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Oooooh. Steampunk is fun. I’ve written two steampunk novellas, plus I love the genre as a whole, so I’m happy to provide some words of wisdom on the topic.

Time period: Normally, steampunk is set in a world or era that resembles the Victorian Era, but with more steam, tech, magic, and corsets worn over dresses. (Side note: corsets were definitely not worn over dresses in the actual Victorian Era, or any other era except our own, no matter what people might want you to think.) However, you can have steampunk set in the future as long as you keep the general ideas and aesthetic.

Characteristics/Stereotypes: Again, it’s the Victorian Era but with more steam, tech, and magic. Think H.G. Wells (so I’m told; haven’t actually read his books) or Dickens but with sci-fi or fantasy elements. Clocks, gears, and airships abound. So do anachronistic gadgets, figures of speech, and concepts, but who cares about that? There’s a definite emphasis on science; the vast majority of steampunk books I’ve read have a hero or major character who’s either a scientist or inventor. (Mad scientists/inventors aren’t uncommon either.) Occasionally you’ll also get a book set in the Wild West, but again, there’ll be more gears, anachronistic or steam-powered weapons, and magic. Mechanical body parts, robots, and partial robots are fairly common as well. Characters will probably travel by hot-air balloon or airship at least once. (Airships probably refer to zeppelins, but occasionally you’ll have actual early airplanes as well.) Politicians are quite possibly corrupt (though that’s true of any books). You may or may not have plucky urchins somewhere around.

A note on magic: A lot of magic in steampunk books tends to be very scientific, even if it’s technically soft magic. That said, you could also write a super cool novel featuring the struggle between new progress/inventions and the Old Magic (fae, elves, brownies, etc.). Chime sort of does this, though it’s not truly steampunk; I’d love to see an actually-steampunk book do it.

A note on themes: A lot of steampunk that I’ve read focuses on the upper or middle class, the nobility and gentry and middle class, the privileged who can afford to spend all their time gallavanting after adventures and inventing magnificent and world-changing devices. If you want to set yourself apart, I suggest broadening the scope a bit. Look at the lower classes; see how they’re affected.

<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Recommendations in the Steampunk Genre:</span>

Books (Victorian Era — for the aesthetic, for character concepts, and for potential themes):
Charles Dickens
Sherlock Holmes
H.G. Wells

Books (Steampunk):
Entwined and Illusionarium by Heather Dixon
The Invisible Library and sequels by Genevieve Cogman
Magician’s Rivalry and sequels by H.L. Burke
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

Non-Book Stories:
The Dolls of New Albion (content warning: characters bring spirits back from dead, mostly with bad results. At least one gay character. One suicide. Still an excellent, though tragic, story.)
Blindsprings (webcomic; is unfortunately on hiatus and I don’t know when it’s coming back)

Music:
(links might take you to my personal steampunk playlist on YouTube; not 100% certain)
Steampunk Song Collection (lyrics)
London Town
Underground
Swords for Hire
The Copper War
The Depths Below
The Gunslinger
Impartial
Steam-Powered Orchestra
Council of Nobles

Hope this helps!