Consanguinity Time!  

Posted by The Haeven Crew



And that is not synonomous with "Hammer Time". I couldn't help using this pic -- it's priceless. It looks like he's getting ready to break into serious break-dancing.

Anyway, time for me to start on that family tree. Considering that most of the people in this book are related to one another to a degree, it would be a good idea to figure out how close before I pair them up.





Why do I have to do this, you ask? Can't I just decide who is related to who and move on? It is my book isn't it? Yes, and no.





I could just decide that one person could marry another person, and switch things around to suit myself, but that would be a very risky move. If I put together a family tree, I can reference it at any point in the book and not make any continuity errors.





In fantasy fiction, the world building aspect is very important. It helps the reader with the suspension of disbelief. If I make sure my world is complete and factual, then you can read with confidence. That's how all fantasy writers -- all good fantasy writers -- make it work.





This is why people get hooked on fantasy. We've created a whole world to explore, to study, to dissect that is utterly outside of this world we live in. This is why people love Pern, Middle Earth, Xanth and other worlds.





So, even though it takes me further away from writing chapter nine, I will begin work on the family trees tomorrow.





And for those who know about this story and how long I've been writing it, don't ask why I don't have the family tree already. I did; but it got lost. Along with the ORIGINAL draft. Yes, there was much rending of clothing and gnashing of teeth. Ashes were strewn everywhere. Sackcloth was aplenty. Then I realized that most of the story was safely in my head.

Well, onward into the breach....

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at Wednesday, June 03, 2009 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

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