Difference between revisions of "User:Rasarr/Length Test"
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+ | (current: History sections guidelines?) |
| + | History section of articles can be tricky, especially for characters. This page contains some tips and guidelines on how to make it work. |
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| − | == Introduction == |
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| − | [[File:Tanavast.jpg|thumb|right|250px|<center><small>by {{a|botanicaxu}}</small></center> [[Honor]] ]] |
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| − | {{quote |
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| − | | The Shards are not God, but they are ''pieces'' of God. Ruin, Preservation, Autonomy, Cultivation, Devotion...There are sixteen of them. |
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| − | | [[Khriss]]{{msh ref|3|2}} |
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| − | }} |
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| − | === |
+ | === Don't go into too much detail === |
| − | Each Shard is a piece of the power of creation with a specific motivation, such as to destroy or to preserve. Those fragments each began their existence with equal level of power; however, over time many have diminised, whether through conflict or by the act of Investing a world -- imbuing it with its [[Investiture]]. Each Shard has its own Investiture; while a Shard can co-opt the Investiture of another Shard, that Investiture will become noticeably red.{{wob ref|8340}} |
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| + | When writing a character history, it can be easy to go into excessive detail about what's happening; sometimes, there's an urge to type out a play-by-play of the entire scene, fight or conversation. However, this way lies madness. You do not have to summarize every sentence said, or report on every blow of the battle. Most of the time, "they fight for a while" or "after a short conversation" will suffice. |
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| − | Investing in a world will produce numerous effects, most notably the creation of a magic system tied to the Shard. While a Shard does not have a complete control over how the magic system functions or what it does, it can manipulate its mechanics to an extent.{{wob ref|6072}}{{wob ref|4242}} Moreover, the presence of a Shard leads to the formation of a [[Perpendicularity]], a well of the Shard's investiture that pierces all three [[Realmatic Theory|Realm]]s, allowing for the existence of [[worldhopping]].{{book ref|sa3|119}} The power can also influence the world in other ways, such as by forming [[atium]] and [[lerasium]] on [[Scadrial]], or [[Tears of Edgli]] on [[Nalthis]]. |
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| + | So, when ''should'' you include the detail? Mostly, in scenes that could be considered crucial to the plot. [[Marsh]] tearing an earring out of [[Vin]]'s ear? Crucial. A [[Stormlight Archive]] character swearing the [[Immortal Words]]? Extremely important. Characters arguing about how wise their plan is? You could summarize that. Mentioning every gesture the character makes in a conversation? ''Definitely'' avoid it. |
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| − | === Vessel === |
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| − | To function properly, a Shard requires a mind controlling it, belonging to a sapient creature from the [[Physical Realm]], like a human -- such an entity is referred to as a '''Vessel'''.{{wob ref|310}} One doesn't need to be able to use Investiture in order to become a Vessel, but the ability does help.{{wob ref|4062}} What becoming a Vessel requires above all is [[Connection]] to the Shard in question, whether forged artificially or driven by a natural inclination towards the Shard's intent.{{msh ref|5|2}} |
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| + | How to avoid too much detail, then? After writing the whole history, re-read it; see what you can aggregate, what can be summarized further, what detail you've added has proven unnecessary to the overall narrative. Cut those bits out, then rinse and repeat, until you feel satisfied with the state of the text. |
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| − | The act of becoming a Vessel is called '''Ascension''', and causes the Vessel's body to vaporize, allowing their mind to expand.{{wob ref|6072}} From then on, the Vessel and the Shard are intertwined; the Vessel gets to set some general course of how the Shard's power is defined, and feeds off the Shard's power to remain alive, but the Shard's power is the driving force between the two. Over centuries, a Vessel's mind begins to change, slowly molding to fit the Shard's intent more perfectly.{{annotation ref|mb3|chapter=58}}{{wob ref|5485}}{{epigraph ref|sa1|18}} |
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| + | === Don't go into too little detail, either === |
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| − | The most common way to kill a Shard is to Splinter it, breaking its power down further into smaller pieces, called [[splinter]]s.{{msh ref|3|2}} The actual death of a Shard, however, can take up to hundreds of years.{{wob ref|8144}} If the Shard is taken up before the Vessel dies completely, splintering can be prevented;{{msh ref|3|2}} if not, the power will become wild and dangerous.{{au ref|Selish}} When a Vessel dies, the person's original body rematerializes and falls to the ground as a corpse.{{epigraph ref|mb3|56}} |
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| + | While writing a blow-by-blow of every scene is decidedly excessive, you shouldn't skip over too many events, either. Remember, if someone's reading a history section, it's probably to catch themselves up to speed on the character. As such, include enough detail that the reader doesn't ask "but why were they here?" or "but how did they do that?" For example, if a character was present at some battle, say what they were doing there instead of simply "they were present at the battle"; if a character journeyed to multiple places, say where they've been, and everything interesting happened on their journey, rather than "for the next few years, they travelled a lot". |
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| − | It is possible for a Vessel to be separated from their Shard without dying or Splintering the Shard they held.{{wob ref|120}}{{wob ref|6587}} |
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| + | Don't skip over a large chunk of character's on-page time. If something's happening, make note of it. If a character or object appears, but doesn't become important until later, do mention them, so that the reader isn't confused when they show up again. |
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| − | == History == |
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| − | :''For the histories of individual Shards, see their respective pages'' |
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| − | {{quote |
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| − | | I have delved and searched, and have only been able to come up with a single name: Adonalsium. Who, or what, it was, I do not yet know. |
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| − | | [[Sazed]]{{epigraph ref|mb3|39}} |
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| − | }} |
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| + | === Place events in their correct places === |
