Yes, steampunk has been done to death. Now: write something that proves me wrong! Please? My point is that EVERYTHING is dead unless someone breathes life into it. Write something new and powerful in any genre, and that genre lives on. You want to write steampunk? Write great steampunk!
Steampunk is starting to die I think, this year it's just exploded and now everyone is talking about it. Much to the horror and bemusement of people who have been with the genre essentially from the start (some of these people I know personally) and a lot of it has to do with things like the BioShock video games, often in complete ignorance of what is central to the genre. I myself was never an aficionado, but I can't help feel a similar ping of irritation and disgust whenever someone says the first BioShock game is Steampunk.
I like Steampunk Very Very much because of all the surreal inventions you can put in. how they move using their gears, you hear the nice sound of compressed air, its like a train and who doesn't love trains and have at least one good memory of a toy train that he got for Christmas
Don't you just hate when the masses get ahold of you beloved secret genre? Boom goes the vogue and people who had not clue one yesterday as to what Steampunk was are now sporting gear bespangled earrings and faux top hats. There's even a heavy does of Steampunk cues in the new SyFy show Defiance. And of course Warehouse 13 has bringing us Steampunk for some time now. The vogue will come and the vogue will go and those who loved when others thought they were dorks will remain true. I'm a lover of the genre. Spent last night creating brass pipe corner joints on GIMP for my Steampunk wallpaper. Hearing people say, "Just write it well and it won't matter," sounds eye-rollingly facile, but it's true. Pay attention more to your story than its getup and you'll be on the right road. A hot guy in Steampunk gear is still a hot guy if you put him in other gear... or no gear at all. P.S. My Scrivener icon...
I know! Bioshock was awesome, but it was not steampunk... more like a twisted 1950's americana vibe, but not steampunk... Bioshock Infinite takes more of a steampunk approach, but it still isn't all out steampunk. I think that Steampunk going main steam is a bad thing... But, there will always be those who are fascinated by it, (myself included) and those people will keep it alive. So, as others have said (and will say, and then will say again): Write it well and make it your own. Don't just copy everyone else, dig deep and come up with your own awesome ideas, and don't worry about whether the genre is done to death, or even what genre it is! Make it awesome, and make it your own!
Arguments over what constitutes part of a sub-genre are funny. A lot of people argue that the initial work that the term 'steampunk' was coined by KW Jeter to describe (namely, what he, James Blaylock, and Tim Powers were doing) aren't steampunk either. I agree that Bioshock is a bit far afield, though I can see why people put it in the same category based solely on how some of it looks. There's probably a wide divergence of viewpoints on what really qualifies as steampunk or not.
"Steampunk" has been around as a descriptor since the 1980s. The popularity of it has really increased over the last 4 or 5 years.
Everything is done to death. Your own take on it and your voice as a writer is what makes it unique. Every idea out there has already been used in some way or another. Once you realize that it's easier to let go and stop fretting over it.
I wouldn't say it's been done to death, admittedly I'm quite new to it but I am fascinated by it. I'd always loved steam trains when I was a kid as well as things involving cogs and gears, though admittedly I'd always take them apart in an attempt to find out how they worked but could never rebuild them. As for Bioshock, I wouldn't call it Steampunk.
