R.M. Archer's Blog, page 7

Worldbuilding Lessons I’ve Learned from Each of My Published Works

Today I’m going to mix a post for readers with a post for writers and talk about worldbuilding lessons I’ve learned from the books I’ve published (whether I learned these lessons before or after I published a given book). So for those of you here for worldbuilding lessons, welcome. For those of you curious about what you might find in my published works, welcome to you, too. Let’s get started.

Short Story Collection Vol. 1: Solidify before you publish (& what you publish is semi-permanent)

We’re taking this list in release order, so Short Story Collection vol. 1 is up first. This is a lesson I learned from both the first and second editions: What you publish is semi-permanent. This means that if you’re publishing short stories, say, set in the same world as longer projects you’re either working on or have planned… you should be pretty confident in the world you’re putting on the page.

Escape Room and Silence have shaped some of my worldbuilding decisions for Lightning and the rest of my projects in the same world. Maintaining the fact that those with the superpower bug don’t have pulses, for example, (sort of a physiological headache at times, but you make it work when you have to) and working out the timeline of things like the first Genetic Deviance experiment and the formation of Elderwood-Montgomery Technologies with other events in the series.

In the second edition, I wrote Caithan while I was still working on Calligraphy Guild and published it before I’d learned some of the lessons I’ll share with that project. This led to some inconsistencies–especially as it relates to how those from Virilen culture come of age. This, too, I’ve managed to work with, chalking up the disparity to the fact that Caithan takes place in a culture of Virilens who have been taken from their homeland and are extremely deliberate about holding onto the distinctions between themselves and the culture around them.

The lesson here is somewhat two-fold. 1) You can work around–or through–published details that you might have written differently now. Even if a detail might not be your current first choice, there are ways to make it work with what you’re still building. But 2) it’s a lot simpler to look ahead before you publish, consider the consequences of what might seem like “throwaway” details, and make sure the pieces you’ve built fit with your overarching purpose for the world.

Lost Girl: The tone of your world matters… a lot

Confession: When I wrote Lost Girl, I hadn’t read Peter Pan. I had seen the 2003 movie and maybe the third season of Once Upon a Time and that was the extent of my experience with the story, which means I didn’t capture every detail perfectly. But I knew the general shape of the world and I understood the feelings that Neverland had come to evoke in readers and viewers.

The number of reviews on that book that say something to the effect of “The author clearly has a love for Neverland” makes me laugh. Especially when you’re emulating an established world, the details don’t have to be precisely accurate as long as the core elements remain (e.g. Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Captain Hook, pixie dust, a reluctance to grow up, etc.) and the reader gets the same overall feeling and impression of the world.

I’m not saying you should therefore be careless or fail to do your research like I did; you should also learn from that little mistake and do your research ahead of time. But if you’ve done your research and now you’re worrying over all the little details… zoom out a little. If the key elements are where you need them and the tone is what it needs to be, relax. (Most) readers won’t question as much as you think they will.

(P.S. For anyone concerned: If I were to write a prequel or sequel to Lost Girl, it would have the proper background that it should; I, too, have learned the research lesson.)

The Mirror-Hunter Chronicles: Exploring as you go leads to places you might not expect

The Mirror-Hunter Chronicles started from a single seed of an idea (or bean, if you will), and from there I totally made it up as I went along. (Unfortunately, there are a couple of spots where you can still tell.) What this meant was that I got to explore the world as if I were just as new to it as anyone else (because I was) and learn things as Solem or other characters mentioned them. As a result, I was just as surprised and impressed as Solem when he reached the castle and found its architecture drastically different from anything he was accustomed to. I was right there with him when he learned of Kinley’s backstory–and Quin’s.

While these surprises may lead to some tricky editing later, they also reignite your wonder with writing and worldbuilding and they take you to places you might not expect. Ambrel is nothing like my other worlds–or even like I expected Ambrel to be when I started. But that means that I have so many unknown avenues I could explore if I ever returned to that world!

This is why I like writing vignettes for my more established worlds, as well; these allow me to get on the ground with my characters, explore elements that aren’t as familiar to me yet, and discover new details I hadn’t consciously intended. This can be especially great if you’re getting bored with your world or you otherwise want to prompt some new ideas.

P.S. I’m working on a new–much prettier–edition of The Mirror-Hunter Chronicles right now; the interior has been drastically re-formatted and the back cover has been reworked for a better look. If you want to hear when that edition launches–either to step into Ambrel for the first time in this new edition or just to add a prettier and more readable edition to your library–sign up below and be one of the first to hear about the relaunch!

Calligraphy Guild: If you dislike an element of your world, it might be out of sync

When I was writing Calligraphy Guild, I was only about a year into my journey of building worlds with cultural worldview in mind. I understood that worldview colors everything, but I hadn’t quite sorted out how that looks in certain corners of worldbuilding.

As I was writing, Sakura’s schedule and her attitude toward school–as well as Sinh’s–always felt wrong. I couldn’t pinpoint why, but I knew that Sakura wasn’t the kind of character who should hate school and I also knew that the school structure I had put in place was one Sakura would not enjoy.

Then it finally clicked. Sakura wasn’t the problem; the school structure was. I had shaped it after American public school by default (and, ironically, not even after my own personal experience). Not only did it not fit with Sakura and the character I was working with; it didn’t fit with the culture I had built. I had made a point to shape the entire Hairen society around community, family, and the arts… and I had failed to apply those same principles to their educational structure. (This inspired my post on “fantasy school… or not,” and I recommend checking that out for more on the topic.) Sakura was behaving like she belonged in the culture I’d built, and Hairen’s educational structure was decidedly not.

Now, hopefully it’s clear that the point here is not “never base your educational system off of American public schools” (though if you want to know whether or not that would be a good fit, check out the post above). The point is, if an element of your world–or even what appears to be a character issue–is rubbing you the wrong way, if you’re enjoying your world except that one point… take a look at that piece in relation to everything else. Compare it against the values you’ve established for the culture, or the foundational principles of your world as a whole. Make sure that you’re not, like I was, missing some crucial piece that would bring that element back into line with everything else.

Not sure how to know what’s out of line? I can help! Check out the Worldbuilders Guild and sign up below to get on the waitlist and be one of the first to join this spring!

Writers, which of these lessons was most helpful to you? What lessons have you learned from your own writing projects?

Readers, which of these stories interests you most? Did you enjoy the peek behind the scenes at the making of these books?

Comment below and let’s chat!

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Developing a Fictional Government — The Short Version

If you’re like me, developing governments and politics might not be the most thrilling part of worldbuilding. But it is an important facet to think through–especially if your stories tend to prominently feature governments and/or politics. (Anyone else end up writing lots of political stories even though you’re not a big politics person?) So today I’m going to show you the most critical pieces of shaping a fictional government. Once you have these principles in place, the rest is a lot easier and less time-consuming.

The Function of Government

First, it must be noted that government is inherent to society, whether or not it’s systematized. Every family, every group, every organization, every nation has some sort of government that informs the way it runs and what rules are enforced. The fundamental function of government is to bring order to a body and ensure that it remains within predetermined parameters, using rules and consequences administered by those in authority. Government is found at every level, from self-government all the way up to the government of an entire empire. It’s important to be aware that where there is no intentional structure, the gap will be filled by rules, authorities, and consequences that were not intended. It is inevitable that your world will have some form of government within it.

But as you look beyond the fundamental reality of government, you can consider the function(s) that a particular culture would assign to its government. Was your culture’s government instituted to keep its populace safe, to keep them in line with an externally imposed set of rules, to simply enforce inherent moral law, or for some other purpose?

What purpose your culture assigns to its government will be informed, as always, by that culture’s values. A culture that values liberty will likely have a more hands-off government that only steps in where civilian order fails, while a culture that values safety might want its government to step in more often and provide security, and a society that values order might have a strict, legalistic government.

Of course, your culture’s purpose for its government may or may not align with the purpose the government assumes once in power. Government authorities may overstep their responsibilities or shift the focus of government. Whether or not the governed notice–or can do anything about it–will depend on further details of your government’s structure and, again, the values of your culture as a whole; shifts in line with your culture’s existing values may be excused even if they’re not fundamentally proper for the government to focus on.

The fundamental function of government, the functions assigned to a specific government by a given culture, and the functions taken on by a government in practice may or may not fully match. These three categories of government purpose are the foundational base for shaping the structure of your fictional government.

Three Spheres of Government

In general, any government—intentional or not—will have three primary tasks: to outline and communicate law, to interpret and apply the law, and to punish those who break the law. These powers may be broken up by category, or one part of the government may be assigned multiple categories to handle; that’s where government structure comes in. But let’s first look at the functions of each of these spheres in brief.

Legislative Responsibilities

Your culture’s legislature has the responsibility of outlining law and communicating that law to its people. This does not necessarily mean that your legislature is creating law; some cultures will only put words to the basic moral law their consciences already understand, while others may impose additional laws for the sake of clarity or control.

What your culture writes legislation on will depend on–you guessed it–what they value. Cultures that value religion may take law directly from the perceived and/or known will of their god(s), cultures valuing liberty may draw laws from conscience, cultures aiming for safety may have laws to prohibit a great number of potential dangers (maybe even everyday hazards), etc.

In the legislative category, there is also the responsibility of communicating the law to citizens–whether that means printing charters for each region of the kingdom, distributing charters to those with judicial responsibilities, posting laws in relevant locations (e.g. laws of transportation provided upon purchase of a means of conveyance, laws for food and drink posted in eating establishments, laws on discourse posted in debate halls and other places of frequent discussion, etc.), etc.

