An Exercise in Worldbuilding: The Evolution of Knuckles
Superficially, this blog post is about a made-up game. A fictional game played by fictional characters in a fictional world.
I have only a smidgen of not-so-sage wisdom to impart here about writing. And that comes fairly late in this post.
Simply put, if you would like a peek behind the curtain to see what goes on in a fantasy author’s mind when he or she is building a world, read on.
What I hope to illustrate here is how an imaginary game born solely of my mind had a rich impact on the lexicon and function of my world. How something that started by accident grew into something that has provided me with numerous, happy little details that I have continued to sprinkle throughout the landscape of my writing.
Let me explain. First, a little background.
Early on in the writing of Progeny (The Children of the White Lions, #1), I got to a point in the story where a particular character was choosing to attempt to bluff his way through a situation. As he tried to talk his way past a particularly astute soldier, he realized he needed to either come clean, or fully commit to his lie. It’s a situation we have all been in before, yes? Time to own up, or dig in our heels.
I felt the scenario provided me a chance to add some flavor of the world, to bring it alive. I wanted to craft something to convey that feeling, and strove to find the right word to illustrate what the character was struggling with.
I do not know why I typed the word, ‘knuckledown,’ but I did. Perhaps my brain misfired and I used an amalgamation of ‘knuckle under’ and ‘double down.’ Regardless, the term ‘knuckledown’ was born. In the world of Terrene, it means is used to describe when a person is either expressly confident in his or her position or he or she is preparing to lie through their teeth.
But how to illustrate that context? Where did the term ‘knuckledown’ come from in the setting of the world?
When I answered that last question, the game of ‘knuckles’ was born.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 7: Roads in Progeny where the game is briefly addressed:
I kicked around the basic idea for the game a few times, and the above was the end result. It ties the seasons of the world into the game, has elements similar to the familiar game of poker which helps the reader relate, but is different and unique enough to add flavor to the world.
Ultimately, the phrase ‘knuckledown’ and the game of knuckles proved very useful going forward. I found myself using both as I finished Progeny, as well as book two in the series; there are multiple references to main and ancillary characters playing the game. As I wrote book two, I began to get the itch to investigate the details of what I had created. As it so happened, my series of short stories provided the perfect opportunity to do so.
The first three bundles (totaling nine short stories) of the Terrene Chronicles came out over the summer. I chose to take a break from them to finish writing and editing book two. A few weeks ago, I was ready to start writing the stories again. Each bundle follows an over-arching plot, and I knew exactly who and what the next three stories were going to explore.
I had my rough outline for what was going to happen in #10, #11, and #12. It was clear to me what #10 and #12 were going to be about, where they were going to take place, etc. And while I knew the events necessary for #11, the setting was not something on which I spent much thought. I figured it would come to me.
Terrene Chronicles #10: Companions (out last week) looks in on Everett, the Duke of the Great Lakes Duchy we see in Progeny, a full decade before he was the duke. Readers get a chance to see the man—well, boy—in action, years in the 'past.' FYI—He really is a creep.
About halfway through writing #10, I had a revelation. The next in the series, #11 (NOW OUT, here), would be a perfect opportunity to investigate knuckles. So, I did. I simply shaped the events I needed to happen in the story around the game. As a result, I got the chance to ‘play’ a hand of knuckles through my characters.
I love writing. I enjoy telling stories. But this story ended up being even more fun to write than most.
Successful worldbuilding in any fantasy or sci-fi book requires a delicate balancing act by the author. You need to provide the reader with enough detail to give them the impression that a massive, sprawling world is out there, just waiting for them if they were to step over the horizon. However, you cannot drown them in minutia.
You might have pages and pages of details in your notes of which you are terribly proud. Your natural inclination is to include every single one in your writing. But what happens is that you bog down the story, and in any book, story is king.
I am totally guilty of this error. A few sections in the original edition of Progeny read like a history book. Guess why the revised edition is close to 9000 words shorter?
You should not include every detail you come up with, but you absolutely should keep them in your back pocket, ready to be pulled out at a moment's notice. Sprinkle them in appropriately, giving a richness to your tale. I like adding a dash of red pepper flakes to most pasta dishes—I enjoy a little heat. However, if I dumped three tablespoons of the stuff into my spaghetti, I would end up with an inedible mess. Same thing applies to details with writing.
So, while I never come right out in Progeny or in Terrene Chronicles #11: Knuckles and say, “Here are the exact rules to how you play the game,” I nonetheless decided that I would come up with the exact rules.
