Creation Daily

[Elementalist he/him]

I'm having some difficulty with my first plotline for Noctiva, set in the Amadorian Empire. I feel like the technology level of the Empire is just too incongruous with the technology levels other nations were at during the same time period. If I was to write the book set in the Empire, then write a second book set in Kajhal 100 years later, it would feel like we were going back in time, or switching to an entirely new world, because even 100 years later Kajhal is still significantly less advanced than the Empire.

The problem is that for the storylines I have planned to work, the first book I write has to be the one set in the Empire. Additionally, one of the major plot points in the book is that the Empire's god-king, the Destroyer, really gets his power from a complex system of glyphic engineering. To properly forshadow this plot twist, I'd need to show off other examples of glyphic engineering earlier on in the book, and demonstrate that the Empire is an incredibly technologically advanced nation-state for its time. This makes sense in the timeline and history of the world, but I feel like it will create too much of a split when I write several other books set in other nations, which won't reach the same level of technology for several centuries.

Do you guys have any ideas as to how I could reconcile this difference?

[Edgedancer he/him]

I'm having some difficulty with my first plotline for Noctiva, set in the Amadorian Empire. I feel like the technology level of the Empire is just too incongruous with the technology levels other nations were at during the same time period. If I was to write the book set in the Empire, then write a second book set in Kajhal 100 years later, it would feel like we were going back in time, or switching to an entirely new world, because even 100 years later Kajhal is still significantly less advanced than the Empire.

The problem is that for the storylines I have planned to work, the first book I write has to be the one set in the Empire. Additionally, one of the major plot points in the book is that the Empire's god-king, the Destroyer, really gets his power from a complex system of glyphic engineering. To properly forshadow this plot twist, I'd need to show off other examples of glyphic engineering earlier on in the book, and demonstrate that the Empire is an incredibly technologically advanced nation-state for its time. This makes sense in the timeline and history of the world, but I feel like it will create too much of a split when I write several other books set in other nations, which won't reach the same level of technology for several centuries.

Do you guys have any ideas as to how I could reconcile this difference?

Have a character from the Empire travel to one of those less advanced places and have him note how much more advanced they are to make the difference clear very early on?

[Oversleep]

If Empire is isolationist or actively keeping their tech to themselves and are also geographically isolated, you can make it work.

[Elementalist he/him]

If Empire is isolationist or actively keeping their tech to themselves and are also geographically isolated, you can make it work.

The Empire is definitely isolationist and hoards its tech, but that's actually part of the problem. Because none of the other nations have the same level of technology, it's difficult to reconcile a story set in the Kajhal Baronies with one set in the Amadorian Empire. I worry the shift would cause too many problems for readers.

Have a character from the Empire travel to one of those less advanced places and have him note how much more advanced they are to make the difference clear very early on?

I'm not certain there's room in the plot to have any of my characters travel to another nation. However, what I could do is have a character start off in another nation for a couple of chapters before traveling back to the Empire. That would give me enough time to showcase the differences in enough detail that the next few books wouldn't seem totally off.

[Oversleep]

Ah, I misunderstood that the problem was a worldbuilding one. But it's storytelling one.

 

I'm thinking how to play around with the cliche of "meditation under waterfall". First off, how do you get a waterfall which nobody is going to disturb you at? What would be the purpose of doing it apart from being cool? It could be part of the training for water mages that they have to stop or even reverse the flow of the water... But that would be training. How to make the meditation make sense?

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

I’m currently working on an extremely money driven society, where the highest dozen or so officials are elected financially. Rather than everyone voting for their favorite candidate, the leaders are chosen by whoever makes the most money in a set period of time. It has to be ‘liquid’ money though. Land, items, resources and such don’t count. It also has to be net, not gross.

 

Candidates can get money in any way. Industry, trade, donations, warfare with other countries. (This is frowned upon, and usually ends with you not getting the throne, but it worked once.) The elected candidates do not get paid in their time in office though. They’re expected to live off of what they made while running the country.

I am not an economist. I’m sure there are obvious flaws with this system that I’m missing. Does anyone know if such a system would work? Why or why not?

[DreamEternal]

I'm thinking how to play around with the cliche of "meditation under waterfall". First off, how do you get a waterfall which nobody is going to disturb you at? What would be the purpose of doing it apart from being cool? It could be part of the training for water mages that they have to stop or even reverse the flow of the water... But that would be training. How to make the meditation make sense?

There are a decent amount of places around the world with many small waterfalls, some very hard to reach due to being in hills or mountains and often sorrounded by rainforest.

So if you are a somewhat mystical hermit-type, don't mind taking long treks in the woods, and like nature, why not meditate under one of those waterfalls once in a while?

In a setting with elemental magic, it may even help you learn to form a deeper connection to your chosen element, perhaps allowing you to feel through it instead of simply controlling it.

Edited May 7, 2016 by DreamEternal

[Zathoth]

I tried to start writing Skyverea again, but the beginning I have been planning is not working.