Judicial Responsibilities

With the law established and communicated, it moves into the hands of the judicial party. The magistrate may overlap with the legislature and/or the executive, or may be separate to avoid a conflict of interest or too much power entrusted to one person/group. Regardless, the magistrate is responsible for interpreting the law and applying it to specific cases, passing verdicts and judgment on those thought to infringe on the law.

A judiciary body cannot be impartial. Because sentient beings have biases, it is inevitable that they will judge from those biases—despite their best efforts otherwise. As such, you must determine how your society manages this reality, if they are even aware of it. If they are unaware of this element of judgment, they may have more difficulties in judicial contexts and a bigger problem with partiality in legal cases. If they are aware of it, they may not care; certain classes may be discriminated against knowingly, without recourse. Or, of course, your culture may find ways to minimize the adverse effects of an inherently biased judiciary. Does your culture require the majority of a diverse jury to agree on a verdict before it is passed? Do they require members from every class in their nation to be represented on a smaller judiciary panel? Are biases controlled, with judges representing the largest population of their region? In each case, different consequences will apply and need to be considered—to varying degrees depending on the kind of story you are telling.

Executive Responsibilities

The chief executive of a nation—be it an emperor, president, king, chieftan, etc.—will serve as the face of that nation. He or she represents their nation to others, and to their own people, and thus shapes widespread perception of the nation they govern. If your culture cares about how their nation looks to those around it, this may shape the requirements for an executive.

This part of government is also responsible for fulfilling the law, which means that general law enforcement, investigative departments, and those responsible for carrying out sentences all fall under the executive category. This is where you’ll need to think about the consequences of criminal actions, because the executive will be responsible for carrying out those sentences (though they’re determined at the legislative level).

Cultural Values & Government Structure

Now that the general functions and responsibilities of government have been laid out, we can start to look at how they might be structured. Does your government have a separation of powers? Is there some overlap, with one branch still separated–either above the others or simply kept separate for ethical reasons? Or are they all wrapped up together under one leader or council?

The way that these various aspects of government function can also be determined by government structure. Take, for example, any sort of constitutional government; the government’s actions are limited by an existing piece of legislation, which requires a whole process to alter.

Again, what your government can do and how it is shaped will depend on your culture’s overarching values, and, in fact, I have a whole list of potential government types along with some notes on what types of cultures might choose (or allow) them. If you’re looking for a quick-start resource, I recommend checking it out.

The overall questions you’ll want to ask are: Who can wield power (the rich, the intelligent, the elected, etc.)? Within that group, who is responsible for what responsibilities? And what are the limits of their power, if any?

There are the basic building blocks of a fictional government, distilled from a much longer chunk of the book I’m currently writing about worldbuilding. (Check out the progress bar in the sidebar for a quick glimpse at how far through I am.) If you’re interested in hearing more about that book as it gets closer to completion and publication, sign up to the newsletter below (plus, get access to the worldbuilding checklist and accompanying mini-course that goes through the core elements of your world!). And thank Catherine Hawthorn for the push to turn these worldbuilding posts into a book in the first place!

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you find is the most difficult (or the easiest) part of developing a government? Do you enjoy the process, as a whole, or wish you didn’t have to spend so much energy on it?

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Why You Should Choose to Love Your Project

If you’ve started a project, chances are you love at least one thing about that project; otherwise, why invest time in it? But do you know why you love it? Do you know how to keep that spark burning once you hit the murky middle, you’re struggling to wrap up all your plot threads surrounding the climax, or you’re fighting through edits?

Today I want to talk about why you should choose something to love about your project, and how that’s going to help you through the writing process and beyond.

Start with the Basics

If you’re doing this exercise at the outset of your project, it will probably be pretty easy to choose at least one thing about your project that you love. The idea is fresh, the concepts are exciting, and all you have to do is capture these details on paper. What do you love about the idea? What is your favorite aspect of the story to write? What scene(s) can you not wait to get to (and why)?

If you’ve already passed the excitement phase and you’re into the mundane stage of maintaining a writing habit to hit the mark of a completed draft, or you’re struggling to maintain editing momentum, then you might have to do some harder thinking. Think back to when you started. What did you love about the project then? How has the story developed as you’ve gone along, and what are some ways in which it’s gotten stronger? What new details have come out in this draft that you couldn’t have imagined when you started? What scenes or characters still make you happy when you work on them? What is your mission with this book?

Write down anything you can think of. The more things you can find, the easier it will be to regain your motivation, but even just one thing you love about the project–if it’s a meaningful enough thing–can be enough to remind you why you’re working on this project.

Why Write it Down?

We humans are forgetful creatures, and when the going gets tough it’s all too easy to say, “Maybe a different project would be easier.” Sure it will be… for about as long as this one was easy. The fact is, you can’t write a book on emotion alone; eventually, your emotions will shift and you’ll get distracted by something that’s easier or feels more fun in the moment. If you’re a new writer, there’s nothing wrong with that, but if you’re trying to complete a project then it’s going to be a problem.

Writing down what we love about our projects helps us remember the why behind the initial interest in our ideas–and sometimes even a measure of those new-project emotions–so that we can remind ourselves of the purpose of these projects and motivate ourselves with meaning instead of fleeting feelings.

These notes of things you love can help you through the mundane and difficult stages of writing, and they’ll also help you to communicate that love for your project to readers when the time comes to share your book. Chances are, the right readers will love (at least some of) the same things you do about your book!

Adapting the List

Your list of things you love about this project doesn’t have to stay static. If you lose interest in the characters that were keeping you going, find something new to love. If your story changes with revisions and new things pop up, add them to the list. If you mature in your writing skill and suddenly you look back at projects that aren’t as good as you remembered, hunt for new things to appreciate. (This is especially important with projects you’ve already published!)

Your project isn’t static as long as its in progress, and neither is your level of writing skill; let the list of things you love about each project grow and shift with you.

Examples from My Books

I had this lesson hit me strongest when I was struggling to like Lost Girl. I’d grown, the story was more romance-heavy than most of what I write, the writing wasn’t totally up to my current standards, and it just wasn’t something I liked. But other people were reading it and enjoying it, and I didn’t want my lack of affection for the story to prevent readers from finding it if it was their thing. So I reread it with the aim of finding something to like, I let it be what it was instead of what I wished it was, and I realized it actually wasn’t that bad! Since then, I’ve ensured that I always have something to love about each of my projects.

Lost Girl is fluffy, it’s insta-lovey, it’s not something I would likely write now. But, it’s enjoyable fluff. It’s sweet if you want something that focuses on the romance and doesn’t take very long to read. I still enjoy the Neverland setting and the bit of exploring I did with Lost Girl. And there are some pretty cool lines in there, if I may say so.

With Short Story Collection vol. 1, I love that I get to introduce readers to two of the worlds that I’ve explored most in my writing: Esleon and Deseran. I love that there’s something out there that gives readers a taste of those worlds that have been living in my head so long, even though full novel projects take me a lot longer to get out there (though Calligraphy Guild does take place in Deseran).

The Mirror-Hunter Chronicles is unlike anything else I currently plan to write. It’s quirky, it’s fairytale-centric and draws from that world significantly. But that’s the fun of it! I love the fairytale vibes, Solem is a really fun narrator, and I enjoy the way I got to weave together a bunch of different fairytales into one continuous story.

Calligraphy Guild‘s list of “loves” is too long to include here. I love the characters, the world, the educational structure of Virilia, the romance, the friendships, the writing community, the overarching community, the dragon ink, the quiet fantasy tone… etc. etc.

There are two reasons I’m sharing these examples. One is because I do like my books, so I like talking about them and sharing them with readers who might enjoy them. But reason #2 is that I hope these examples demonstrate that your lists can look different for different projects. If one project has a list too long to document and another project just has one primary feature that you love, that’s okay. That doesn’t (necessarily) mean that the latter project is less worthwhile to pursue–or promote.

What is one thing you love about your current project? If you have a book published, what do you love about it?

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Worldbuilding Lessons from a History Major – Guest Post by Cate VanNostrand

Today I’m excited to share a guest post from Cate VanNostrand, who has been a long-time friend and supporter of my work and, I’m happy to announce, recently launched a blog where you can learn more about her and her work! There will be a link to her website at the bottom of the post and I highly recommend you check it out. But for now I’ll pass you over to her!

History has a huge impact on the way we write. Whether we’re basing our stories off of real-life historical events or using history to inspire our own worldbuilding efforts, history has the power to shape our writing and help us improve our craft. Here are some of the things I’ve learned as a history major and how I’ve applied them to my storyworld.

Lesson 1: Sometimes We Only Remember the Highlights

If someone were to ask you to name one moment in French history, what would you say?

The French Revolution is often what springs to mind first for most of us. However, France has been around since 486, when Clovis I became the first official “king of the Franks”. There are so many interesting figures of French history. Joan of Arc, the nineteen-year-old warrior who put Charles VII on the throne and helped end the 100 Years War, is one example. Charles de Gaulle, a World War II military leader and later president of France, is another.

Russian history is another great example. Most of us know how the Romanovs were brutally murdered in 1918 due to their royal standing, but few of us also know that Russia used to be commandeered by Vikings (more on that later). While some historic moments will never (and should never) be forgotten, sometimes we forget just how deep a culture’s history goes.

