š QuaisonLore - What I've Learned So Far
Writing Process Post 1
To catch you upā¦
Hey peeps!
Itās been about 3 months since I decided to change paths from writing an epic fantasy novel series to instead putting together volumes of lore for the world of Quaison (read the posts below for a background of my journey so far š) and before too much more time passes I wanted to share an update of what steps Iāve taken so far.
Iāve never really shared my writing process in ālive timeā before, and since this is a new path for me that requires starting at the beginning, I thought this would be a great opportunity to chronicle my journey and share it step by step rather than trying to do retrospectives and explain my process after the fact.
Iām going to try to do these process posts every 3 months, unless I make a ton of progress that warrants an update sooner than that. I hope you find them interesting, informative, and perhaps useful for your own creative endeavors!
Further reading if youād like toā¦
Research!
Before doing anything, I wanted to get clear about what defines and separates lore writing from storytelling, and exactly what style(s) of lore I want to focus on.
I started by looking up terms Iām familiar with but wanted to get a much deeper understanding of what they look like compositionally. I first needed to know the difference between ballads & epics because Iāve heard these terms sometimes used interchangeably, and that search led me to other styles such as lays, odes, and idylls. I took notes on all of these to not only compare and contrast but to have a quick cheat sheet to look back on should I ever decide to try out a different style.
Here are my key notes for each of these styles:
Ballads: 4-line stanzas (quatrains); ABAB and ABCB rhymes; some have a refrain thatās repeated after every verse (a verse is 2 lines); detailed descriptions and drama to entertain
Idylls: short pastoral poems about rural life; convey rustic, pastoral, and tranquil mood; AABB rhyming
Lays: short poems of romance and chivalry; examples: Cantebury Tales by Chaucer and Lay of Luthien by Tolkien
Odes: long poem; serious or meditative tone; written with formal language; strict stanza structure
Epics: book-length: 12-24 ābooksā (i.e. chapters); heroic ancient story; heroes vs. monsters; use epithets to describe characters and settings. example: Hector āof the glinting helmetā; define culture through limited view of lost past, for example saying āwhen giants roamedā
Narrative Poems: a character or narrator is telling the story; still have complete story arc with plot, conflict and resolution. Modern examples: The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe and E.B. Browningās novel-in-verse Aurora Leigh
I chose to examine the Ballad of Hua Mulan first because itās a story Iām familiar with and would provide me with a quick study of the compositional difference between a ballad and an epic. Iāve also always wanted a copy of the translated text so, you know, win win. After reading the story and understanding the format, I decided a ballad is not the direction Iām wanting to go - at least not for the primary stories I have in mind, and further study of the other styles solidified for me that what I am striving for is a kind of epic, though less poetic, and without any rhyming.
As far as the difference between lore and storytelling, narratively speaking itās a bit muddy, but essentially what Iāve boiled it down to is lore describes things that have already happened, while storytelling is about things that are currently happening. Lore focuses on worldbuilding, history, mythology, and character backstories, which led me to yet another term I wanted to more clearly define: legend.
Legends are essentially lore based upon historical truths, the stories are often about major events and/or people that shaped the world, and they can read either like histories or narratives.
Epics and Legends I plan to study
Just like doing masterās studies in art school, the best way to learn about and improve upon a writing style is to read and study the masters and master works. Now that Iāve defined what it is Iām trying to do, essentially a kind of combination of epic poems and legends, Iāve compiled a list (by no means exhaustive but at least a start) of those epics and legends that I want to examine from a structural perspective:
Iliad and Odyssey
Mahabharata
Aeneid
Beowulf
Nibelungenlied
The Divine Comedy
The Faerie Queene
Paradise Lost
Gilgamesh
King Arthur
Beren and Luthien
Children of Hurin
Iām thinking about sharing my analysis of each one as I go through them, but I also donāt want to just dump my notes on you guys. If thatās something you would be interested in reading, or maybe even doing read-alongs as a kind of sub-bookclub to the usual Cup of Tea, let me know in the comments!
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