Inspiration & World Building

This slice of books from my personal library comprises some of my inspiration and research materials for The Given (TG), the second book in the Seven Sovereigns series, the first being Lest It Come True (LICT).

(The book on the guards, pictured, is part of the inspiration for an as yet unnamed book in the series.)

I find the more research I do the more real my world becomes to me. While I research I write down bits and pieces of world mythology that fit the story. The key when I begin writing is to avoid the temptation to dump all of this information on the reader at once.

Withholding information about your world accomplishes several things:

• It keeps the reader from being overwhelmed with information that is seemingly irrelevant to current story events.
  
• It generates curiosity about aspects of your world that motivates the reader to keep reading.
• It gives you details to drop in at relevant points to add color and flavor to the narrative.
• It adds mystery that you can use to build suspense for the reader.
  

Some of my favorite masters of witholding and disseminating world information with timing and panache are J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter), Maria V. Snyder (Poison Study), and Karen Marie Moning (Darkfever).

Once you decide to reveal a tidbit of information it should be done with subtlety. After all, there is no sense in withholding information only to drop it in like a dry, scientific fact or a bullet point in a travel brochure.

One way to introduce background information is through the dialog. Have one character explain to another the meaning behind a certain totum or ritual, for instance.

Another method is to use action as a catalyst to description. The action sets a brisk pace that helps the background information slide down smoothly--sort of like Mary Poppins' "spoon full of sugar" method.

I'll end with the following example from LICT. This scene showcases a pivotal moment in the heroine's life (shown in flashback) while giving the reader a clearer idea of what the terms Shadow and Shadow Guard mean in the story.

Watching his strong shoulders and confident walk as he traveled before her, she remembered the hot summer day so many years ago when she had last seen his beautiful gray eyes.

They had been lying in the tall grasses beyond his family’s summer palace, face to face on their stomachs, legs kicking the air behind them.

So, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Want?

Sure! You’re going to be Sovereign. You can do anything you want!

He had smiled then, a bit wistfully. She remembered thinking in that moment he almost looked grown up.

I guess I want to be Sovereign. What about you?

If you’re going to be Sovereign, I’m going to be your Shadow Guard. That way we can always be together.

He had laughed out loud then and her face had flamed.

He reached out a hand to brush her cheek.

I’m not laughing at you. Not really. It’s just that most girls would want to marry me and be my Sovereigness, not my Shadow Guard.

She had cocked her head and looked askance at him then.

Really?

Yes. Truly.

But then they wouldn’t be able to protect you. And you wouldn’t be able to confide in them about politics and enemies and wars. And they couldn’t go everywhere with you—be with you every minute.

Her words had come out in a rush. Almost as if to stop them he pressed his lips firmly to her own.

She was sure it was the kiss—that first kiss she’d ever tasted—that had done it. She had accomplished what no other female had done. Ever.

She’d phased—shifted to a space between matter where she couldn’t be seen. She had stolen for a few moments into the Shadow.

Although the change had been brief, it had been witnessed. A hue and cry went out amongst the guards stationed along the field’s periphery, and suddenly she found herself being dragged away from him. Separated from her best friend and the privileged life she had known within the palace.

Shadow Guards were dangerous until trained, she knew. They could phase and take others with them accidentally. Sometimes they didn’t come back. Without control over their re-manifestation they could become part of a brick wall or an innocent bystander’s body—both scenarios resulting in death.

It took years and years of training to become a proper Shadow Guard.

That night she had heard her parents arguing: should she be trained or not? Training had won out. It was the only way, her father had insisted, to keep her from being a danger to herself and others.

Now, here she was, fifteen years later—a well trained, lethal, eagle eyed Shadow Guard, just as her brother had been. And she would protect her Sovereign to the death if necessary, just as her brother had and just as she had promised all those years ago.