This can come into play in your worldbuilding. If you’re writing a story with multiple peoples, consider what each civilization knows about each other. In Lord of the Rings, almost everyone knows how Isildur defeated Sauron, and how he also took the One Ring for himself. But few people know that Númenor was destroyed because Men rebelled against Eru Illuvatar (Tolkien’s version of God) and worshiped Morgoth.

And don’t forget to take current events vs. history into account. In my work in progress, Heart of an Elf, the Woodland Elves are familiar with the Dwarven Wars and how the current king is the laughingstock of his realm. However, only elven scholars know about how the first human king after the Great Fire was courageous and led his people to victory against the Fallen Dwarves. Current events can have a huge impact on how one civilization views another; using history to show a kingdom’s true colors is a great way to give your storyworld depth.

Lesson 2: Some Legends Are Based in Truth

Legends are often founded in truth, or some semblance of it. King Arthur is said to have led the Britons against Anglo-Saxon leaders (this historical theory is the inspiration behind the 2004 movie King Arthur). Robin Hood’s existence is questionable, yet some scholars believe that the character from the 1819 novel Ivanhoe was based on real men who were loyal to King Richard the Lionheart. Even Abraham Lincoln and George Washington have become American legends.

When building the history of your storyworld, consider people who could be a source of heroism and inspiration for your characters. In Lord of the Rings, Lúthien Tinúviel was a legendary she-elf who passed up immortality in order to be with her love, Beren. Her story is referenced in The Fellowship of the Ring, and again in “The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen,” when Aragorn calls Arwen by Lúthien’s name. Who are some people that you can make into legends for your characters to look up to?

Lesson 3: Not Everyone Views History the Same Way

Last semester, I had the amazing opportunity to take a class on Russian history. One thing that stood out to me was the beginning of Russia, or “Kievan Rus”, as it was called. The origins of the Russian Empire are fairly sketchy, and due to this, there’s some division among Russian historians. The most prevalent theory (known as the Norman theory) dictates that the first king of Russia was a Viking named Rurik. The primary source for the Norman theory is The Russian Primary Chronicle, written by Nestor, a Russian monk. The problem with the Norman theory is that the Chronicle is not a completely trustworthy source, and this creates issues for the Russian historian community. In addition, there are some pro-Eastern historians that do not want their country to be affiliated with Vikings or any other Western located influence.

The point I’m making is that some people view history differently, either due to the difference in their cultures (when people hear about Vikings, they picture Ireland or Norway but not usually Russia) or because they don’t want to accept that as a viable theory. While this can be a headache for historians, it’s an easy way to create conflict in your storyworld.

Do your characters view history similarly across the geographical board? In the 2019 film Captain Marvel, Kree pilot Carol Danvers and her friends find out that the Skrull (an alien species Danvers has been told to fight against) were not the instigators of the Kree-Skrull conflict as Danvers was brought to believe, but were instead war-torn refugees. In Kara Swanson’s Heirs of Neverland trilogy, Peter and Claire believe that Captain Hook is a complete villain, but his side of the story is far more complex and tragic than they could have guessed.

One of your characters may have learned about a war or a certain era from one perspective. However, that may not be the same for other characters.

Lesson 4: Some Great Stories Fall Through the Cracks

Have you ever seen a movie where one of the subtitles is, “based on the forgotten true story”? Some amazing stories from history can fall through the cracks. NASA mathematician Margaret Johnson wasn’t a name that came up in our history textbooks, but after the 2017 movie Hidden Figures came out, her story became a nationwide sensation.

Additionally, an event that one culture may have never known about may be an essential part of another country’s culture. In my world history class last spring, we learned the sad story of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, an organization in the 1970s that fiercely protested against the Argentinian human rights violations. During my thirteen years of school, I had never heard how these brave women tied their childrens’ nappies around their heads and rallied against Argentina’s dictator, begging for the 3000 missing to come back home alive. But my teacher was Columbian, and all too familiar with the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and many similar heart-wrenching stories.

This sad historical fact can have an impact on your storyworld’s history. Maybe one of your elf’s ancestors turns out to be a human, the first to marry an elf. (I’ve noticed that the lost-but-true-story technique works really well in terms of genealogy.) Finding out forgotten historical moments can change a character’s motivations entirely–and revamp your plot in the process.

Lesson 5: A Clash of Worldviews Can Lead to Pivotal Moments in History

All wars, battles, revolutions, and major political upheavals typically come down to one primary motive – a clash of worldviews. The Russian Revolution is one major example. The Romanov family had occupied the throne of the Russian Empire for 300 years, but in 1917, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate when the Bolsheviks caused the people to revolt against their tsar. While the royal family’s worldview was aristocratic and focused mainly on tradition, the common people were tired of decrepit living conditions. The result of the opposing mindsets was both tragic and dramatic.

The French Revolution worked in a similar fashion when starving peasants overthrew the restrictive and apathetic monarchy. After the dust settled, Napoleon Bonaparte, with a more expansive and less aggressive worldview, took over as dictator of France.

How can you use this in your worldbuilding? Think of it this way: what happens when differing worldviews collide? They cause conflict. Conflict is vital to a story’s progression. In Jodi Lynn Anderson’s Tiger Lily, Tiger Lily’s people and the pirates are separated by their worldviews, due to the pirates’ love for murder and revenge and the Wind People’s aversion to violence. In my own storyworld, Ilmarien, there was a huge divide between the three first elven brothers because one was extremely devoted to Elu (who is God in my world), one was agnostic, and the oldest bound himself to Versu (who acts as Satan in my world). The results were catastrophic, but they helped to cause tensions between my elven characters. How can you use opposing worldviews to enhance the history of your world?

History isn’t for everybody. But when you take the time to examine Earth’s past and how we have changed with the times, you’ll find plenty of ways to build up your world’s history and make it stand out.

I hope this helps illustrate ways you can dig deeper into writing your storyworld’s history. Comment below what you think! Do you mirror historical events in your writing?

About the Author

​Cate VanNostrand is a college student and freelance editor living in the South with her three siblings, her amazing parents, and her imaginary pet phoenix Lasair. Cate’s life’s goal is to honor God with her writing, wherever He leads her. She can often be found scribbling down words in a notebook, or frantically typing them into coherent form on her laptop. When she’s not writing, she’s probably singing to rock music, pretending she can play the piano, and binge-reading YA novels like there’s no tomorrow. Find out all about her and her latest work at the Southern Story Scribbler.

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How to Approach Worldbuilding as Problem-Solving

I recently talked with an author who told me she struggles to worldbuild for her own projects and generate all the details, but she loves helping other authors refine their worlds and problem-solve.

Is this you, too? If you’re a problem-solving author and you feel like it takes more energy than it should to generate the initial ideas for your world, I want to challenge the way you think about worldbuilding.

Worldbuilding is Problem-Solving

When you flesh out your world, you’re solving problems for your characters. You’re figuring out where they’re going to live, what they’re going to eat, what sort of work they’re going to do, how they’re going to find entertainment, etc.

This is true of whole societies, as well. The societies you build will have problems, and they’ll need solutions to those problems. Worldbuilding solves those challenges–whether they’re challenges unique to the society you’re shaping or they’re the challenges naturally faced by any fallible society.

All that you need to have built “from scratch” in order to solve these problems are the tools you need at your disposal for constructing the answers: the resources and values of the context in which your characters live.

Geographical Context

The geographical context of your setting will inform what resources your characters have for meeting their physical and societal needs. Maybe the question you’re immediately interested in answering is, “What is my character’s home like?” The setting and resources around that character will influence the answer. What resources are primarily used for building (stone, wood, etc.)? If homes in this culture reflect the natural world around them, what does that natural world look like? What natural shelter can be found in this setting?

Obviously, the more detail you have, the easier these questions will be to answer. But you don’t have to build entire biomes in order to flesh out your character’s world. If you take just a few minutes to choose a handful of physical resources and give the area a basic physical shape (are there mountains, forests, a river, etc.?), you’ll have what you need to start answering questions. (Which, in my experience, will lead to more questions which will lead to more answers which will lead to a more and more fleshed-out world.)

Cultural Values

While I personally love diving into the values of a culture, that step can be super quick, too! All you really need are 2-3 core values (concepts like beauty, vitality, strength, faith, piety, wealth, etc.) to give you a powerful starting point. A culture that values efficiency may craft very simple houses, or simply work with what shelter already exists; a culture that values beauty or the natural world may spend more time crafting aesthetically-pleasing homes that reflect their surroundings; and different combinations of values will add greater variation.

For more on this idea, sign up for the free Worldbuilding Checklist mini-course! I elaborate on this point in one of the first emails in the series.

After you have these two foundational elements in place, everything else is a matter of asking and answering questions–and you can absolutely limit the list to questions that are relevant to your characters and story. If your strength is problem-solving, focus on that in your worldbuilding! There is no one-size-fits-all approach; make your process work for you.

If you’re looking for help uncovering the right process for you, check out The Worldbuilding Toolbox, where I cover the key elements of strong worldbuilding and different approaches to help you get there.

The post How to Approach Worldbuilding as Problem-Solving appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

Self-Publishing Resource Round-Up

With the new year and new goals, it seemed like a good time to put together a list of resources for those of you looking into indie publishing. This is far from an exhaustive list, but it gathers all of the resources that I’ve used (as well as a couple I haven’t). Feel free to drop your additions to the list in the comments if you’ve found great self-publishing tools yourself!

