W/S: Alternative Universes Vs Multiple Universes

This week on Writing Supernaturals, I'd like to talk about Universes and how that relates to authors as well as readers of Supernatural/Paranormal fiction.

Now there are a lot of different types of Universes that authors of fiction create. For this post were gonna set aside historical and present day fiction, since those don't carry supernatural/paranormal elements and go straight to those that do.

First off we'll discuss Present Day Paranormal universes, which most people often associate with Suburban Fantasy.

 A well known example of this type of story is Charmed. It featured supernaturals, but for the most part took place in a time when humans were about as advanced as they are in real life.

Now another type of story that shares some similarities with this type of universe is the type of present day paranormal fiction where the paranormals have been "exposed" and so everyone knows they exist, although not necessarily in a way that accepts them. And example of this would be the Rachel Morgan Series by Kim Harrison.

This type of universe takes a bit more work in my opinion, since it requires that the author take into account not only changing the history of earth, but also changing the views of the human race. This can either go really well or really badly from a believability stand point.  Ie. how exactly do you keep the supernaturals from taking over the world, without making it so that the human race would have already killed them out of xenophobic fear?

I personally didn't think i had any series which took place in this type of universe and then i realized i did. For me this would be my Gate's Crossing, Heart, Matchmaker, Curses, Superheroes, Demon, and Therapy series. And as an author this type of universe normally takes only a bit of a historical rewrite as adverse to an actual from scratch world.  The reason i consider this to be the case is that while certain  elements of the universe are hidden I.E. the magical etc. People are well aware that there are superheroes.

 

Next we've got Fantasy universes. This is fiction for which the author creates a new world which has it;s own history involving the supernatural/paranormal. Lord of the rings would fall into this category, were as Narnia would fall into the category of present day paranormal since the main characters hail from England.

This type of universe plays by your rules. You can feature as many "out there" ideas as you want and although you don't necessarily have to explain them it's often a good idea to stay consistent in what you decide to do.
For me this would be my Omaria universe which is being featured in my Free Fiction Tuesdays posts.

~*~.

Now that we've gone over some basic universes, we run into a bit of an overlap a lot of the time. We have authors who write story where all different types of universe are rolled into one because different planets in the same universe have different rules. I personally think i'd have a hard time keeping things organized in my brain if i wrote a universe like that, which is true considering that my Gate's Crossing series has a large amount of fantasy world characters who pass under the radar, while also containing places where there are well known superheroes.

but say you're a writer and you want to write stories in all different types of supernatural genres?
The solution is one of two things.

Alternate realities/dimensions/universes or Multiple realities/dimensions/universes.

Alternate Universes are pretty common place. when you read a story and the Fey live on the "other side" of the veil? that's an alternate universe.

What I've done with my series is set them in alternate versions of earth, which the "gods" can travel between at will but aren't easily traversal by anyone else.
These would be:
 Earth (the Gate's Crossing series which share the majority of human history as we know it).
 Omaria (in which scientific advancement has stalled around the 1800's and for which history is completely different form earth is the culture given it's magic-centric focus.).
Terra ( which was scientifically-centric to the point of abandoning all forms of spiritual for the physical until they destroyed their planet and got busted back to the stone age. Apocalypse style.).

This way they are all connected to each other and really take place in One large META-UNIVERSE, cause that's what works for me.

Multiple Universes are also a route some people take. This is when you start a new series and it has nothing at all to do with the previous universe you worked in. Lot's of authors do this, especially if they get tired of working on a particular series's universe. They'll go in and start from scratch.
At this point in my writing because of the way I've created my universes, i wouldn't be comfortable going the multiple universes route. I've got enough on my plate with the meta-verse i've got, and even one universe has a lot of stories to tell.

Anywasy I wish everyone luck finding the type of universes that's right for them. Until next week.
Smooches