“Why would I do that?” you might ask.
My answer is as follows: “Uh…I dunno. It seemed like it would be fun.”
So, without a truly good reason why I did so, I present the official rules to Knuckles, a placard game played extensively throughout the Oaken Duchies in the world of Terrene. Early next week, #11: Knuckles will be available—free!—at my website: http://www.RTKaelin.com
11/15/11 Update: Knuckles is now available.
I have only a smidgen of not-so-sage wisdom to impart here about writing. And that comes fairly late in this post.
Simply put, if you would like a peek behind the curtain to see what goes on in a fantasy author’s mind when he or she is building a world, read on.
What I hope to illustrate here is how an imaginary game born solely of my mind had a rich impact on the lexicon and function of my world. How something that started by accident grew into something that has provided me with numerous, happy little details that I have continued to sprinkle throughout the landscape of my writing.
Let me explain. First, a little background.
Early on in the writing of Progeny (The Children of the White Lions, #1), I got to a point in the story where a particular character was choosing to attempt to bluff his way through a situation. As he tried to talk his way past a particularly astute soldier, he realized he needed to either come clean, or fully commit to his lie. It’s a situation we have all been in before, yes? Time to own up, or dig in our heels.
I felt the scenario provided me a chance to add some flavor of the world, to bring it alive. I wanted to craft something to convey that feeling, and strove to find the right word to illustrate what the character was struggling with.
I do not know why I typed the word, ‘knuckledown,’ but I did. Perhaps my brain misfired and I used an amalgamation of ‘knuckle under’ and ‘double down.’ Regardless, the term ‘knuckledown’ was born. In the world of Terrene, it means is used to describe when a person is either expressly confident in his or her position or he or she is preparing to lie through their teeth.
But how to illustrate that context? Where did the term ‘knuckledown’ come from in the setting of the world?
When I answered that last question, the game of ‘knuckles’ was born.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 7: Roads in Progeny where the game is briefly addressed:
“Knuckles was a popular game in much of the Oaken Duchies that involved a deck of small placards with painted numbers and symbols on them. The numbers ranged from one to eleven and there were six sets of symbols: blue crescents, red swords, yellow suns, green fish, gold crowns, and black crosses. The deck of cards could be used for a variety of games, but knuckles was the most popular one by far.
To play knuckles, you were dealt three cards and must place a bet on the opening ‘Spring’ hand. Three rounds followed, ‘Summer’, ‘Harvest’, and ‘Winter’. In the first round, players were allowed to exchange up to two cards and get an additional one, totaling four cards. Everyone would place bets again with each player needing to match the highest bet in order to stay in the game. Rounds two and three were the same; exchange up to two, and get one additional card. By the end of the third round, every player still playing would have six cards in their hand.
At any point, when a player felt his current hand would beat any other player’s future hand he could ‘knuckledown.’ He had to match half the current value of the commons, which was the total the players had already contributed. The player that knuckledowned could draw no more cards for the rest of the hand.
Knuckling down was a risky move that could either pay big or make a man poor quickly. Players only did it when they had an incredibly strong hand or were lying through their teeth.”
I kicked around the basic idea for the game a few times, and the above was the end result. It ties the seasons of the world into the game, has elements similar to the familiar game of poker which helps the reader relate, but is different and unique enough to add flavor to the world.
Ultimately, the phrase ‘knuckledown’ and the game of knuckles proved very useful going forward. I found myself using both as I finished Progeny, as well as book two in the series; there are multiple references to main and ancillary characters playing the game. As I wrote book two, I began to get the itch to investigate the details of what I had created. As it so happened, my series of short stories provided the perfect opportunity to do so.
The first three bundles (totaling nine short stories) of the Terrene Chronicles came out over the summer. I chose to take a break from them to finish writing and editing book two. A few weeks ago, I was ready to start writing the stories again. Each bundle follows an over-arching plot, and I knew exactly who and what the next three stories were going to explore.
I had my rough outline for what was going to happen in #10, #11, and #12. It was clear to me what #10 and #12 were going to be about, where they were going to take place, etc. And while I knew the events necessary for #11, the setting was not something on which I spent much thought. I figured it would come to me.
Terrene Chronicles #10: Companions (out last week) looks in on Everett, the Duke of the Great Lakes Duchy we see in Progeny, a full decade before he was the duke. Readers get a chance to see the man—well, boy—in action, years in the 'past.' FYI—He really is a creep.