*Links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission on purchases made through them at no extra cost to you.Blog Posts & Online Articles

Indie Publishing 101: Traditional vs. Independent Publishing – Scribes & Archers

Indie Publishing 101: What Does it Really Take? – Scribes & Archers

Indie Publishing 101: Non-negotiables (and what you can get away without) – Scribes & Archers

Indie Publishing 101: What NOT to Do – Scribes & Archers

Why to Invest in Developmental Edits – Scribes & Archers

Why to Invest in Line Edits – Scribes & Archers

Why to Invest in Copy-Edits – Scribes & Archers

Author Career Investments You Should Be Making – Scribes & Archers

More Author Career Investments You Should Be Making – Scribes & Archers

Building Your Community as an Author – Scribes & Archers

How to Write a Back Cover Copy for Your Book – Go Teen Writers (I pull this up every time I need to write a book blurb!)

Average Industry Rates for Email as of September 2023 – Constant Contact

2023 Email Marketing ROI Statistics: Open Rate to Revenue – Barilliance

Books

The Productive Writer by Sage Cohen

The Business of Being a Writer* by Jane Friedman (This book has a heavy emphasis on traditional publishing rather than indie publishing, but still has a lot of good info)

The Extroverted Writer* by Amanda Luedeke

Platform* by Michael Hyatt

How to Market a Book* by Joanna Penn

Editors & Service Providers

Jane Maree – Developmental editing, line editing, and proofreading. I worked with Jane on Calligraphy Guild and I suspect she’s a better fit for faster-paced works, but her overall editorial skill is solid (especially when it comes to grammar and proofreading).

R.M. Archer – Line editing with add-on technical edits (copy-edits and proofreads). I specialize in speculative fiction but accept most genres on a case-by-case basis.

Claire Tucker – Line editing, copy-editing, and proofreading

Hope Ann – Line editor and prose coach

Emma Flournoy – Proofreading

Kristianne Hassman – Virtual assistant

Naomi Sowell – Virtual assistant

Covers & Formatting

99designs

This is where I got my Calligraphy Guild cover from Alli May, as well as the artwork I used for one of my bookmarks which was designed by RavenFire. The 99designs model–setting up a query with some information about the book and my general ideas for the cover, then letting artists submit designs–worked really well for me, but you can also work with artists on the platform directly if you know exactly what you’re looking for.

99designs also offers interior formatting, though I don’t have any personal experience with that branch of their services yet.

Any eBook Converter

If you need to convert your book to .epub or .mobi for ARC readers or direct customers, this tool works well. Ebook conversion is always a little bit awkward, but Any eBook Converter has made it the least awkward out of anything I’ve used thus far.

Publishing & Sales Platforms

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing

This is what I’ve ended up using for all of my books so far, for printing as well as most of my distribution. It’s simple to use and there isn’t a lot of overhead for the platform itself; they do, however, take a 40% royalty off of sales (a rate which has increased recently).

Their paperbacks are solid quality and their ebook conversion is fairly reliable. They have a new hardcover option that I haven’t used yet because the only option currently available is for laminate hardcovers (no dust jacket; the cover is printed directly on the book). Some covers look good on a laminate hardcover; I just don’t like the look for any of my currently published works.

Pre-order services are only available for ebooks right now; there is no option to put hard copies up for pre-order.

Amazon’s customer service is pretty hit-or-miss (I can’t remember if I’ve had to interact with them for KDP, specifically), but their informational database usually communicates clearly and is a helpful resource.

IngramSpark

I tried using IngramSpark for Calligraphy Guild because it enables you to put hard copies up for pre-order. I didn’t get very far because their initial upload cost was expensive ($50/book) and the actual upload process was a headache; the very precise file requirements were complicated to accommodate, and I didn’t personally find the cost (in time and money) worth it. The upload cost has since been removed; I’m not sure if the upload process has gotten any smoother in the years since I tried using Ingram.

IngramSpark does allow you to create a nice hardcover with a dust jacket, but their website doesn’t do a good job of displaying what options are available so I’m not sure what exactly they offer as far as hardcover design. On the clarity point, you can find answers to your questions on the IngramSpark website if you know what to ask, but their base navigation goes in circles and it’s hard to find things like their profit gauge or what formats they offer from their main page. I haven’t worked with their customer service; hopefully the communication is clearer there.

It’s also important to note that IngramSpark focuses on wholesale for bookstores and libraries rather than direct sales to readers, so you’ll make a lower profit when you factor in the recommended bulk-order discount for those retailers, but you’ll likely have a better chance of reaching those retailers than through Amazon alone (and, ideally, those retailers will buy in bulk, thus bumping up your profit through quantity). That said, KDP still seems to be the best option for sales directly to readers (and the print cost is a little higher with IngramSpark vs. KDP, so KDP is still your best bet if you want to print your books for direct sale through your website, as well).

Vervante

Vervante has tons of paperback printing options, from everyday novel paperbacks to notebooks and the like. They can even do covers with gold foiling! Their customer service is great, and they’re great if you want a really independent option. The catch is… they’re really expensive. Paperback copies of Calligraphy Guild would have cost me almost $22 each if I’d gone with Vervante, versus the $5.52 printing cost through KDP. For myself currently, Vervante is only an option in my mind for special edition printings.

WooCommerce

This is the tool I use for my website shop, and thus far I’ve only had trouble with it once (which was a problem with the order in which I updated my plugins, not a problem with the platform itself). If you want to distribute independently, WooCommerce is a great tool for doing so.

ISBN Services

For acquiring your own ISBNs (versus having an ISBN generated for your book by Amazon), ISBN Services is a good, affordable option. If you’re using a printing service other than KDP, having your own ISBN is a necessity.

Online Marketing Resources

Coursera* – Online college course catalogue

Passive Income Superstars – Marketing blog and newsletter

GotPrint – Bookmarks, business cards, etc.

VistaPrint – Business cards, etc.

Buffer – Social media scheduling

MailerLite* – Newsletter platform. (Side note: Leaving Mailchimp for MailerLite was one of the best decisions I’ve made for my business.)

Interested in a checklist for the self-publishing process? Sign up to the Scribes & Archers mailing list to get access to my freshly updated self-publishing checklist!

The post Self-Publishing Resource Round-Up appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

How I Became an Editor (and What I’ve Learned)

As I open my freelance editing services for the year, I wanted to talk a bit about how that branch of my business got started, some of the things I’ve learned along the way, and my values as an editor.

Over the years, I’ve had people ask me about how I got started because they’re interested in starting freelance editing businesses of their own, so I thought it would be helpful to put all of that information together in one place and touch on some details I haven’t always brought up in those discussions.

I’ve also talked to authors who don’t have much experience in finding editors who are a good fit for their work (and I’ve been that author, myself), and I hope that this post gives insight into what to look for (and what to avoid).

So without further ado, let’s get into it.

Reading with an Editor’s Eye

I’ve been asked whether I always liked editing, and I do think I’ve always liked critiquing things. I know I’ve always loved opportunities to encourage authors and help them strengthen their stories wherever I’m able! I’m a naturally analytical person, I can generally pull out the good and the bad in a project somewhat instinctively, so I’m often giving some sort of mental critique to anything I read–even if that “critique” is only pulling out the really skillful lines because whatever I’m reading is well-written.

I started really exercising that tendency for any useful purpose when I started beta-reading a long while back, and I enjoyed that process. I was in online writing groups where writers would occasionally ask for beta-readers for XYZ project, and I got into a habit of volunteering. I didn’t always finish those projects, but I practiced on several books that way and I did finish maybe half of them. (Don’t worry; I don’t carelessly drop projects anymore! I’ll talk about consistency a little later.)

Over the years, with more beta-reading experience and more regular reading experience with indie books, I figured out that I really love line editing. I love to tweak prose so that it’s stronger and conveys its meaning even better. I love catching small inconsistencies. I love just taking what’s there and smoothing it out so that it’s at its most effective and the reader doesn’t trip over it. I enjoy proofreading for somewhat similar reasons, and because I’m really good at catching those detail mistakes in someone else’s work. (Authors I’ve worked with have said so; that’s not just me puffing myself up, lol.) While I do also notice some bigger-picture weaknesses when I read, those issues don’t stand out to me with as much consistency; they take a lot more work to look for, if I want to be thorough on that level.

In short, I always liked editing, and I enjoyed it more and more as I figured out what I’m good at and where my passion lies.

A Desire to Help Indies

While I’d enjoyed casually beta-reading, the thought of starting an editing business didn’t really arise until I got deeper into the indie publishing world. A read a lot of indie books that were excellent where the big-picture elements were concerned but had awkward prose or were riddled with grammatical errors. (One book was so poorly edited I actually took red pen to it. Most were just a little awkward.) The big picture was great; the details to communicate and accentuate that big picture just needed a bit more fine-tuning.

I valued these indie authors (still do), and it pained me to see their books just lacking the one final polish that would allow their readers to be fully immersed in the story, so I started to think… I’d already been “editing” these books in my head: pulling out the strengths and weaknesses, thinking up smoother sentences, correcting improper punctuation, etc. Why not become an editor and put myself in a position to actually help these authors before their books went out? I knew that as an indie author myself, I would want to work with an editor to smooth over those rough spots!

The concept of starting an editing business was highly driven by this appreciation for indie publishing and the authors within that community. I value giving indie authors good editing options and a professional experience, and I do my best to provide that on my own part; I hope I succeed. I think it’s important to give authors options that suit their writing style and story, with quality feedback, which is another guiding principle of how I select projects to take on and my goals for referrals. But more on that later.