 

Riem sneaks in somewhere to steal some important document, guy is dead at his desk, building floods with guards, Riem is accused for murder and sent to be executed, but he flees, steals a ship and crashes somewhere. An epic adventure to find out who set him up starts... and blowing up gods, solving murders, outwitting an army of invisible dinosaurs and so on...

 

I just need to get the beginning down so I can get to all those awesome parts.

[Quiver he/him]

So I was talking to a guy, and one thing led to another, and, well.

Would anyone be interested in a short story about Archemedies, ancient Greek Mad Scientist?

[Coinshooter he/him]

I tried to start writing Skyverea again, but the beginning I have been planning is not working.

 

Riem sneaks in somewhere to steal some important document, guy is dead at his desk, building floods with guards, Riem is accused for murder and sent to be executed, but he flees, steals a ship and crashes somewhere. An epic adventure to find out who set him up starts... and blowing up gods, solving murders, outwitting an army of invisible dinosaurs and so on...

 

I just need to get the beginning down so I can get to all those awesome parts.

I find that writing those awesome parts - even though I haven't quite reached that point yet - helps me get the will to continue on in the not-so-interesting parts. It also helps me with character development, plot solidification (i.e. finding glaring plot holes), and it also helps in being more able to foreshadow future events in the story.

 

Another idea - perhaps you can try writing the story after Riem escapes and crashes the ship, and you reveal how he got to that point with Stormlight-esque flashback sequences or by dropping the details as time progresses?

[Zathoth]

I find that writing those awesome parts - even though I haven't quite reached that point yet - helps me get the will to continue on in the not-so-interesting parts. It also helps me with character development, plot solidification (i.e. finding glaring plot holes), and it also helps in being more able to foreshadow future events in the story.

 

Another idea - perhaps you can try writing the story after Riem escapes and crashes the ship, and you reveal how he got to that point with Stormlight-esque flashback sequences or by dropping the details as time progresses?

Yeah. I dont know, I just want to get the beginning down. I think I need to start earlier than I did, maybe. So it starts with Riem getting the job, some world building, job, capture.

 

I think I want to handle the characters past Cowboy Bebop style. Flashbacks are short glimpses, most of it is told though the present story and while you may be able to figure things out you never get any actual answers. I like that. Ambiguity, I like ambiguity.

[Oversleep]

Quick idea (IDK how to incorporate it into Soulsmiths, so I'm gonna leave it here or do something independent): all the magic/supernatural/weird/technobabble stuff activates precisely when the city lanterns are lit and ceases when they turned off. It can serve as explanation for Fear Of The Dark (a thing to consider: why is the city still lighting the lanterns at all? why not just go dark in the night?) and also creates a nice, cyclical mood. Also useful for suspense, as for example battle won't start until lanterns are lit.

 

How about Lanternlight? I was thinking about modern setting with electrical lamps, but I guess gas lamps and steampunk setting can also work.

[Lindel he/him]

I like the steam punk with gas lamps better, personally. Sounds pretty cool either way!

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Anyone working on ecology and evolutionary trajectories for multiple planets might want to check out this article:

http://gizmodo.com/our-solar-system-could-remain-habitable-long-after-eart-1772992239

[Quiver he/him]

Quick idea (IDK how to incorporate it into Soulsmiths, so I'm gonna leave it here or do something independent): all the magic/supernatural/weird/technobabble stuff activates precisely when the city lanterns are lit and ceases when they turned off. It can serve as explanation for Fear Of The Dark (a thing to consider: why is the city still lighting the lanterns at all? why not just go dark in the night?) and also creates a nice, cyclical mood. Also useful for suspense, as for example battle won't start until lanterns are lit.

 

How about Lanternlight? I was thinking about modern setting with electrical lamps, but I guess gas lamps and steampunk setting can also work.

 

I like steampunk aesthetics, so my vote for that is hardly impartial.

 

 

But why they light the lanterns... maybe it's a cultural precept? If we're talking about steampunk, well, there's a lot of social etiquette going on in Victorian England; it might be that not lighting the gaslamps simply isn't "the done thing".

 

Or... maybe they can't control the lights? Maybe the lights are controlled remotely by... something. They don't know or understand what, they just know that they can't actually turn them on or off themselves.

[DreamEternal]

Or... maybe they can't control the lights? Maybe the lights are controlled remotely by... something. They don't know or understand what, they just know that they can't actually turn them on or off themselves.

To add to this suggestion, maybe the lights can be eletric but the society that inhabits the city with them doesn't have eletricity.

[Oversleep]

The thing with gas lanterns is that you can't turn them on/off remotely. There is a man (called lamplighter) who goes around the city every dusk and lights every one of them up and then on the dawn does the opposite.

What inspired the idea for Lanternlight was how all the lights turn on at the same time, every single one of them in the whole city - in steampunk I have to have lamplighter.

Well, unless I find out how gas streetlights were ignited remotely (because wikipedia says that 'later designs were self-igniting').

