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“You enter the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” ~Frederick Buechner

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Build a Story World



Coinage Introduction Cont’d


There is a story in the New Testament, where a widow gave only two pennies and Jesus told those around him that she had given the greatest offering because she had given all she possessed, while the others only gave of their surplus. For what reason in your world would someone give up everything they had, regardless of the consequences?

The world’s setting as backbone comes down to value. What costs mind, body and soul?

“It may be that place can focus the gigantic, voracious eye of genius and bring its gaze to point. Focus then means awareness, discernment, order, clarity, insight—they are like the attributes of love. … Indeed, as soon as the least of us stands still, that is the moment something extraordinary is seen to be going on in the world.” Eudora Welty

A few weeks back you chose an art form close to your protagonist’s heart and looked at ways it could be shared across cultures. Within our own earth’s history lineage we have read or experienced evidence of a regime that sought to destroy all previous evidence of art whether burning books, smashing century old sculptures, banning music or shredding paintings. Look at ways your people’s heart heritage must be driven underground in order to survive. How does that affect the cost of keeping the art from becoming extinct? Or the cost to the regime to contain to banish it?

Exercise: Do one version under the serious circumstances above and one version as a lighthearted comedy of errors.

   Take the art activity from the previous exercise and make a list of all the steps involved from creative draft to public sales. Or choose a new one that is part of your character’s gifts and talents.

   Next make a list of all the materials needed. If this were a barter culture set a ‘value’ to each item, both for buying or selling.

For example, are paintbrushes easily accessible and cheap because children gather material the landscape and make them? Or is it almost impossible to find quality material for the brush portion and therefore make them so exorbitant an artist must keep them under lock and key?

Are gourmet cooks willing to literally ‘kill’ for a specific type of pan?

Share: Which ingredient in your story was the most difficult to find? Why?


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