If you think we might be a good fit, check out my line editing services!

Learn more

Getting Started & Accountability

I didn’t have any official qualifications when I got started–in fact, I still don’t. I do plan to go through a certificate program at some point, and I think it is critical to have some sort of feedback from someone who knows their stuff before you get started. For me, this feedback came from my parents, both of whom are editors in some capacity. Their experience allowed them to know when I was really good enough to edit for other authors.

I do think a certificate program is a good idea, if and when you’re in a position to go through one, because it will not only put a rubber stamp on your skills but also refresh any knowledge you might be missing without realizing it. (For the same reason, it’s really helpful to keep something like the Chicago Manual of Style on hand so you can double-check things if you’re not sure about them.)

After getting the green light on your general editorial know-how, I recommend editing a handful of projects in exchange for testimonials. Especially if you don’t do something like a certificate program (or a whole course/degree, for that matter), it helps to have some honest reviews upfront so that prospective customers know what to expect–and so that you know how good you actually are and where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

If I recall correctly, I edited two short stories, a novella, and two novels before officially launching my business (not counting beta-reading projects). I have testimonials from four of those. Besides getting that social proof for my business, working on projects as if they were actually my job helped me figure out some of my weak spots.

Pricing & Payment

Once I was ready to officially open my editing business in 2018, I researched the average pricing for freelance editing services. I based my own pricing on the low end of those estimates for two reasons:

1) I was just starting out, so I knew I still had a lot of room to grow in comparison to more established editors.

2) Since my core audience is made up of indie authors on low budgets, I wanted to keep my pricing affordable.

I can’t remember what data went into my initial decision to charge per page vs. per word; I know that was also based on my research, but I didn’t keep my receipts, so to speak. That said, I can tell you why I’m glad now that I operate on that model. For one thing, again, per-page rates are more affordable for authors. The same book will usually cost less by a couple hundred dollars if you work with an editor who charges per page instead of per word. Secondly, it’s simpler for me to keep track of my progress in pages as I’m working, so it helps me to keep the focus on page count rather than word count.

I don’t have my original pricing written down (I wish I’d thought ahead at the time), but the most I charged per page was $3 and I was charging the most for developmental edits, then line edits, then copy-edits. The earliest pricing I have record of was when I started promoting my services in 2020: $2/page each for line edits and copy-edits or $3/page for both. Since I had figured out what I was good at, I eliminated developmental editing from my roster and raised my copy-editing prices.

In 2022, I adjusted again to highlight my line editing services–and to align with the market standard of charging more for line edits than copy-edits. At that point, I kept the $2/page price for line edits, lowered my copy-editing price to $1/page, and made the combined service $2.50/page.

My last price change was at the beginning of 2023, after working with more clients and discovering that copy-editing takes more energy from me if I’m not also doing line edits. I also did more research on current pricing–since the last I’d looked at standard pricing had been five years prior–and discovered that I was way undercharging by the market standard. Now that I had more work under my belt, I wanted my pricing to better reflect that experience and skill. I still aimed for the lower end of the current average–still wanting to keep my pricing accessible–and my pricing is now $4/page for line edits with $2/page to add-on copy-edits (which are no longer available as a standalone service).

But let me distill this into some useful tips:

1. Know the current market standard, at least when you’re starting out, and check in on it periodically. This not only includes knowing what is generally charged for your kind(s) of edits, but also knowing things like the fact that editing prices are tiered based on type, with developmental edits costing the most, line edits in the middle, and copy-edits at the bottom.

Don’t check these standards obsessively; if your pricing works for you, don’t try to change it every year or something. That said, it may be helpful to know where you stand in the market on a yearly basis or so even if you make a rule to only change your pricing every 3-5 years or with a significant change in your services.

2. It’s okay to try different pricing options when you’re starting out to see what works. I know I just said not to change your pricing every year, right after showing that I changed mine in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2023. When you’re getting started, you might not know what you need to charge, or what is reasonable to charge, and it is okay to experiment until you find out. Just make sure that you settle in one place for long enough to actually find out whether or not it works. This settling includes marketing your services, working with authors, etc.; if you’re not doing that (at least the marketing), then you’re not actually testing your pricing.

3. Your experience level should affect your pricing. Cost is one marker by which authors can tell whether or not you’re an experienced, professional, high-quality editor. This does not mean that cost is a universal signal, that expensive editors always know what they’re doing and cheap editors are always bad at their job. However, it can be a helpful indicator when taken with additional data. So when you’re just starting out, you might do well to charge less; you’ll build up your experience and reputation with lower-budget authors, and you’ll make some money while you learn your lingering strengths and weaknesses on the job. Once you get some more projects under your belt and you shore up your weak spots, you can increase your prices. This applies to different types of editing, as well; if you have more skill or experience in one or two areas, charge more for those than for areas in which you’re weaker; make sure that you are paying back on the investment that authors are putting in for your services. (If you’re a lot weaker in one area than another, consider whether you should really be offering that service or if you should pare down to your strengths.)

As a side note for anyone wondering, I use PayPal invoices for payments and it has worked really well for me so far.

Staying Focused

When I was beta-reading, it was a hobby. I read things when I had the time, and sometimes I let myself drop projects due to lost interest or procrastinate so long that I missed the author’s deadline. Initially, I brought that same attitude into editing. While I tried to combat it some, procrastination was still an issue.

When you’re doing something as a prospective job, it puts a new perspective on things. I realized as I was working on projects for testimonials that I was not prioritizing these projects–or their authors–and I was not doing a good job of paying back these authors for what they’d invested in me (at that point, their time and projects).

What I learned is that it’s really important to see editing as a high priority. If you really want to edit for someone and you want to return on the investment the author has put into you—especially once they’re paying you—you have to decide to set aside time to do it. The first step is to just make that decision and say “I’m going to get this done by the deadline.”

But there are factors that can help an editor keep on task. Knowing how long a chapter normally takes you and/or knowing how much time you can set aside for editing in a given day is a good step, because that allows you to space out your work realistically. From there you can set yourself a deadline. I know that it usually takes me about 15-30 minutes to edit a chapter (depending on the book/length of the chapters) and I can dedicate about 1-2 hours to editing before I need a change of pace. This means I can generally edit a full-length novel within a month, if the average chapter count is around 40 chapters, and I don’t normally have to do more than two chapters a day. This also leaves me buffer space if I’ve procrastinated even for a few days in a row. Knowing how much time it takes and setting aside that time are crucial points in setting realistic deadlines for yourself and establishing a consistent turnaround time.

I’m generally energized enough from editing that the excitement of getting to work with an author on their book helps to keep me going, but when a project takes more energy than it returns or when I’m just having an off day I have to rely on the discipline of, “Okay, I can survive two chapters today. Let’s do this.”

Communication

Communication is critical in an author-editor relationship. For example, if something comes up or it’s just been a rough season and you can’t meet the deadline, communicate that with the author you’re working with. Make sure they know there’s going to be a delay, and give them a new deadline to expect from you. The two novels I edited for testimonials both took me far longer than they should have; one of them I communicated well on and the other I didn’t communicate about at all. The end results were drastically different. The project on which I communicated did eventually get finished, albeit wayyyy later than was reasonable, and the author provided a glowing review of my work. I never got to finish the other project, because the author locked me out of the document before I could finish (which was totally her prerogative since I didn’t deliver within the deadline I’d promised). Safe to say, I was always very careful to keep to my deadlines and communicate with authors after that! Communication and honesty are super important. People understand delays, as long as you’re clear about them.

You should also communicate clearly about what you offer, how your pricing works, what your feedback will generally look like (editing samples are great for this), what genres you are or are not experienced in, when you have a problem with the project partway through, when you don’t understand something about their book, etc. Strong communication will save both you and the author a lot of headache and bad blood down the road.

Also, follow-up is really important. If you book a sample edit, make sure you get the document, and make sure that they get your edits back. If you haven’t heard back from them in a couple of days, reach out. Don’t wait a week. Don’t be pushy, but make sure that they have the edited document and try to set a date for working out pricing on a full project or clearly parting ways. (I speak from experience. You can lose clients by making an error in returning a sample and not rectifying the issue in a timely manner.) If you’ve gone past the date that was set for them to send you their draft, check in and see if you can set up a new start date. Sometimes authors have lost track of time, sometimes they need an extension, and you can graciously handle either situation with a polite follow-up.

If you’re an author, you should absolutely be looking for an editor who will communicate with you clearly. If the editor can’t tell you why they operate a certain way or why they made a particular suggestion, if you reach out to them and they take forever to respond (say, more than a week in business days) without explanation or apology, if they don’t seem to listen to your explanations or concerns, etc., it may be time to find another editor (for the next book, if not this one). Do have grace, because sometimes editors just have something going on, but a good editor won’t just leave you in the lurch without some explanation.

My Values as an Editor

A lot of these values have been alluded to or mentioned previously in the post, but I want to clearly lay out some of the values that I do my best to operate by as an editor–most of which I think are also qualities to seek out in an editor if you’re an author.

1. Affordability for young and indie authors

I know firsthand how expensive it can be to hire out editing for a book, especially as a young author, and that editing is only one expense on a long list for an indie author. I think it’s a worthwhile expense, and I think it’s important to value what editors do by appropriately compensating their work, but I don’t want to put more expense on an author than I reasonably have to.