About halfway through writing #10, I had a revelation. The next in the series, #11 (NOW OUT, here), would be a perfect opportunity to investigate knuckles. So, I did. I simply shaped the events I needed to happen in the story around the game. As a result, I got the chance to ‘play’ a hand of knuckles through my characters.
I love writing. I enjoy telling stories. But this story ended up being even more fun to write than most.
Successful worldbuilding in any fantasy or sci-fi book requires a delicate balancing act by the author. You need to provide the reader with enough detail to give them the impression that a massive, sprawling world is out there, just waiting for them if they were to step over the horizon. However, you cannot drown them in minutia.
You might have pages and pages of details in your notes of which you are terribly proud. Your natural inclination is to include every single one in your writing. But what happens is that you bog down the story, and in any book, story is king.
I am totally guilty of this error. A few sections in the original edition of Progeny read like a history book. Guess why the revised edition is close to 9000 words shorter?
You should not include every detail you come up with, but you absolutely should keep them in your back pocket, ready to be pulled out at a moment's notice. Sprinkle them in appropriately, giving a richness to your tale. I like adding a dash of red pepper flakes to most pasta dishes—I enjoy a little heat. However, if I dumped three tablespoons of the stuff into my spaghetti, I would end up with an inedible mess. Same thing applies to details with writing.
So, while I never come right out in Progeny or in Terrene Chronicles #11: Knuckles and say, “Here are the exact rules to how you play the game,” I nonetheless decided that I would come up with the exact rules.
“Why would I do that?” you might ask.
My answer is as follows: “Uh…I dunno. It seemed like it would be fun.”
So, without a truly good reason why I did so, I present the official rules to Knuckles, a placard game played extensively throughout the Oaken Duchies in the world of Terrene. Early next week, #11: Knuckles will be available—free!—at my website: http://www.RTKaelin.com
11/15/11 Update: Knuckles is now available.
Description:
Knuckles is played with a deck made up as follows: Cards numbered 1-11, painted with the symbols of blue crescents, red swords, yellow suns, green fish, gold crowns, and black crosses. It consists of four rounds, or ‘seasons,’ of play: ‘Spring,’ ‘Summer,’ ‘Harvest,’ and ‘Winter.’ Betting occurs between each season.
Rules:
1. Before the Spring hand is dealt, all players must ‘Coin in.’ Based on the rules set by the table, this can be any agreed upon amount. The coin goes into the ‘Commons.’
2. Each player gets three placards: the Spring hand.
3. An opening round of bets is made on the Spring hand, starting with the player on the dealer’s left. Subsequent players can meet, or raise the amount. Any player who wishes to remain in the game, must meet the maximum bet.
a. A player may ‘defer’ to the next player in line if they do not wish to bet but ultimately they must meet the high bet to remain in the game.
b. A player may ‘bow out’ of a hand at any time and stop playing.
4. The dealer announces ‘Summer’ and each player—starting with the player to the dealer’s left—may exchange up to two of his three cards for two new ones from the dealer’s deck. In addition, each player gets one more additional ‘Summer’ placard. All players still in the game should have four cards in their hand at the end of the exchange.
5. Another round of betting occurs.
6. Following the rules of the ‘Summer’ hand, ‘Harvest’ and ‘Winter’ follow with a round of betting in between each. Exchange up to two cards each season’s hand and get an additional placard for that season.
7. By the end of the exchange in the ‘Winter’ hand, each player still in the game should have six cards.
8. The player with the best hand wins the entirety of the ‘Commons.’
9. At any point after the ‘Spring’ hand, a player may opt to ‘Knuckledown.’ This requires the player to place into the ‘Commons’ an amount equal to half of the current amount. For the remainder of the hand, the player could not exchange cards, nor gain additional cards. Their current three, four, or five cards must beat the other player’s full six-placard hands.
Hand rankings:
1. High placard
2. One pair
3. Two Pair
4. Three of a kind
5. Three pair
6. Two Clovers (three of one number, three of another)
7. Five-Placard Straight (five cards in sequential order, any suit)
8. Halfling Sweep (five of the same symbol)
9. Four of a kind (four of the same number)
10. Six-Placard Straight (six cards in sequential order, any suit)
11. Hillman Sweep (six of the same symbol)
12. Stocked Wagon (four of one number, two of another)
13. Five of a kind (five of the same number)
14. Six Sovereigns (all six of the same number)
15. Straight Sweep (six of the same symbol, sequential in order)
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