Worldbuilding: Religions

One of my favorite subjects, besides military history, is theology. I currently have a work-in-progress that takes place in a unique world, and hence I've been engaging in much worldbuilding. Part of this has, of course, involved the religions of this world. 

This led me to ponder a bit on worldbuilding and religion. I decided to write a short post on the subject, to give some advice and suggestions to fellow authors.

Do Research!

Oh no, more work, I can hear some people thinking. Yes, I know it stinks sometimes when you're really eager to get to writing and making the rubber hit the road as far as your storytelling is concern. Nonetheless, if faith or religion is going to have any part in your story, it might be helpful to research the topic a little bit.

I would also highly suggest researching from original sources. I imagine nobody reading this post would learn about Judaism from National Socialist websites - well, treat other faiths with as much respect. Don't research Christianity from New Atheist websites. Don't research Islam from right-wing blogs. If you can find works in English that translate what a certain religion's documents or leaders say or have said, try to rely on that for the most part. If you can find balanced, scholarly works on the subject, and those subjects quote from original sources, by all means rely on that too.

Another good tip: if you have friends or acquaintances that belong to certain faiths, it might help asking them what they suggest. For example, I have a book at home on Shia Islam; I got it because I knew a well-read Shia Muslim, and I actually went and asked him what the best book on the subject of his faith was.

Obviously, everybody's time is limited, and I don't expect anyone reading this blog to go out and get a Theology Doctorate. Nonetheless, just as you would do a little bit of research into other topics related to your work, so too should you consider researching into this topic as well. Who knows - it may not influence your world's religions, but it might also influence other aspects of it.

Be Creative!

A lot of times, I think the default state many will go to is a "copypasta" of Roman Catholicism or Greek mythology. You either have the hierarchical priest church, or you have the plethora of gods for every task or natural occurrence under the sun. Obviously this isn't always a bad thing (I mean let's face it, George R.R. Martin's Faith of the Seven is basically Roman Catholicism revamped, and nobody complains); nonetheless, I think a lot of writers are missing out when they don't attempt to think outside the box.

Contrary to popular belief among many, it's untrue that all religions are basically the same. Some are more philosophical in nature than spiritual (eg., many Eastern "religions"). Some are polytheistic. Some are henotheistic (that is, there are many gods, but only one is worth worshiping). Some are monontheistic. 

Within all these groups, there can be varieties, some major and some minor. For example, Islam is a monotheistic religion, but within Islam you have Sunni, Shia, Ahmadi, etc. Then among the Shia you have Sixers and Twelvers. Within those groups you have even more variety. Keep in mind this doesn't necessarily need to be divisive variety, but individual groups within a larger faith that can be in slight opposition to one another (eg., the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, etc.). Just as it happens in the real world, so too can you can do the same in your world.

Be Detailed!

For a lot of writers, faith and religion seems to take a back seat. This is unfortunate because even tiny details regarding a character's faith can be helpful in influencing their motivations and aspirations. 

One big example of this is eschatology, which is commonly associated with end-times beliefs. The reason for the growth of revival in the 18th and 19th centuries was because many in the early parts of the movement were Postmillennials, who believed there would be a massive revival before the return of Christ. The reason some Founding Fathers opposed war with Britain was because they came from Quaker-based beliefs, which opposed any conflict or violence at all. Within some parts of Islam, there's such a high view of fatalism that something like the car breaking down is shrugged off with "Allah wills it - no need to fix it."

Again, little details like this can help shape your character. Even if it's a subtle nuance, it can still influence and affect your characters.

Be Original!

I can't help but notice, as far as character writing goes, that many times you end up with two cliches, both of them opposite extremes:

The Inquisitor: This is the follower of a religion (whether a cleric or a layman) who thinks everyone who doesn't agree with him is evil and deserves to die. We've probably most seen this character in movies, whether it be the oppressive mother who quotes Bible verses every other second, or the priest who goes insane as zombies attack. Most of the time they just end up being a terrible straw man for organized religion.

The Hippie: This is the guy who may belong to a religion, but hey, who cares about what you believe? Sometimes it can get to the point where the MC could commit ethnic cleansing, and the Hippie would just shrug his shoulders and say, "Who am I to judge?" This person's beliefs amount to a superficial wonder as to why we can't all just get along? Flower power, maaaaaaan!