In my business, I do my best to balance charging what I think my services are worth and maintaining prices that aren’t astronomical for authors.

2. Focusing on my skills & prioritizing the author’s needs

I think it’s important for editors to recognize their strengths and focus there. Honestly, I don’t think that most editors (younger editors, at least) should try to offer every type of edits, because most of us just don’t actually have the skill in all of those areas to really do them well. For my part, developmental edits are really not my strong suit, so I don’t offer them. I focus on line editing and copy-editing because I know I can do them well, and editing well is a better service to authors than editing broadly and trying to be a one-stop shop.

Focusing on my strengths isn’t something I do just to keep from becoming frustrated (though it’s good for that, too); it’s one way in which I prioritize the needs of the authors I work with. If an author comes to me needing developmental edits, my job is not to say, “Yeah, I can do that!” and do a half-baked job of it; my job is to send them to a really good developmental editor and invite them to come back when they’re ready for line edits and/or copy-edits.

When people hire me as a line editor, I will still sometimes suggest they go to a developmental editor first if I see a lot of structural issues in the book. If they choose not to and ask me to continue with the line editor, then I’ll do my best with the line edit and send an email at the end with some additional feedback related to the developmental issues I saw, as well as patterns I saw in my line edits. This feedback is for them to do with as they will (just like all of it), but I think I would be remiss as an editor to neglect mentioning areas I see for improvement. It’s always my goal to work with the author to make their story the strongest it can be, and I want to do everything in my power to that end.

This also means that it’s a high priority for me to understand the heart and voice of any project I work on. My job as a line editor is to hone an author’s prose to best convey the story they’re telling, and this means I have to make their voice shine and make suggestions that support their purpose for the story. If I don’t get why they chose the pacing they did, or why the writing style is so old-timey, or what sort of difficulties their characters are going through, and I try to make changes to those aspects without that understanding, then I’m not going to do a good job of editing for them. I might comment on some of these things and ask why they made that choice, but it’s not my job to change large elements of their book; it’s my job to enhance what they’ve written.

3. Accountability and quality

It’s very easy to get started as a freelance editor. If you have a strong social media presence, it’s easy to get noticed as a freelance editor. That does not mean that every entrepreneurial author out there is actually cut out to be an editor. Are some of them? Absolutely. I know several. I also know a few whom I would not seek out to edit my work.

This is why I think it’s super important to have accountability from someone (ideally multiple people) with experience before you get started–and to take feedback from those with experience as you continue in your business. Take a certificate program; get feedback from established editors who have both good reviews and strong results; get a lot of honest feedback from authors as you accumulate testimonials. And if you’re not ready yet, that doesn’t necessarily mean editing is something you should never pursue; it just needs to need to put in more practice and learning first.

I also think it’s important to practice quality in all aspects of your business. Don’t advertise yourself as an editor and then leave most of your business’s social media posts littered with typos. Yes, typos slip through; it happens, and everyone understands. But you should have a habit of posts that are clean of typos. It’s hard to trust an editor when their own social media, website, books, etc., aren’t edited well.

4. Being teachable

It’s important for an editor (especially a young one) to be teachable. We need to be able to admit that we don’t know something, and it’s important that we know how to find answers. We need to be able to learn rules we didn’t know before, to work within the standards of different countries as appropriate (UK spelling, anyone?), to take advice and feedback from other authors and editors, etc. Otherwise, we’re going to be bad editors and–more importantly–stay bad editors. A bad editor only becomes a good editor by being teachable and growing in their weak areas.

5. Generosity

It’s important to me to give authors as much as I can. This is why my concluding emails include things like bigger-picture issues I spotted and patterns I picked up on about their writing style (including strengths they can build on) and their common pitfalls. It’s also part of the reason that I pray for the authors I work with and for their projects, and pray that I do an effective job of strengthening the story God has given them to tell. It’s why I support authors’ books beyond the editing process by celebrating their publication, buying completed copies, and/or featuring them on my social media or in my emails.

I see editing as an investment in an author and their work. That means that I give my top attention to my editing projects whenever possible, I do what I can to encourage the authors I work with and give them what tools I have to help them succeed, I try to think long-term as well as focus on the exact project at hand, and I cover all of it in prayer because I know only God provides the clarity and wisdom needed to shape these books into the final draft He intends.

Want to work with me? Submit your query today!

Book now!

Growing as I Go

In all of this, I’m still learning and growing. I’ve learned a lot through failure; I’ve learned some by thinking ahead. I’ve learned things like, “Always double-check that the right document went through,” and, “Keep an email template to work from when you send a project back so you don’t get so carried away with excitement over the book that you forget to mention the closing payment.” A lot of what I’ve learned, I couldn’t have learned by anything but experience, and I know that I’ll continue to learn a lot more as the years go on and I work with more authors on more projects.

There are projects I haven’t served as well as I could–either because I didn’t do my best then or because I’ve grown and could simply do better now–and unfortunately you sometimes just have to let that go, knowing that you did your best with XYZ project but you can also do better with projects moving forward. Especially if you’re starting out without a lot of experience, you will have projects that you look back on with disappointment. Sometimes you have the opportunity to go back and do better on the second time around, but most of the time you have to make peace with the fact that you’re a growing human being and your past efforts might not look as good as your skill develops. (The same is true of publishing.) Don’t let that keep you from learning and growing and putting your all into the projects you work on as you move forward.

Kudos and cookies to everyone who read this very long post all the way to the end. If you have another second, comment below with your biggest takeaway from the post!

The post How I Became an Editor (and What I’ve Learned) appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

My Top 7 Writing Tools

As we get started in the new year and many of us begin working toward particular writing goals, it seemed a fitting time to share several of the writing tools that I’ve found most useful in my own process, in case they turn out to work well for you also. I’ve sorted them in terms of when I use them in my own writing process, going from outlining and prewriting all the way through editing and formatting. I hope you find the list helpful!

*Links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links, meaning I make a small commission off of purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. These links help me fund my business, and Bookshop also supports local small bookstores in the U.S.!Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland

The first resource I want to mention is K.M. Weiland’s book Structuring Your Novel*. This has been the most helpful outlining resource I’ve found; the structure laid out and the way Weiland expands on each point has been the best fit for me, personally, of any outlining resource I’ve worked with thus far.

I highly recommend checking out Structuring Your Novel if you want to find an outlining system that isn’t inherently too rigid, but can also be made more detailed if that’s more your style.

Side note: Since getting outlining to work better for me in general, I’d also like to return to The Writer’s Journey* by Christopher Vogler, which was my first introduction to story structure roughly a decade ago. It’s not an official part of this list since I haven’t read it since then, but I remember it being a strong resource if you like structuring your stories in a very classic, mythical manner.

For more on outlining, check out this guest post by Rose Atkinson-Carter.

World Anvil

World Anvil* is a tool I’ve talked about at length, but for those of you who are new here, World Anvil is one of my top worldbuilding tools. I love the organization, the ability to link articles together super easily, the visual aesthetic options for sharing a world, the map features, etc., etc. Plus, the developers really prioritize taking suggestions from their community of users and making the tool better for worldbuilders, which I greatly appreciate in any sort of tool like this.

Check out my post reviewing my favorite World Anvil features, try it out for yourself (you can do a fair amount with the free tier), and see if it works for you!

Pinterest

Pinterest is great for inspiration. Whether you need setting inspiration, character inspiration, a writing prompt, or whether you want to build a visual representation of some aspect of your story (the setting, for example), Pinterest is a great tool. I use this to keep track of aesthetics, to determine what some of my characters look like, I’ve used it to pick out character quirks, I have boards where I keep links to writing advice posts, I flesh out worlds through visuals on Pinterest… If you need any visual inspiration or development related to your project, Pinterest is the tool to use.

(To be honest, I don’t like Pinterest’s algorithms nearly as well now as when I started using it. Now I mostly use it if I know specifically what I’m looking for or looking to flesh out; I don’t browse for inspiration the same way I used to. But that can be influenced to some degree by who you follow, as well as whether you use Pinterest as a new user vs. someone used to the older functionality.)

Spotify

I write to music, and while the music I listen to while writing has changed (I used to write exclusively to songs without lyrics; now it’s almost the opposite, lol), Spotify has always been my go-to tool for this. Just about any song, album, or artist you can think of can be found on Spotify, and it allows you to adjust the order of your playlists if you want (on desktop, anyway).

Though I will say I’ve had complaints with the advertising and with the company’s response (or lack thereof) to complaints from users regarding the marking of explicit content, so I’m grateful that my family is on Premium for the time being. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any other music-streaming app that has the same breadth of functionality as Spotify, or else that alternative would probably be on the list instead. :P

Fighter’s Block

This is actually a tool I tend to forget about, but it’s always exciting to be reminded of it again because it’s such a cool tool!

Do you like the accountability, competition, and challenge of writing sprints but have trouble finding people to sprint with–or a time that everyone can coordinate for? If so, you should check out Fighter’s Block! Fighter’s Block is a sprinting tool that is set up to look like an RPG–you’re a hero fighting a monster, but your weapon is words! You set a word count goal, and every word you write weakens the monster. The monster’s weapon is time; if you let up on writing, he’ll slowly do more damage to your character until you start writing again and heal.

You can set your difficulty level to line up with your general writing speed (so the monster isn’t beating you up if you’re a slow writer, or giving you way too much time if you’re a faster writer), choose from a few different font and background options to set the tone, and unlock different hero characters the more you write with the tool.

