I found this question from an attendee of the Catholic Writers Conference I spoke at for several years an interesting one with a number of possible answers. Q: When should you check your work with a religious authority? If I were presenting a piece I expected to be read as representative of my Faith, or …
WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Checking with Religious Authority Read More »
This question from the Catholic Writers Conference dealt with how I handled the complicated subject of heresy. Q: Have you ever had a story dictate you portray heresy or sin sympathetically? How did you handle it? The protagonists of The Mer Cycle trilogy were considered heretics by the religious institutions they challenged. Both the orthodox …
Q: Do you agree that religion influences culture? Does culture influence religion? If so, how much do or should you take that into consideration while preparing your book? I think religion is at the heart of what we call culture. Our world culture is so steeped in religious principle that there’s no way to separate it …
Greetings, World-builders! Here is another question from a group of Catholic writers at an online conference I spoke at several times as a non-Catholic guest. Today’s question deals with common elements in religion. Q: What are the common elements of all religions, and how do you decide what to keep and what to discard when …
With religious and cultural turmoil at the center of four of my fantasy novels (the Meri Trilogy and The Spirit Gate), I was pleased to have reviewers comment on how real and essential the religion in the books felt as opposed to just being a patina, a prop, or a piece of background scenery. I …
WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: DIY Religions in Fiction Read More »
The question I fielded about literary license in a Q&A in a Catholic Writers Conference I participated in as a non-Catholic guest, (I’m a Baha’i) led to this follow-up question about projecting the flaws of a religion. Q: How can you project the flaws, conflicts, or other “warts” of a religion (particularly your religion) without …
This is the second in a series built around Q&A sessions from an online Catholic Writers Conference I was invited to participate in as an honorary member from a different faith. I’m a Baha’i, and was actually the only participant who wasn’t from a Christian denomination. It was fun! Today’s question deals with literary license. …
WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Literary License vs Reality Read More »
I occasionally take part in conferences and conventions that feature extended Q&A sessions on a particular facet of writing speculative fiction. This series of articles features questions raised at an online Catholic Writers’ Conference. I am not, myself, Catholic, but the conference planners thought it would be beneficial to have writers of other faiths participate. …
WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Portraying Religion in Fiction Read More »
As I commented in the previous installment of this series, my first novel was also my first experience trying to create a fantasy world from the ground up. With Tolkien as my only model, I waded hip deep into Scottish history and Auld English linguistics to come up with character, clan, place and object names …
The Name of the Prose, Part 4: A Ghoti by Any Other Name is Still a Fish Read More »
A sense of place plays a critical role in determining whether a reader “gets into” a story or not. Place names can lend an aura of reality to even the most fantastical of places. Conversely, an obviously made up place name in a story that pretends at reality can make a location that seems perfectly …
Ah, but what if it hadn’t been “James Bond”? What if the name Ian Fleming gave his super spy had been “Crane, Ichabod Crane?” Clearly, a name that worked for the nebbish, nervous protagonist of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow would not work for the decisive, suave hero of Fleming’s tales of espionage and danger. …
The Name of the Prose, Part 2: The Name is Bond—James Bond Read More »
The Cursed Canvases The Ladies of Almack’s #4 by Marissa Doyle Art is NOT always for art’s sake…as the Ladies of Almack’s discover
Today, communication fans, I’d like to dismantle four sentence-like sequences of words that have something in common: muddled meanings caused by a poor (or possibly clever) choice of words. Who said them and with what intent is irrelevant to the discussion. I leave it to you, Dear Reader, to attach significance in the broader realm …
The Things People Say: Sentence-like Sequences of Words Read More »