 

BTW, if you search 'gas lighting' on wikipedia, the first picture showing the street lantern... is from my city. Yeah, in my city the Old Town has gas lamps. And we have lamplighters (I even saw one of them, twice!). How cool is that?

---------------

Anyway, I don't want the inhabitants of the city to rush home at the first sight of nightfall. I want the city to be always alive, no matter what time is it.
I don't want to have some Lovecraftian city lights system either.

On the other hand, I need the lights to be always lit at the dusk and not be messed with.

I need to think about it more. But I think it's cool. I'll keep thinking.

 

--------------
As for the Soulsmiths, today I had an idea for suicide mechanism. Well, not suicide. At least that's not what the mechanism is for.
You know the trope that in the hour of greatest need one of the heroes unleashes a lot of power but pays the price with their own life, because power destroys them? I think I know how to make it work. (hint: it shares some similarites with Allomantic savantism)

Edited May 17, 2016 by Oversleep

[Zathoth]

There are Lanternlighters (Strange creatures) going around lighting the lanterns, maybe.

 

Wait thats Lovecraftian...

[Quiver he/him]

I heard a word the other day, and it's made me start thinking: necropunk.

 

Like... the traditional Necromancer, but filtered through a perspective of it as an 80's-style alternative, punk rock subculture. or a society which is literally built upon the bones, bodies and labor of the dead... who might be dead, but aren't gone.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Finally found a book on the history of American policing that takes a more neutral tone. Anyway, I'm a ways into the early years of police, and I'm struck by how relatively recent police as we know them are. The first preventative police force wasn't seriously considered in the UK until 1815, and the same reform mindset didn't take effect in the US until the 1830s. And the earliest controversy to strike American policing? Whether or not officers should wear uniforms. 

 

Fascinating stuff. 

 

It's also pointing out the changes brought by the rapid urbanization that happened during the Industrial Revolution, and how those forces made American and British police so different. Seeing all of these changes is making me feel less timid about introducing even more radical changes into my own alternate timeline. I mean, if the Industrial Revolution led to a sharp increase in crime which led to police as we know it, then criminals with actual superpowers would drive even more unpredicted changes to society. 

Edited May 25, 2016 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Zathoth]

I heard a word the other day, and it's made me start thinking: necropunk.

 

Like... the traditional Necromancer, but filtered through a perspective of it as an 80's-style alternative, punk rock subculture. or a society which is literally built upon the bones, bodies and labor of the dead... who might be dead, but aren't gone.

Quiver, please, do something with your awesome ideas.

[Quiver he/him]

Quiver, please, do something with your awesome ideas.

 

I don't ever really feel like I have good ideas, though is the issue.

I admit, I kind of... spitball concepts or random thoughts. But developing them into fll fledged ideas...? I am significantly less good at that.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I'd already decided that, for the Spokane story, instead of focusing solely on Frank Sinatra (the most popular singer around that time period), I was going to showcase Lead Belly and Sister Rosetta Tharpe—two musicians who had a profound influence on modern rock. Kurt Cobain named him as an influence when covering "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" live. So tonight, I listened to the Lead Belly version, which led me to "Black Betty," which led me to this: 

 

 

I'll refrain from further comment so as not to detract from the awesomeness. 

Edited May 28, 2016 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[DreamEternal]

I heard a word the other day, and it's made me start thinking: necropunk.

Like... the traditional Necromancer, but filtered through a perspective of it as an 80's-style alternative, punk rock subculture. or a society which is literally built upon the bones, bodies and labor of the dead... who might be dead, but aren't gone.

I generally prefer really traditional necromancy: offerings of blood and wine to the dead to receive visions, invocations by the name of your ancestors to curse those who wronged you, weapons that are still bound to the ghost of their original wielders, ancient mausoleums where dead kings dream... not dancing skeletons and grey zombies that are so common nowadays, but eldrith, ancient and spiritual stuff.

Everyone has seem works about vampires and zombies, but IMO ghosts have much more potential, if you play their immateriality right. For exemple, I have a character that transcribed their mind and soul to a book, and who reads it is slowly warped and possessed. Another is the shadow of a saint bound to the chants of a group of monks, who take turns chanting so he doens't die.

Edited May 28, 2016 by DreamEternal

[Quiver he/him]

Hmm.

Fantasy tends to be martial based, when soldiers, wars and so forth. A lot of fantasy societies look down upon readers and the like.

They are criticised for doing so, yes...but still, a lot of fantasy societies follow the Medieval Chivalry and conception of Martial Honour.

Even in the Stormlight Archive, Alethekar - the primary viewpoint - is the nation of war. Scholars exist, obviously, and there are the Shin, but those are presented as alternatives, rather than the norm...

So what if a story was told primarily from their point of view? A society like the Shin, where warfare is regarded with the least esteem. Pacifist Fantasy, I suppose... Probably a lot more politics based. Might just be a short story about a Philosopher King or something...

Edited June 1, 2016 by Quiver