Believe it or not, it's possible to have a happy middle ground here. You can have a character who holds firmly to his faith, but doesn't want everyone who disagrees with him burned at the stake. You can have a character who seems welcoming and accepting, but is in fact a dangerous cult member, or close-minded in other, more significant ways. Just as it's better to come up with a multilayered, try to come up with a character that's a little more than a caricature of either intolerance or tolerance.

I can give an example from my own work. Edmund, the Magi from Gods on the Mountain, is firmly established in his faith in the Almighty, the monotheistic god for much of Calambria; he believes there is no other correct religion, except the worship of the Almighty. At the same time, when he hangs out with dwarfs who worship the dragons of old, he doesn't contradict everything they say or do, or start foaming at the mouth and ranting against them Westboro Baptist Church-style. I had beta readers tell me that they appreciated that fact about him.

Don't be afraid of truth!

What is the truth in your world? Is there a right religion? Is there a wrong religion? Is one religion based on nonsense, but another is based on fact? I think many times when people are worldbuilding, they don't think about this, or consider it firmly enough. A lot of times there almost seem to be a plethora of pantheons in a world, each one vying for each other. Other times things are just left vague. Vagueness can be okay, but don't be afraid to have a "true" faith that maybe truly does have power over others, or can assist its members better. It can certainly add credibility to someone's quest or motivation.

With the rise of postmodern thought, it's easy to trigger people by saying one thing's right and one thing's wrong. This is the glorious thing about worldbuilding: this is your own world you are creating. You can say there's a right and wrong and not trigger people. (Well, within reason.) If you want to say one religion is right and all the others are wrong, have at it!

Two Helpful Tips for Authors and Twitter

Recently some people have come lamenting to me about the chaos that can be Twitter. One person saw that I followed over two-thousand people, and wondered how I could keep track of them all. I've also heard some people lament that, after a while, Twitter becomes such a cluster of tweets that they feel disheartened to even bother. 

Here are some helpful tips to make your Twitter experience just a little bit better...

Lists are Your Friend

Lists are ways to organize your followers, or people on Twitter in general. (You don't even need to be following someone, or be followed by someone, to be on a Twitter list.) Basically, you go to the Lists option, create a list, name it appropriately, and then start adding people once it's been created.

Lists can be very helpful if you want to categorize your followers. Want Urban Fantasy authors all together? Put them in a list! Want traditional painters in one group? Put them in a list. Do some authors have podcasts? Put them in a podcast list. That way, you can go to that specific list, and see the feed only for the people on it. Granted, sometimes even lists can get about as long as your followers, which is why many people start splitting up lists. What I mean is some people might make separate lists, like "Fantasy Authors 1," "Fantasy Authors 2," etc. It's helpful to add here that you can add someone to more than one list, so if you have someone that writes fantasy, but also dabbles in science fiction, you can add them to those respective lists. 

Private lists can also be of assistance, if you don't want people to know they're on a certain list - or, alternatively, if you don't want people offended they're not on a list. For example, I have a "Cool Tweeps" private list that I use to keep track of people who I want to regularly check up on. These are authors that I speak with on more than one occasion, or people who are basically like online friends. Using this list helps me go straight to them and avoid the clutter of the feed - keeping it private helps prevent anyone from being offended.

The nice thing about all this? You'll probably find more convenient ways, for your individual purposes, to do all this. Go crazy and have fun with it.

The Mute Button is Your Friend

"Whoa there, Ben," I can hear some of you saying, "isn't muting someone kind of mean? What if I want to talk to that person?" Let me explain why, after a while, you'll be telling me how important the mute button was to you.

First, keep in mind muting someone is not like blocking them. If you aren't following them, nothing they do will pop up in your feed. If you are following them, then they won't appear on your Twitter feed, however, their tweets will still show up in your notifications and in your direct messages. So if you follow someone on Twitter, then mute them, you won't be blocking them completely, you'll just be keeping them out of your main feed. You'll still be able to visit their page and see what they're posting, and they'll still be able to respond to your tweets and interact with you, and you'll be able to see that.

Second, one thing you'll notice very quickly in the indie author world is that there are two types of people on Twitter: those who interact with followers, fellow authors, etc.; and those who do nothing but bombard their timeline with ads, automated messages, and the like. Keep in mind I'm not saying advertising your books is bad, but you don't want someone to go to your timeline and see nothing but ads that contribute nothing. Follow enough people like this, and your feed is going to be nothing BUT ads. You'll not want to look at it at all. (By the by, don't trust Twitter's "quality filter" - but don't get me started on that.)

