I managed 24 chapters, 109 pages and 61,825 words in August!
Looking forward to September!
Have you ever read a book and loved it so much you wanted to live in that world? I haven’t visited either of Universal Studio’s Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter, but their success attests to the intense craving many of us have to immerse ourselves in imagination. (Or, maybe we’re really all just little kids inside that like to play pretend!)
Unlike the silvertongues in Inkheart, we can’t literally step into the pages of a story, but there are other ways we can bring the magic of our favorite books to real life, even if we don’t have oodles of money to spend on building fancy theme parks.
One thing I like to do is pick a food mentioned in a book and try my hand at making it. I’ve fixed bandana splits from The Knights of Crystallia by Brandon Sanderson. (No, that isn’t a typo. It’s bandana splits. If you read the book, you’ll get it. ;-) And the chocolate river (ie, a fountain) from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Do you realize how many references there are to food in books? So, if you like to cook, grab your apron and step into a little slice of fiction with me:
One of my favorite dystopian books is Matched by Ally Condie. Throughout the course of the book, Cassia learns how to become independent from a government that controls everything: down to the type and amount of food you eat!
At the beginning of the book, Cassia goes to her Matching Banquet, where she will find out the identity of the person the government has decided she will marry. Since this is a special occasion, Cassia and her parents are served a delicious meal described as "...a dance, as though this is a ball as well as a banquet." (I love that description!) The crowning jewel of the meal is the chocolate cake with fresh cream.
Since we don't live in that strait-jacket society, we can eat chocolate cake whenever we want! (As evidenced by the size of my waistline.) But you might want to serve it at a fancy dinner to get a real feeling for the book. (After you've read it, of course—which I highly recommend!)
Whenever I need chocolate cake for a birthday, special occasion, or that midnight chocolate craving :) I pull out this old family recipe. It makes a cake that is moist and spongy without being too light or too heavy. Add a dollop of whipped cream, and it's heaven on a fork!
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(Note that I’ve tried to convert the measurements to UK units for your convenience. Hopefully, I did it right!)
Matchmaker Chocolate Cake
1 cup (240 ml or 8.1 fl oz) buttermilk
(If you can’t find buttermilk, add 1 Tbsp or 15 ml of lemon juice to regular milk and allow to sit a couple of minutes before continuing with the recipe.)
1 Tbsp (15 ml) baking soda (bicarbonate soda)
3 cups (375g) flour
2 cups (450 g) sugar
1/2 cup (65 g) cocoa
1 tsp (5 ml) salt
1 cup (240 ml or 8.1 fl oz) vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup (240 ml or 8.1 fl oz) boiling water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 Celsius or gas mark 4) and grease and flour a 9 in x 13 in (about 22 cm x 33 cm) baking pan.
Mix together buttermilk and baking soda. Set aside. In a large, separate bowl, combine flour with sugar, cocoa, and salt. Beat in oil, eggs, and buttermilk with a mixer on low speed. Add boiling water and mix well.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50 or 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool, then serve with freshly whipped and sweetened cream.
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What about you? Have you ever tried to recreate an experience from a book, just to spark that little bit of magic in the real world? Share your thoughts with me! I’d love to hear about your creativity!
Drop me an email: author (at) shaunablack.com
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How to Create Multiple Religions, Easily
Among the tutorials and discussions on world building, there are a subset that discuss creating fictional religions. Some are good, some are bad, and some are amazing. Very few discuss the fact that it isn’t very realistic for there to only be a single religion within your fictional world. And no, creating a polytheistic religion isn’t enough (most of the time).
Who am I to discuss the realism of fictional religions? Well, I’m the author of the Legend’s Legacy series, I got a BA in psychology and classical studies, and I’m very passionate about world building. Whether that’s enough qualifications for you or not, please at least consider my argument.
Except for very isolated or closed-off locations, there is a regular exchange of ideas between people from different backgrounds. This exchange influences culture, fashion, art, and religion (among other things). Even within a polytheistic religion, there are going to be different ways the gods are worshipped. Back in my university days, I remember there was one time we were talking about how two neighbouring city-states got into an argument over how to make proper sacrifices to Poseidon.
