Build a Story World

Core Cosmos Summary

Just by knowing and choosing one aspect of our world’s creation beliefs opens up the core of setting as it can develop and clarify conflict. It strikes right at the heart of culture and coinage, history and heresy.

 Extended Writing Exercise

Using a style such as originally told in the traditional form of an anonymous storyteller; write up a paragraph that reflects a time that portrays the quality of your cosmos. 

Then narrow that essence as an opening sentence hook.

For example, Dickens famous opening line for A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Or: Many circles passed since our people lost their way.

Share: Your first line.

Build A Story World

“That’s a pretty horrible account compared to the majestic telling of creation we find in Genesis and some other cultural stories.” Gary F. Moring

 

Core Cosmos/Cosmology

Genesis, chapter one, also incorporates seven units as seven days in the creation story. However in this presentation each unit details the events of each day as bringing forth a new life-giving aspect of creation.  

Life begins with light being divided from darkness, moving to the creation of heavens and water, then land and vegetation, next sun, moon, stars followed by ocean life, birds, then living vegetation, animals, humans and ending on the seventh day when God rests. Such a magnitude of abundance given as gifts.

When each segment of creation is completed He pauses and “God saw that it was good.” Then He moves on to the next stage. On the sixth day of creation, when He created male and female in His own image, “God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good.”

Both of these creation stories used order and structure to lay the basis of their cosmology content—the coinage by which they determine the value of life. Their system used the same building bricks, but differ completely in their theology and attitude towards life. One a picture of profound grief, the other countless images of praise.

Exercise:  Again put together a three generational genealogical pattern for a direct descendant family in your story world. This time make the entire pattern based on an ongoing desire to serve others. Make them altruistic in a particular field. How far has their influence reached without their knowledge?

Share: What part this version did you find intriguing? What part made you smile?

Mystery

Why do tiny fish come out to feed in the fog? And why is everyone afraid of them and hide indoors? In the Doctor Who series version of A Christmas Carol, their beauty charms the Doctor as they swim around lamplights reminiscent of Dickens time.

Shortly after he discovers the real threat, the giant sharks that come down out from the clouds to feed and will swallow the Doctor if possible. They are guided by a radio signal so when the Doctor manages to disengage it, not only can the shark not return to the clouds, but also is dying because it swallowed the Doctor’s screwdriver. Now he must discover a way to save the shark along with the other crisis plot lines.

Unraveling one mystery keeps opening the door to another. It’s fun for this science fiction, but also points out the lure of discovery that all why and how questions can generate. And even more amazing are the mysteries and discoveries of science and nature in our own very real earth.

Reading Just A Second from the library had both myself and five-year-old grandson amazed at what humans, animals, earth, universe, plants and much more are capable of in one second, one minute, one hour, or one day. For example, “a howler monkey’s deafening scream travels 1,125 feet” in one second. What might that look like in a traditional cozy mystery where after hearing the screams odd things happen in a small town. Or that in one minute “A skydiver in freefall plunges two miles.”

What if your heroine is forced to escape a plane by jumping out and is terrified of heights?

Extraordinary mysteries happen all around us in creation and can provide unique ideas to our stories. We just need to approach the possibilities with a new perspective. Remember the old movie “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” where four “inch” size children had to navigate an entire back yard? The un-mown lawn became a hazardous jungle.

Journal Prompt:

1. Look at your last indoor scene. Is there any aspect of nature/science in the setting? Or could you add some? Look at a rose in a vase. Could its perfume be deadly in some situations? Could it cause an allergic reaction, only the medication has been tampered with?

2. What about outdoors? Does your protagonist go for a morning run on a new trail; only someone reversed the open trail sign with the closed one? What danger is lurking down there, a mudslide, snakes, poison mushrooms?