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Category Archives: In Sight
Coin of the Realms (Part II)
The easy answer to ‘how do I capture information about various fictional geopolitical entities’ is to make a list. I like lists. This was my first draft:
Organization Name
Flag
Colors
Coin Name 1
Coin Name 2
Coin Name 3
Religion, Primary
Religion(s), Other
Language, Primary
Language(s), Other
State Nickname 1 State Nickname 2
Which in practice translated into a text doc full of entries like this:
I. GAELUS PACT
“The Old Republics”
“Greenies”FLAG: Green cross with nimbus on white background
COLORS: Green & white
MAJOR CITIES: Caer Denis, Caer Jule
ETHNIC MAKE-UP: PIKS (55%), JUARO (25%), NAHR (10%), KADDIM VADESH (5%)
PRIMARY CURRENCY: Gold lairds, silver gryffids, copper bittins
MAJOR RELIGION(S): Paganism, Way of the Three Sisters, Occult philosophy
And this is what I’ve relied upon during the drafting of WITCH and HEIST. Simplicity means I can dedicate more time to actually writing. But I’m not satisfied. I continue to experiment with maps, but the software I’ve discovered is either too primitive or prohibitively expensive. Which is a pity.
A well-done map fires my imagination like little else.
Quote
The goal of civilization is settled life and the achievement of luxury. But there is a limit which cannot be overstepped. When prosperity and luxury come to a people, they are followed by excessive consumption and extravagance. With that the human soul itself is undermined both in its worldly well-being and in its spiritual life.
— Ibn Khaldun
From Wyverns to Dragons to Worms
In the background of the Northern Arcadian novels is the threat of invasion from another world, from creatures I have variously dubbed ‘wyverns,’ ‘worms’ and ‘dragons.’ Today, though, the affair is settled, thanks to an extremely interesting (and dubious) article about a proto-language dubbed ‘Eurasiatic.’ The hypothesis is based mostly upon the discovery of multiple cognates (words that sound the same in different languages) for a core vocabulary that includes… ‘worm.’
If you’re trying to sell the notion that, once upon a time, all of mankind had a shared enemy in the great and terrible wyverns dragons worms, this is the kind of thing that makes your story stronger. (And also makes your day.)
Coin of the Realms (Part I)
In the earliest incarnation of WITCH I tried to avoid naming the currency, opting instead for ‘gold,’ ‘silver,’ and ‘copper.’ One of my first (and best) readers objected. ‘Too generic,’ he told me. ‘Call them pounds, francs or dollars, but call them something.’
I thought about what he’d said. I struggled to differentiate the word ‘franc’ from the history of the French peoples. Pounds, likewise, tilted my thoughts towards the United Kingdom. If I wanted to create a plausible new world, I realized, I needed to learn the history of currency.
Which, you know, thank heavens for wikipedia. But another problem nagged at me. How many different varieties of currency were in play in the American colonies in the 16th century? The British, Spanish, and French (to name just three) all had influence in the New World. I didn’t need to develop a single currency system; I needed three or four.
And I needed to preserve that information so I could refer to it later.
(to be continued.)
On the Role of Imaginative Fiction, etc, etc. (Part II)
I don’t suspect anyone would argue with the notion that one role of imaginative fiction is to provide readers with an opportunity to escape the everyday. Professors might sniff at escapist fiction, but there is good and not-so-good escapist stuff. The good stuff…
J.R.R. Tolkien famously crafted his own languages and myths. His chum C.S. Lewis cobbled together Narnia out of bits borrowed from hither, thither, and Christianity. Narnia fascinated me as a child but lost my interest long before Middle-Earth. I attribute that in part to more vividly drawn characters (with Eustace the principal exception in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.) Tolkien also offered a more disturbing villain and heroes without access to a (lionesque) deus ex machina.
He also offered a haunting vision of a utopia under threat. I’m not sure it’s fair to say good imaginative fiction is to required to present a vision of a world we think superior to our own. But that notion has never been far from my mind all these years I’ve been thinking about the world of Northern Arcadia.
The Fools Lecture Series, Vol II: Naming Names
In the manuscript for ‘Thief,’ a large fortified structure constructed by persons unknown is central to the events that unfold. The name for that structure that I’ve used the past year (‘the Spire’) never fit perfectly, and that minor failure itched like a half-healed sunburn. The itch needed to be addressed.
First, I searched for alternates to the noun ‘Spire.’ While I liked the evocative power of ‘Spire,’ I wanted something more tangible, descriptive and (of course) concrete.
All of these had the solidity I wanted, but no glamor. I tapped my pen against my mouth (terrible habit when you’re holding an uncapped Sharpie) and I came up with more options.
My interest was pricked by ‘needle.’ Vivid noun, but I felt like it needed an adjective or modifier of some sort. More scratching on paper with my Sharpie and I had another list.
‘Redemption’ refers to the Bay the former-Spire watches over, ‘Dominion’ the principal military power of the colonial period, and Vernus was the name I’d settled upon for the man who discovered the ‘Spire.’ Many of the place names we take for granted (Virginia, Jamestown, Columbia) honor individuals. ‘Vernus’ Needle’ didn’t exactly fall sweetly from the tongue, though. More tapping of my pen against my mouth. Sharpe’s Needle, now… that sounded better. Switching the name from ‘Vann van Vernus’ to ‘Sir Sydney Sharpe’ is easy enough, this early in the game.
And the itch I’d felt to revise that name vanished.
Magic (Every Now and Then)
I spend a lot my time (in my imagination) in a world where technology hasn’t advanced past the level enjoyed in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. I think maybe that exercise helps me retain some degree of appreciation for the magic we can wield in the contemporary world. And yeah, I think ‘magic’ is the right word. Consider:
Don’t get me started on the miracle that is contemporary plumbing.
The Fool’s Lecture Series, Vol I: Sense and Sensitivity
I mentioned in a previous post that one of my goals when doing a first-pass round of edits is to focus on appeals to all five senses. Done properly, the effect for the reader should be to make the story more pungent, vivid, and easier to imagine. I score two more benefits, though. I’m obliged to imagine the scene in fine detail in my own mind, and I’m also forced to confront some of the very different ways in which other people see the world.
For many people, I think meals are the (fanciful metaphor alert) hinges of the day, closing one segment of the day and swinging open another. Morning doesn’t begin without breakfast, lunch is a breath before the afternoon’s labor, and dinner heralds the calm before a night’s sleep. Food is a visceral pleasure. Food provides common ground for good conversation, and good food translates into better health.
None of that resonates with me. If I could pop a pill in the morning and have all my nutritional requirements met? I’d be content. I’m a rarity (not to say an oddity.) If I want to write fiction that appeals to people who aren’t like me, I think I’m obliged to see the world from different angles.
Or maybe that should be ‘I’m obliged to sample the different flavors of the world’?
Quote
“There’s no secret as to why science fiction and fantasy are popular: Reality is boring.” – ESTHER INGLIS-ARKELL via io9