Japanese Steampunk alternate universe

Japanese Steampunk alternate universe. subtitled how to peeve off your readers.


Just a random thought/ question::

Hypothetically::

If someone writes a novel about Japan- an alternate Japan - with steam punk ish air cars and hunts for gryphons. How important is it that this novel be true to the culture and language of the Japan in our reality?

Is it okay to miss-use the language and misplace the flora and fauna and perhaps even throw in some Chinese folk lore or characters from such into the mix?

Is it worth the risk of peeving off a few readers who are die-hard fans of everything authentically Japanese. Or should you tuck tail and perhaps write about the same stuff only transport it to some far off place like Barsoom.

In other words- when writing fiction how important is it to keep your facts straight? I’m not talking about internal facts in the novel I’m talking about external facts in reality. Reality:: which is not what they are writing about. This is fiction after all.

We all know the importance of making our science in science fiction sound intelligibly workable. But most of the time we know it’s not real. (off in the distance we hear a sharp and anguished, “It’s not?”)

But some parts need to be believable. Some of the character development has to make some sense but how much has to be verifiable and real when compared to this reality?

And if you’re going to use an alternate language (based on one which is real and the author may or may not be have some knowledge of) should you stick strictly to the rules that apply in our reality or can you bastardize it a bit? Keep in mind this is an alternate universe.

What is artistic license?

And when does a reader have the right to revoke the authors license?

Should we levy fines?

Just some thoughts begging Others thoughts.