One of the things you will often find yourself being asked as you put yourself out there as a writer is: “What do you write about?”
Great question!
One of my main pillars is…
History. The past has always been a source of fascination for me. You don’t have to go far back in time to start noticing changes that slowly turn the world you know and love into something more akin to an alternate reality. Just thirty years ago, people got by without things like the internet, google maps, amazon deliveries, (or even worse, without Substack!) Go back another one-hundred years and you lose cars, to be replaced instead by horses or a long walk. Another thousand and, for me as an Englishman, you may as well be roaming around in the real-life version of Westeros, minus the dragons and the undead spooky snowmen.
It’s no wonder that a great deal of my work leans into this love for history, but for me, it’s not just about being transported. It’s about how history ‘transcends’ time. It leaves a mark on the canvas of the present world, like innumerable brush strokes added by the hand of every person who ever perselled, every thought ever thunk, every moment of entropy that has ever entrooped. Everywhere you look, right now in this moment, is the story of artwork made from the paints of the past.
This theme, of history as a living, breathing presence that you can quite literally touch in the world around you, is an obsession. I love when objects, patterns, and people can bring to life a past that you yourself could never have experienced, but can in some way commune with.
I explored this literally in my story, “Wine, Wind, and Whipping Sails, part 001” which was inspired by a real 1799 Madeira wine bottle. I wasn’t just interested in the date; I was interested in what that bottle might have seen.
“The little old man encourages you to lean in closer, and as you do, you start to hear a different world emerging from the shelf. As if the world you currently inhabit is having the volume lowered and is being cross faded with an entirely different soundtrack... You get closer. You smell the sea. Suddenly, you’re there!”
It is also a major part of my two main serials.
‘The strings of us,’ and ‘Deciduous and Evergreen.’
But I am certainly not the only one charting this territory. This theme of the past echoing in the present is one of the most magical things about storytelling and I have already had the good fortune to stumble upon other authors who play with this idea.
Here are a few fiction, and non-fiction pieces from other writers on Substack that capture this feeling perfectly.
Five brilliant examples:
Where history, in a mystery, is implied through the found objects left behind.
The Flannan Isles Lighthouse: Morgan A.Drake
“Abandoned buildings where tragedy has struck always bear evidence of final moments—the overturned chair that tells of haste, the half-written letter that speaks of interrupted thoughts, the open door that suggests flight or pursuit. But Moore found something different in that December kitchen: order maintained until the very end. The kitchen had been tidied, pots and pans cleaned and stored in their proper places.”
Where history is brought to life through the presence of a remembered, and sometimes forgotten object.
4:44 Series: the edge of the rooftop: Asteria Geisterblum
“The scarf smelled like childhood—like crisp winter mornings and the faint tang of wood smoke. It smelled like evenings spent giggling on the couch with his younger brother, wrapped in blankets as they watched their favorite childhood movie for the hundredth time. It smelled like the fight they’d had over the last cookies, their voices loud and indignant. It smelled like the way to school, walking side by side, their breath visible in the cold air, their backpacks heavy with books as they took the forbidden shortcut across the fields by the silo. It smelled like their shared fear of the basement, the way they had challenged each other who could stand on the stairs leading to it the longest, staring down at the red light of the heater that glowed in the darkness like a single, unblinking eye.”
Where history is explored, not as a fixed storyline, but as something fluid, traversable, changeable. When history and the present blur.
The Flames of Redemption: A D’veen Tale: Bradley Ramsey
“No matter, that is not the story I have for you today. Today, you are going to remember what you did, and maybe, just maybe, find redemption for your tarnished soul.”
The surface of the sphere shattered into pieces that shot outward. Strange runes glowed on each of the metal shards as they slowly orbited a glowing ball of light in the center. It crackled and sparked as unfathomable energy coursed through it. Like a star, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.
“It’s time to remember, Sir Reinhart Brisbane. This is your story.”
Where history is subverted, and the past, as felt from the present, becomes the emotional heart of a story. (I have been careful to avoid spoilers here, because this short-story deserves to read from start to finish for the full emotional clincher)
A Time for Every Soul - Part 2: Gaby Brogan
On my way out, I spotted a little display next to the door. It was a glass case with a few ancient pots and pans from the region. In particular, a large-bellied metal pot. I walked over to it, heart beating fast, eyes filling with tears.
Where history is worn by people in the present as a way to symbolise their beliefs, their prestige, their worldview.
Stolen History, A Cai Williams Short Story: Sean Nordquist
“She would rather be buried in books in the library, or out in the field on a discovery site than interact with those kinds of people. If she was being honest, any people, really. One of the great things about ancient civilizations and cultures is that they never tried to seduce you or lie to you”.
So what have we learned?
History, as it’s felt in the present day, is as vast and deft as any fantasy book, and often informs the very best of the fantasy genre, even when the history is newly created by an author. History is a web that stretches backwards in time. Yes, history is non-repeatable, except perhaps within our imaginations, but it is felt through every strand that connects us. Even now, look out your window and catch the light from the sun, hear the sound of a passing car, feel the cool breeze on your face. Every event has its origin in the space left behind by time, and it all connects to you somehow.
Now, I’d love to hear from you.
I have shared five examples of how history can be explored in writing, through the medium of five fantastic authors whose work I have come to admire. But there are certainly more? How are you incorporating the past, as it’s felt in the present, into your next masterwork?
I’m fascinated to hear about your projects in the comments.
To kick things off, I am starting to look at an old TV show idea I had back when I was an animator. History returns to a young girl, not as an object or a memory, but as an animal. A crow specifically. More to come in the near future. ;)
This is amazing! I love how you explore the role of history as more than just past events. It's a living, evolving concept that has real ramifications on the present and future.
And of course, thank you so much for the shout-out! I loved that excerpt you chose from one of my D'veen Tales!