The Law of Averages: 6,000 words

So, I previously posted about my 10,000 word start on a novel.  Do I say much about it yet? No, I'll keep under wraps for now.  I was aiming for another 10,000 words in August but realised that if I'm setting the story in an alternate reality, I needed to spend some time on world creation and setting.

2,000 words later.  It's not much when you look at July's 10,000 but it's 2,000 words which will hopefully assist in production of the next 10,000.  I've outlined my ideas for another chapter and spent some time sketching out key aspects of the version of reality which provides the backdrop, and out of which the plot will develop.

One key aspect of the setting, and one which isn't covered in the OU handbook, is that of timeline.  Even if your narrative only covers a single day, you still need to place that day within the context of others, it does not occur in a vacuum.  I don't think I've fully settled on a convincing timeline of events.  There are various political events, historical events and a war which provide context to the setting.  That timeline won't necessarily be expounded upon within the story but I need to have a firm grasp on events gone before in order for the actual narrative to take shape.

There is an additional challenge in that creating an alternate reality, I am trying to graft that alternate reality onto real historical events.  Currently, I think my timeline is much longer than the one onto which I'm trying to graft my alternate reality.

There is research I need to do on the history of early computing and in particular, the Babbage machine.  As yet, I don't know whether I need this knowledge as part of the plot, it might just be for context and to assist in this alternate world-view.  Any recommended reading?

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