One city sacrificed a bull, while the other sacrificed fish.
“How could you sacrifice a bull—an animal of Zeus, and the land—to Poseidon?” one city cried.
“We honour Poseidon with our offerings, but you insult him by sacrificing the wild creatures of his realm!” the other responded.
Neither city could accept how the other worshipped Poseidon, and thus they refused to trade with each other.
Nos, this is not historically accurate (I believe we were discussing a fragment of a comedy), but it does illustrate how two groups that are geographically close, worship the same deity, and have the same basic culture, can still have fundamental religious differences.
Which is why I have trouble buying it whenever I read a story where there is a single religion (polytheistic or not) with no variation worshipped by everyone.
Before we go any further, I want to cover some terminology that I’ll be using throughout the rest of this tutorial.
When I say “religion” I’m using it as a generic term to refer to distinct religions, as well as sects, denominations, schools, and cults.
I will be differentiating between religions as Main, Major, Brother, Common, Minor, or Secret.
Main refers to whichever religions has the most followers, money, power, and/or public approval in your fictional world.
Major religion refers to any religion that 20%, or more, of the population follows. In almost every instance, a main religion will also be a major one.
Brother religion refers to a religion that is distinct from, but still shares core beliefs of the main religion. In real world religions, this could be like Roman Catholics and Protestants.
Common religion refers to any religion that 5-20% of the population follows. A main religion should never be worshipped by less than the common religions of a region.
Minor religion refers to any religion that 1-5% of the population follows. While there could be religions with less than 1% of population following them, for our purposes we won’t worry about creating them.
Secret religion refers to any religion that cannot be openly worshipped, for whatever reason. A secret religion could be followed by any percentage of the population, but cannot be a main religion. The reasons a religion might be secret could be due to oppression, governmental changes, a military defeat, or an influx of immigrants. Be careful that you don’t automatically equate ‘secret’ with ‘evil,’ as many religions are forced into the shadows due to circumstances that have little to do with the morality of the religion itself.
To decide how many religions you will actually need to come up with, you need to consider many different things. The physical size of the area you’re creating, the governmental and cultural landscapes, whether magic is real or not, and how the area interacts with its neighbours.
You can download a worksheet to help you work out these details, and then figure out how many religions you will need to create. Unless there are some story specific reasons, you should be creating at least 4 different religions, and could create up to 26!
For each religion there are several questions we need to answer.
Who follows it?
What influence does the religion have on/in the community?
What are the core and secondary beliefs?
What prohibitions does the religion have?
Now, regardless of whether your main religion is a major or common one, you should always start by creating it first. The details of your main religion will influence the details of your other religions.
Sects/denominations should share between 50% and 90% of the same core beliefs of your main religion, while brother religions should share between 20% and 50% of the core and secondary beliefs, as well as the prohibitions. Any other religion shouldn’t have more than 30% of their core beliefs in common with the main religion. Finally, secret religions should have around 20% of their core beliefs directly contradict some of the main religion’s prohibitions.
Once you’ve created the outline of all your religions, it’s time to take a look at how they interact with each other and your fictional society. To do this, create a list of the major and minor holidays your society celebrates. Major holidays would be any celebrations or observances where it isn’t expected for people to work or go about their day normally. Minor holidays are those that don’t disrupt a normal day—though they could be considered a major holiday by one or more of the non-main religions.
With the holidays decided, you should look at what laws and customs are influenced by the main and major religions. Some laws may be influenced by common and minor religions, but there will be less of them.
Finally, think about what stereotypes the religions might have for each other. You should also think about why the stereotypes exist, and what the truth is.
Once you have all of that done, it’s time for you to review your religions. Take a look at al the details and think about how it will affect the characters and plot of your story. If needed, make changes. Keep in mind the relationship between all religions and the society they exist in, and you’ll do fine.
Use the provided worksheet to create your religions, and always feel free to send me a Tumblr ask (on or off anon) if you need a bit of help figuring out any details.
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