big camp." So something denoting a field with a spring in it should be a piece of cake.
Actually, some people along the coast of Canada in between Washington and Alaska always wanted to join. I'm pretty sure there was a Knowing Better video on it. I believe the original idea was to name more states after presidents like Jefferson. I think it was about 5 different times they tried to name a state Jefferson. You could do an alternate take from whichever point in history that was or if you want there was some talk of annexing the rest of Mexico after we got Texas or you could just designate one state just for native Americans because I do believe there was some talks for that or you could annex Puerto Rico. The best bet is to pick an idea that fits for the story you want to tell and then sort out a good time for that event to branch off from regular history.
The District of Columbia (D.C.) could be made into a fictional state for your story. It's already widely debated in the real world and it would make sense
I'm unclear on this. - Are you keeping existing geography intact? - Are you keeping existing past history intact? For example, if you're keeping geography intact but changing past history, you could declare that the Baja California Peninsula joined the United States at the same time that the Republic of Texas did. If you're keeping geography intact and past history intact, you could have the peninsula join the US in 2019. If you're changing geography and changing past history, you could make an existing part of the US extra bulbous and put a 51st state in the bulb.
Baja California is an excellent suggestion. It would make sense, geographically, wouldn't it? More sense than Alaska, actually. Or Hawaii. The climate and locale would mean it won't have a Midwestern vibe to it, but as a 51st state, it's a scenario I could envision. As @Merley pointed out, the state of Superior, now Michigan's upper peninsula, is another good choice. (As somebody who lived in Marquette and near the Soo for a while, I remember this option was actually considered.) Of course, like Baja California, the local climate and terrain would be an issue to consider. Both locations are a bit cut-off from the rest of the USA because they are border states, and because they are both peninsulas. And they both have fairly extreme climates to deal with.
Hey, ZoomerWriter. I'm an alternate history writer myself, and I've always liked doing worldbuilding for stories I write up, but.....it can be quite time-consuming, TBH, and you can run the risk of getting stuck-it's happened to me a few times. It's really up to you, though; it can be quite fun if you've got some ideas on hand and are actually able to type them down, as it were! Interesting point here..... Yeah, if you don't want to risk getting stuck, just writing up some basic background stuff might just be the best bet, if you absolutely can't resist making up a backstory. It's helped me, for sure. Funny thing is, Iain, an old idea I had going way back to my early days was splitting Texas in two.....and it's stuck with me ever since for multiple projects(none of them published, though.), believe it or not Interesting idea, too. In addition, I can think of a few other ideas, like some proposals which were actually considered, or at least brought up, in our universe, like the state of Jefferson(southwest Ore. & far northern California-have family in Grants Pass, Ore. so this idea has been of particular fascination to me for some time, I freely admit), Sequoyah, or Absaroka for example. Or, maybe even try an alternate state that could have been, say, carved out of the old South after the Civil War?