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| − | It is unknown what precisely [[Adonalsium]] was, though it has been referred to numerous times as the power of creation, suggesting it to be the progenitor god of the [[cosmere]]. At some point in the distant past, on the planet of [[Yolen]], sixteen people conspired to kill it, and succeeded in an event known as the [[Shattering of Adonalsium]].{{msh ref|3|2}} Some of those people were romantically involved; others were related to each other.{{wob ref|1291}}{{wob ref|2786}} |
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| + | Histories should be chronological. If a scene has a character talking about their youth, write what they reveal in its proper place, timeline-wise, and mention "X tells Y about her childhood" in the place where ''that'' scene happens. Likewise, if some information about a character's history can only be found in a [[WoB]] or other behind-the-scenes material, don't put it in the Trivia section, but add it to the History. |
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| − | Following the Shattering, the power that comprised Adonalsium broke into sixteen pieces, each polarized to one particular aspect of it, such as [[Ruin]] or [[Endowment]]. Those pieces, each equal in power, became known as the Shards. The sixteen killers of Adonalsium each took up one of the Shards, Ascending and becoming the first Vessels.{{msh ref|3|2}} Following their Ascension, each of the Vessels departed Yolen for different worlds. Some settled on various planets, henceforth dubbed [[Shardworld]]s; others set no roots.{{wob ref|4441}} |
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| + | Conversely, try to keep the article as in-universe as you can. Don't add meta information - like where Brandon came up with the idea, or what the character looked like in an earlier version of the story. ''This'' should go into Trivia. If you feel like there are enough trivia about how a character came to be, make a Development section near the bottom of the page. |
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| − | Originally, the Shards made a pact not to settle together on a singe world; however, only a few Shards kept to it.{{epigraph ref|sa3|39}} The pact was not, it seems, set in stone, though, as even the Shard of oathkeeping, [[Honor]], felt no qualms about travelling with [[Cultivation]].{{wob ref|10835}} |
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| + | === Don't sweat it === |
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| − | Over the millennia, several Shards have passed away, one way or another. The most common cause of death for them were actions of one specific Shard, [[Odium]], who went on a killing spree, splintering [[Ambition]], [[Devotion]], [[Dominion]] and [[Honor]] before eventually being trapped in the [[Rosharan system]] by the remnants of the latter.{{au ref|Rosharan}} [[Preservation]] passed hands several times before being merged with [[Ruin]] into [[Harmony]];{{wob ref|6486}} by contrast, [[Autonomy]] spread, creating avatars to inhabit numerous Shardworlds, including [[Obrodai]] and [[First of the Sun]].{{wob ref|11432}} |
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| + | Your History section doesn't have to be the world's most informative, most detailed or most elegant. A cursory history is better than no history, and a less-detailed history beats over-detailed one. Don't worry about your grammar, or style, either. Again - a bad history beats no history. If something doesn't feel right to you, leave it anyway. This is a wiki; if someone has an issue with what you wrote, they can fix it themselves. |
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| − | At least one of the Vessels regrets taking up their power, though which one that would be is unknown.{{wob ref|11900}} |
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Revision as of 18:53, 23 February 2020
Sketchpad.
(current: History sections guidelines?)
History section of articles can be tricky, especially for characters. This page contains some tips and guidelines on how to make it work.
Don't go into too much detail
When writing a character history, it can be easy to go into excessive detail about what's happening; sometimes, there's an urge to type out a play-by-play of the entire scene, fight or conversation. However, this way lies madness. You do not have to summarize every sentence said, or report on every blow of the battle. Most of the time, "they fight for a while" or "after a short conversation" will suffice.
So, when should you include the detail? Mostly, in scenes that could be considered crucial to the plot. Marsh tearing an earring out of Vin's ear? Crucial. A Stormlight Archive character swearing the Immortal Words? Extremely important. Characters arguing about how wise their plan is? You could summarize that. Mentioning every gesture the character makes in a conversation? Definitely avoid it.
How to avoid too much detail, then? After writing the whole history, re-read it; see what you can aggregate, what can be summarized further, what detail you've added has proven unnecessary to the overall narrative. Cut those bits out, then rinse and repeat, until you feel satisfied with the state of the text.
Don't go into too little detail, either
While writing a blow-by-blow of every scene is decidedly excessive, you shouldn't skip over too many events, either. Remember, if someone's reading a history section, it's probably to catch themselves up to speed on the character. As such, include enough detail that the reader doesn't ask "but why were they here?" or "but how did they do that?" For example, if a character was present at some battle, say what they were doing there instead of simply "they were present at the battle"; if a character journeyed to multiple places, say where they've been, and everything interesting happened on their journey, rather than "for the next few years, they travelled a lot".
Don't skip over a large chunk of character's on-page time. If something's happening, make note of it. If a character or object appears, but doesn't become important until later, do mention them, so that the reader isn't confused when they show up again.
Place events in their correct places
Histories should be chronological. If a scene has a character talking about their youth, write what they reveal in its proper place, timeline-wise, and mention "X tells Y about her childhood" in the place where that scene happens. Likewise, if some information about a character's history can only be found in a WoB or other behind-the-scenes material, don't put it in the Trivia section, but add it to the History.
Conversely, try to keep the article as in-universe as you can. Don't add meta information - like where Brandon came up with the idea, or what the character looked like in an earlier version of the story. This should go into Trivia. If you feel like there are enough trivia about how a character came to be, make a Development section near the bottom of the page.
Don't sweat it
Your History section doesn't have to be the world's most informative, most detailed or most elegant. A cursory history is better than no history, and a less-detailed history beats over-detailed one. Don't worry about your grammar, or style, either. Again - a bad history beats no history. If something doesn't feel right to you, leave it anyway. This is a wiki; if someone has an issue with what you wrote, they can fix it themselves.