It’s really cool; I definitely recommend checking it out if sprints and the like are something that motivate you.

Side note: If you’re interested in sprints with other writers, consider joining my Discord server! We do at least two sprinting sessions per week, and we’re currently working on developing a schedule that’s more frequent, accommodates more of the authors, but also doesn’t burn anyone out, lol.

Scrivener

When it comes to drafting (as well as outlining and editing, to some degree), Scrivener* is my go-to writing tool. I can keep my notes, my first draft, and consequent drafts all in one program and easily put different documents side-by-side for reference or editing. If I need to reference a character’s eye color, for example, I can just pop open my character sheet right beside my draft and keep on going. Or I can rewrite a scene in a new document while the old version is open for reference beside it.

Once I’m ready to move on to Word, I can easily export the files that are part of my draft into a single Word document and be ready for the next step. Plus, you can label scenes and/or chapters with custom labels (I’ve been using this for Lightning to easily spot whose POV a chapter is told from) and sort them by those labels–or see scenes/chapters with different labels lined up side-by-side by color (great if you want to look at POV distribution and consistency, for example).

Scrivener has a ton of features, half of which I probably don’t even use to their full potential yet, and you can use as many or as few of those features as you need. The vast capabilities don’t mean you can’t just use the simpler features as you need them; the interface isn’t automatically overwhelming (at least I didn’t personally think so), and it is, at its core, a word processor like Word or Google Docs.

Scrivener has a 30-day free trial (for 30 days of use rather than 30 consecutive days, if I recall correctly, which is a model I really appreciate), so you can poke around a bit and make sure it’s going to work for you before you invest in the full cost of the software.

Microsoft Word

Lastly for this list, I just use plain ol’ Microsoft Word. Primarily, I use Word once I’m into the final edits (last line edits and copy-edits, usually) and formatting. Word is the most reliable tool I’ve used thus far to format books and export them to PDF, so I try to keep my final edits in the same software. But I also use Word sometimes for the “braindump” part of my worldbuilding process, and there are certain books that I outline and write in Word because they feel nostalgic; since I didn’t start using Scrivener until later in my writing career, sometimes Word just feels more appropriate. Silly, I know, but it’s true.

I also think this is the best beginning writer’s tool. If you have a computer with Word installed, you are good to go. You don’t need all of the fancy tools in order to write, or write well. Do I think they’re useful? Absolutely. But try things out as you’re able, invest in what you’ll make good use of, and don’t feel pressured to use the “right” tools. The right tool is whatever is the best tool for you and your writing process, whether it’s fancy or simple.

With that, I’d love to hear about some of your favorite writing tools in the comments!

Get access to the Scribes & Archers resource library and expand your toolbox when you join the newsletter!

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2023 Wrap-Up & Goals for 2024

This post is coming in at the beginning of the new year instead of the end of the previous because I wanted to maintain my December hiatus and kick off the year with a bit of an introduction to the things I’m hoping to accomplish in my business (and beyond) in the coming year. This way, hopefully I set the tone for what to expect in the coming year of Scribes & Archers and everything attached!

This past year was a crazy one, one that didn’t really go the way I expected–but it was a year that I’m incredibly grateful for!

2023: An Overview

I got engaged at the very end of December 2022, which means that the first half of 2023 was spent primarily on planning a wedding and strengthening the relationship with my now-husband. I didn’t have a lot of bandwidth left for other things, though I did still accomplish some things beyond the wedding and my relationships. (If you’re interested in wedding pictures, check out this Instagram post.)

A lot of relationships changed this year–especially in that first half of the year–whether growing weaker or stronger. The life transition has definitely been a process of growing and adjusting, letting go of some things from the past season and grasping hold of the new blessings God’s placed before me. I’m especially grateful for my family, my husband, and their stability and support through all of those changes, and my husband’s patience with my low days and continued experiments toward effective homemaking.

The latter half of the year was much more stable than the first half. Settling into married life did take a couple months, but we established functional rhythms in time and it’s been such a blessing to step into my dream role of homemaking, host friends in our home, and otherwise enjoy being a wife. Not that I’m perfectly consistent in being conscious of that blessing, unfortunately. Consistent gratitude is a habit I’m working to rebuild, and it’s especially hard during the dark, cold winter months. Thank God for grace and the power of His Spirit!

As things stabilized, I was also able to get more done in the latter half of the year as far as writing and writing-related endeavors are concerned. There are a couple of projects I’m especially excited to talk about, which we’ll get into both with last year’s accomplished goals and my goals for the upcoming year!

2023: Goals in Review

Finish 2 drafts of my non-fiction project

I still have yet to finish the first draft of this project–though I am at least making progress again! And the more time wears on, the more reminders pop up of how helpful this book is going to be when it’s done, lol. (Hopefully that doesn’t sound arrogant… but I haven’t seen any other worldbuilding resource that works through the worldbuilding progress in a systematic, integrated way.)

Finish the 1st draft of Lightning

I accomplished this in early November! It’s definitely a rough draft, but it’s written! This was my first completed novel-length 1st draft in four years, so it was especially satisfying to hit the point of completion. I’m really excited to complete this story with Thunder and go back afterward to polish up this world that’s lived in my head for so long.

Finish the 1st draft of Lightning‘s sequel

Lightning took longer than anticipated, so I’ve only gotten partway through the outlining process with Thunder, but it is underway and I hope to draft the whole thing in the coming year. After that, the plan is to take a worldbuilding break before coming back to edits!

Send quarterly emails

This was successful! This spacing seems to work well for me, and I’ve managed to send a fair number of emails in between as well. If you’re interested in getting those quarterly (and additional) emails, sign up for the newsletter! The first quarterly update email for this year will be going out tomorrow.

Post at least twice a month on Scribes & Archers

My posting had started to fall off by the end of 2022, hence this goal. I failed in January (1 post), May (1 post), and July (intentional hiatus), but otherwise maintained consistency on the blog! And I accomplished my goal of hopping back on the wagon, as a whole, so the purpose of this goal was accomplished even if the details weren’t perfect.

Attend Realm Makers

As predicted, I was busy getting married and going on my honeymoon in July and thus did not attend Realm Makers. But, y’know… I got married, so I’m not disappointed, lol.

Do 4+ blog collabs

Romance trope collaboration with Kellyn Roth and Grace JohnsonCritique for Grace Johnson at the end of my “Crafting Emotional Resonance” seriesGuest post from Rose Atkinson-Carter: 5 Types of Story Structure to Help You Outline Your Novel

I also got several books for review this year, but I don’t generally count those as “blog collaborations” since I don’t directly collaborate with the authors when it comes to most of those. Remembering to reach out to people about collaborating is still something I need to work on.

Write for Story Embers

This still has yet to get bumped up high enough on the priority list to actually happen. But collaboration is something I want to place a higher emphasis on in the coming year, so you may see this happen in 2024.

Edit for 4+ clients

I didn’t do any editing this year, but that was at least partially intentional. I didn’t really promote my services much this year because I was busy planning a wedding and then adjusting to getting married, so I didn’t have a lot of extra space on my plate for new editing projects and I was intentionally specific about what outreach I did toward acquiring new projects.

Add 12 new students to The Worldbuilding Toolbox

This goal was omitted from the beginning-of-the-year list, but I want to talk about it now. 12 new students did not enroll in The Worldbuilding Toolbox, but there are nine new students enrolled in the course! And I’m working on a new program that I hope will serve my worldbuilding students even better… but more on that later.

Read 52 books

“A more modest goal for the coming year, which I’m pretty sure I can surpass but which I won’t be flailing to hit if something unexpected happens, lol.”

“LOL” is right. XD I read about half this.

Read 10 new-to-me classics

I read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. That was the only new-to-me classic I got to this year. But it was pretty good! Much more interesting in the second half than the first, as a whole. It did inspire a budding story idea, though, too.

Finish 2+ crochet projects

I can’t remember what I did or didn’t finish in early 2023, but I finally finished the blanket I’d started for my sister prior to Christmas 2022 in mid-November of 2023 and I made a complete baby headband around the same time. So I did at least accomplish the two project minimum, lol.

Write 12+ poems

Nope. I got really into writing poetry in the fall of 2022, made this goal, and then lost interest in poetry sometime in the spring of last year. I did draft about three poems in the spring, but I never really want to look at them again to edit them. I have been more poetic as it’s been colder again, but I’ve only drafted a couple of new poems in full. Still, I’m grateful for the poetry practice in those few months, and I’ve enjoyed the apparent rhythm of writing more poetry in the colder months and setting it aside in the spring and summer.

2024: Concrete Goals

As always, this list includes only the more relevant and/or interesting goals on my list.

Open the Worldbuilders Guild for enrollment

For those of you who aren’t on my newsletter and haven’t heard, I’m developing a worldbuilding mentorship program called the Worldbuilders Guild! This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I didn’t have a functional setup for it until after I got married. As soon as I realized I finally had an open opportunity, I dove straight into figuring out the structure and content of such a thing. I have all of that down now; I just need to fill in the actual content necessary, test it with betas, and then it’ll be ready to launch to the general public!

If you’d like to get on the waitlist or even sign up to be one of the beta testers, check out the form below!

Do 4+ blog collabs

If you’re interested in collaborating this year, please reach out through my contact form and let me know! (Bonus points if you have experience with traditional publishing, btw.)

If you’re not personally interested in collaborating but there’s an author you think would be a great fit for me to reach out to, please leave your suggestion in the comments!