When I first started using Twitter, I didn't really think about muting anyone. As I followed more and more people, I realized that I didn't want to go to my Twitter feed because it would be nothing but ads and automated messages. Finally, I decided to fix the problem: I sat down, went through my Twitter feed, and, upon finding someone posting an ad, went to their account; if I saw that their timeline was nothing but ads, I muted them. After thirty minutes of doing this, I saw a great thing unfold on my feed: I started noticing authors and artists whom I had followed, and yet never gave any much deserved attention. Why had they been ignored for so long? Because they had been buried in mountains of ads and spam. A few more people got added to my "Cool Tweeps" list.

Cleaning up your Twitter feed be like...

These are two simple, but helpful, tips I can offer fellow authors in organizing their Twitter, and finding a more efficient way to utilize it. I hope this blog post helps! Comment if you have any other tips or suggestions from your own Twitter experience.

Where ya been, Ben?

It's been a while since I posted on this blog, I know. It's also been a long while since I posted on Twitter, talked about my writing, let alone really had a good writing session. What's been going on, some of you might have been asking?

In August of last year, my family moved up to Ohio, where my wife is a native. This involved me quitting my full-time job at the time, preparing things in boxes, arranging for a truck, etc. Once I got up there, I had the fun task of continuing what I had started back in Virginia: getting a job. This meant playing the "apply for a job" game. Those who have engaged in this game know it can be a frustrating one. Between vague rejections that amount to "You don't suck, but you do suck," and having your heart played by potential employers ("This was a great interview, you're an outstanding candidate!" *sends rejection email the next day*), it can all take a toll on your ego. Add to this that when I finally did get a job, it was a part-time one with incompetent management (eg., forgetting that we have to work Christmas Eve, and throwing me on the shift last minute - not making that up), and management that wasn't even present in the building 99% of the time. One of my coworkers was an extremely toxic employee who thought every new employee was her replacement (and called me as much), thought everything you did was an act against her, and blew a gasket at you if you got fifteen extra minutes on your schedule and she didn't. Eventually I did complain to management, and they did straighten it out a little bit, but it didn't do much to make me want to stay there. What's more, it was having a toll on my desire to do anything else that brought me joy. I went home to my family bitter, and I had no desire to write, draw, read, or anything else, because on my mind was the fact that I had to go back to work the next day. It's really astounding just how much of an effect a toxic coworker can have. I actually did some research and found that 54% of employees are more likely to quit because of one, yet only 1% of workplace bullies are ever fired because of their attitude. But I digress...

Part of me wanted to resign from my job and become a full-time author, while still doing freelance design jobs on the side for sustainable income. The only dilemma is, at this moment, I don't make enough to justify going full-time. It's also harder when you have family to support, and can't just make a shot in the dark. Some full-time indie authors are women with husbands who already work full-time, or are husbands whose wives have taken up the mantle of having a full-time job. If that works for them, great, but I didn't want my wife working and taking time away from our daughter. As the reality of this situation set in, yet another potential escape from my nightmare seemed to have crashed and burned.

Ever have a moment where nothing you do seems to prosper or be blessed? That was my condition. I got into a deep depression. I didn't see any real value in myself. I didn't see any value in my work. Here I was, in my 30's, and stuck in a part-time job, barely able to afford for my whole family. Nothing I did seemed to help. I tried applying to other jobs, but continued facing rejection. I had no impetus to do anything but remain stuck in my life.

Now things have changed around. I got a full-time job offer which I accepted, and I resigned from my last job. The day after, I discovered my trust writer's journal, started looking through it, and soon began to add new ideas and concepts. My confidence was rejuvenated. Suddenly my creativity had returned. As cliche as it may sound, getting away from the toxic environment had given me a sense of self-worth that made me want to be creative and continue exploring my other talents.

Bear in mind I've been lurking on Twitter, and I've seen some of you sending me DM's, tagging me, etc. I did see it, and I intend to respond to you all as soon as possible. My goal is to get back into the swing of things, writing and doing what I love the most. So keep an eye on Twitter and the blog, because there'll be a lot more updates ahead!