Finish the 1st draft of my worldbuilding book and send it to betas

If you’d like to be first to hear about the opening for betas, sign up for my street team below!

Finish the 1st draft of Thunder

Attend Realm Makers

I think this year offers the best chance I’ve had of actually getting to Realm Makers. Of course, we’ll see what plans God has in store!

If I do make it, I may try to query Lightning for traditional publishing, if only for the experience. But we’ll see; I’m not sure if the publishers at Realm Makers will want it, so it might not be the best to start off with in case I try traditional publishing more purposefully with a future project.

Start a new novel draft

I’m not sure what novel this will be, yet. The world of The Dark War Trilogy keeps popping back into my head lately, so I might try to reboot that project (as daunting as that prospect is). But I also have a weird apocalyptic novel idea I could work on, or I could go back to one of my other started projects, or rewrite something I’ve only gotten through a 1st draft of… There are lots of options, lol.

Just for fun, comment below with what type of project you’d like to see me work on next (or a specific project, if there’s one that has stood out to you over the years).

Reopen my editing services

While they were technically never closed, I want to “reopen” my editing services for more consistent booking this year. I miss editing, and I’d love to work on at least four or five projects this year, Lord willing!

If you’re an author in search of a line editor for a project this year, check out my editing services!

Read 52 books

Including Pride & Prejudice, nine more new-to-me classics, and a particular subset of the books I own but haven’t read (the latter list contains 38 books). If I manage to read all the books I specifically hope to read, I’ll be well on my way to accomplishing the full goal.

Crochet a garment

I’m not requiring myself to complete a whole garment this year, but I would like to at least dip my toes into garment-crocheting.

Write a short story in French

I have no idea if this is actually going to prove a high enough priority to be accomplished, but I think this would be a fun way to practice both writing and my French study.

Attend an Andrew Peterson concert

Attend Hutchmoot

Not much to say about these. I just think they’d be awesome experiences, and I love Andrew Peterson’s work (as I’ve talked about before) and–from what I can tell–his worldview.

Visit the Library of Congress

I’ve actually never been, despite multiple trips to D.C. I’ve wanted to go for a while, and my husband actually promised the day after our first date that he would take me sometime, so we’re planning to take a day trip sometime this year.

Visit the Wayside

This is a place I learned about just last year when I found a book about it; The Wayside was the home of both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott, and what classic-loving reader wouldn’t want to visit such a historic literary site? I just need to do my homework beforehand and actually read the book I bought about the house… as well as Little Women since that’s actually still on my TBR. I suppose that and Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (The Wayside was also the home of Margaret Sidney/Harriet Lothrop for a time) will be another two of the new-to-me classics on this year’s list! (I already love Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter… though perhaps this is a good excuse to reread it.)

2024: General Hopes

In the coming year I’d like to regain some of the joy and vibrancy I had when I was finishing up high school. I want to be adventurous, practice gratitude, get outside more, intentionally strengthen relationships and reach out to new people, renew my spiritual disciplines, maintain a beautiful home, serve more authors through my business (and serve the same authors in new ways), and (Lord willing) watch my household grow. As a extension off of renewing my spiritual disciplines, I’d like to get back into the practice of thinking on and discussing theological topics with more of an attitude toward learning new things instead of the stubbornness I’ve let creep in over the past year or two.

Overall, I guess it can be summed up by saying I pray God renews my joy and sense of wonder in Him this year.

How was your 2023? What are you looking forward to in 2024? Do you have any exciting goals or plans for the year?

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Government Values

This post was originally published at Lavender Bleu Books. That site is currently on full hiatus (i.e. inaccessible), and this post is a stand-in for the time being. Upon Lavender Bleu Books’ re-launch, this post will disappear and links will once again go through to Bleu’s website.

Fantasy cultures are often placed under monarchies. Dystopian cultures are often placed under autocracies or totalitarianism. But there are many government types to choose from, and what government you choose when building a fictional culture might be best influenced by the core values of that culture. So in this post I want to summarize several different government types, as well as provide some ideas of the cultural values that might support them.

Aristocracy

Aristocracy comes from the Greek for “rule of the best.” An aristocracy can be ruled by the best craftsmen, the best warriors, or simply the most wealthy (see Plutocracy). This is a very flexible system which is ruled by a group comprised of the best of the best. Aristocrats could be elected based on their ability, or they could simply take office independently or by the decision of the existing aristocracy by virtue of their skill.

Values: You can use an aristocracy in just about any culture you want. They could value craftsmanship, combat skill, wealth, music, athletics, writing… An aristocracy is not likely to be chosen by cultures that value diversity in skills.

Autocracy

An autocracy is ruled by a single individual with few limitations, absolute power, and no input from the people.

Values: It’s unlikely that a culture would choose to become an autocracy, but if they did it might be because they dislike decision-making or there’s some outstanding value to their ruler (e.g. they believe he’s a deity or chosen by a deity, or he’s achieved some great act of heroism that earned him the spot).

Communism

Communism places total power over industry and the economy in the hands of the government, and the government supposedly distributes wealth equally among the people. There is no such thing as private property, since the government owns everything.

Values: Communism is likely to be chosen by cultures that value community and equality but don’t value/appreciate individuality and people’s unique needs.

Confederation

A confederation unites several independent states or nations through a treaty or other agreement. These independent areas retain all authority except what is specifically delegated to the central government that unites them.

Values: A confederation is likely to be chosen by a culture that values independence and cooperation and/or unity.

Democracy

A democracy is a government of the people. A plain democracy operates on strict majority rule, a democratic republic operates through representatives of the people, and a constitutional democracy sets specific guidelines in place that the people must follow in their decision-making.

Values: A democracy is likely to be chosen by a culture that values individual responsibility and independence.

Ecclesiastical Government

An ecclesiastical government is one in which the church has authority. This might be benevolent, or it might lean toward legalism. It’s likely to crowd out religions that the ruling church doesn’t adhere to.

Values: Ecclesiastical government would be chosen by a culture that values a single religion, morality and, potentially, adherence to rules. It’s not likely to be chosen by a culture that values diversity of religions.

Federation

Like a confederacy, a federation distributes power among smaller areas–usually by means of a constitution–and the central government retains some powers over these sub-groups. While a confederation draws independent states together, a federation begins with a central point and delegates powers to its existing sub-states.

Values: A federation is likely to be chosen by a nation that values expansion and/or colonialism, leading to the practical need to distribute power. It may also be chosen by a nation that values individual responsibility and seeks to grant more power to the people under a ruling body, or that values community and wishes to foster smaller communities under its larger national banner. It could also be chosen by a nation that segregates its members based on race, trade, class, etc. and seeks to give each demographic its own authority.

Monarchy (Absolute)

An absolute monarchy gives complete control to a monarch who is chosen based on royal lineage. The monarch’s reign usually lasts for life.

Values: A culture that chooses absolute monarchy may value tradition, religion (if they believe the monarch’s family was chosen by God/the gods as in the case of divine right), or even just family.

Monarchy (Constitutional)

A constitutional monarchy adds limitations to the monarch in the form of a constitution, providing accountability.

Values: As above, values may include tradition, religion, or family.

Oligarchy

Similar to an aristocracy, oligarchy gives authority to a small group of people, either individuals or families. These are generally chosen based on their prowess in a certain area or by their power and/or wealth.

Values: Like an aristocracy, this one is really flexible. Who your culture chooses to be the reigning few will be more influenced by their values than the actual choice of government.

Parliamentary Government

In a parliamentary government, the legislative aspect of government is at the head and is largely one with the executive. Though there may be a separate executive branch (a monarch or an executive representative such as a president, usually), parliament usually has the ultimate authority to make decisions. A parliament may be one large group (unicameral) or it may be split into two (bicameral), and the members of parliament are generally elected by the people. A parliament is usually subject to a sovereign law such as a constitution and held accountable by it.

Values: A culture might choose a parliamentary government if it predominantly values law or morality.

Plutocracy

A plutocracy is government by the rich. This may be overt or it may be a practical reality while the government looks on the surface like something else (i.e. those with money are the puppeteers for a monarchy, democracy, ecclesiastical government, etc.).

Values: Obviously, a rule by the wealthy would work only in a culture that values monetary wealth to one degree or another.

Republic

In a republic, the government’s authority is based on the votes of citizens, represented by elected representatives who make decisions on the people’s behalf.

Values: A republic might be chosen by a culture that values independence and individual responsibility but tempers them with values of order and restraint.

Technocracy

A technocracy is governed by those with experience and skill in the sciences and other technical areas. Essentially a more specific aristocracy.

Values: A technocracy would be chosen by a culture that values progress, scientific advancement, etc.

Theocracy

A theocracy is a nation that is ruled by its deity/deities. Often religious leaders will serve as intermediaries, but the deity is perceived as the ultimate authority, as opposed to an ecclesiocracy in which the religious leaders are seen as the final authority.

Values: A theocracy would be chosen by a culture that values faith, especially one that believes their deity instructs submission to the deity alone.

Totalitarianism

A totalitarian government goes a step further than communism by seeking to control individuals’ values, attitude, and beliefs as well as all politics and economic decisions.

Values: A culture might choose totalitarianism if they value uniformity (perhaps under the guise of unity) or believe that their mindset/way of life is certainly superior to others.

Which government types have you used before? Did any of these intrigue you? Did you discover a way to strengthen a well-used system? Go forth and write more dynamic governments!

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