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Writer's Discuss - Lore, A Tool Or Chains? (#36)

• Sotek

  

  Member
   

  April 4, 2016

  Tamriel Tales is always open to everyone so you Lore abiding members are more than welcome to join in with any of our discussions.

  After all, there are no keys to the Hunting Grounds. It's paws open to everyone.

  Tamriel Tales is always open to everyone so you Lore abiding members are more than welcome to join in with any of our discussions.

  After all, there are no keys to the Hunting Grounds. It's paws open to everyone.

• Meli

  

  Member
   

  April 4, 2016

  I'm not far enough in when it comes to The Imperial Auditor to worry about lore too much yet. But saying that there are so many interesting interpretations here on the Vault, that I feel like I must give them a fair chance to be incorporated.

  My other (probably) non-publishable story is already verging on lore heavy and simultaneously lore breaking due to the original inspiration for the character. It's seriously a case of self indulgence but should result in good writing practice, but also in some art work.

  So essentially, I'd say it depends on the character as much as the writer as to whether lore is restrictive, just don't go too far off the path or as previously said , readers will have wtf moments (seriously some of the TES fiction I've seen on FanFic makes me question the authors madness and sanity).

  I'm not far enough in when it comes to The Imperial Auditor to worry about lore too much yet. But saying that there are so many interesting interpretations here on the Vault, that I feel like I must give them a fair chance to be incorporated.

  My other (probably) non-publishable story is already verging on lore heavy and simultaneously lore breaking due to the original inspiration for the character. It's seriously a case of self indulgence but should result in good writing practice, but also in some art work.

  So essentially, I'd say it depends on the character as much as the writer as to whether lore is restrictive, just don't go too far off the path or as previously said , readers will have wtf moments (seriously some of the TES fiction I've seen on FanFic makes me question the authors madness and sanity).

• Sotek

  

  Member
   

  April 4, 2016

  When you say ‘go too far off the path’ does the situation of say, a certain ‘Companion’ being kidnapped by Sheogoraph, and a rescue party put together by Hircine come to mind?

  When you say ‘go too far off the path’ does the situation of say, a certain ‘Companion’ being kidnapped by Sheogoraph, and a rescue party put together by Hircine come to mind?

• Meli

  

  Member
   

  April 4, 2016

  I'd say you're ok with that, sounds like something Sheo would do lol

  I'd say you're ok with that, sounds like something Sheo would do lol

• Legion

  

  Member
   

  April 4, 2016

  Do you as a writer consider Lore to be a useful tool or is it a chain, binding your imagination?

  BOTH. Dear gods, both. This is the exact reason I've been stalling on the last chapter of VoA. I was afraid of breaking lore and having my writing torn apart because of it. Ultimately, I decided that what I had to say was worth taking that chance. I've only recently learned that lore should be used more as a guideline than something that needs to be strictly adhered to. If lore represents the lines we color within as writers, then I'd encourage everyone to color outside of those lines sometimes. 

  How far should we as writers go when we consider Lore?

  In light of my previous statement, not very far. Historical events and dates are the only real thing I think should be adhered to, if only because they're well established and it makes it easier on the reader to understand where the story is in relation to everything else in TES' history. 

  What have you done in the past to rectify lore breaking situations? 

  Luckily, I haven't had to rectify anything yet. I purposefully choose lore with a lot of holes and details that are left up for grabs for this reason. It's much easier to fill in things that may have happened than it is to manipulate established facts with limited range of movement. 

  Do you as a writer consider Lore to be a useful tool or is it a chain, binding your imagination?

  BOTH. Dear gods, both. This is the exact reason I've been stalling on the last chapter of VoA. I was afraid of breaking lore and having my writing torn apart because of it. Ultimately, I decided that what I had to say was worth taking that chance. I've only recently learned that lore should be used more as a guideline than something that needs to be strictly adhered to. If lore represents the lines we color within as writers, then I'd encourage everyone to color outside of those lines sometimes. 

  How far should we as writers go when we consider Lore?

  In light of my previous statement, not very far. Historical events and dates are the only real thing I think should be adhered to, if only because they're well established and it makes it easier on the reader to understand where the story is in relation to everything else in TES' history. 

  What have you done in the past to rectify lore breaking situations? 

  Luckily, I haven't had to rectify anything yet. I purposefully choose lore with a lot of holes and details that are left up for grabs for this reason. It's much easier to fill in things that may have happened than it is to manipulate established facts with limited range of movement. 

• Sotek

  

  Member
   

  April 4, 2016

  Historical events and dates are the only real thing I think should be adhered to, if only because they're well established and it makes it easier on the reader to understand where the story is in relation to everything else in TES' history. 

  Everyone’s raised some great points and we as writers do differ in our opinions. Here’s a keypoint which I think most follow. Most, not including myself.

  My story as most knows takes place in Morrowind, Cyrodiil and Skyrim. When TES6 Blackmarsh :D is released then my story will take place there as well.

  As such I interweave the three games together. Far from Lore friendly but I think as long as the writer don’t try to incorporate too much then it’s more than feasible and easy to swallow.  

  One notion of this would be to take Tiber Septim as long gone. Have the other Imperial Emperor on the throne instead.

  Historical events and dates are the only real thing I think should be adhered to, if only because they're well established and it makes it easier on the reader to understand where the story is in relation to everything else in TES' history. 

  Everyone’s raised some great points and we as writers do differ in our opinions. Here’s a keypoint which I think most follow. Most, not including myself.

  My story as most knows takes place in Morrowind, Cyrodiil and Skyrim. When TES6 Blackmarsh :D is released then my story will take place there as well.

  As such I interweave the three games together. Far from Lore friendly but I think as long as the writer don’t try to incorporate too much then it’s more than feasible and easy to swallow.  

  One notion of this would be to take Tiber Septim as long gone. Have the other Imperial Emperor on the throne instead.

• SpottedFawn

  

  Member
   

  April 4, 2016

  Yay! Another chapter of VoA! Can't wait!

  Yay! Another chapter of VoA! Can't wait!

• Legion

  

  Member
   

  April 4, 2016

  Far from Lore friendly but I think as long as the writer don’t try to incorporate too much then it’s more than feasible and easy to swallow.  

  Huh, fair point! I didn't consider that. Maybe it's the difference in how the story develops? My story has its foundations in lore and dates are very important when they do come up. But if a story were to start with the characters then bring everything else in as support, I can see how historical events might hold less of a grip on the writer. 

  Far from Lore friendly but I think as long as the writer don’t try to incorporate too much then it’s more than feasible and easy to swallow.  

  Huh, fair point! I didn't consider that. Maybe it's the difference in how the story develops? My story has its foundations in lore and dates are very important when they do come up. But if a story were to start with the characters then bring everything else in as support, I can see how historical events might hold less of a grip on the writer. 

• Exuro

  

  Member
   

  April 10, 2016

  A bit late here, but oh well.

  Do you as a writer consider Lore to be a useful tool or is it a chain, binding your imagination?

  One of the things I like most about writing fan fiction is you already have a world built for you, which lore is a huge part of, so you can focus more on creating the plot and characters. As a new writer, having to create a new world on top of a story would be too much for me.

  For the most part I like to use Lore as a way to create atmosphere for a larger world. I don't want it to feel like my characters are in an isolated plot bubble and I think adding bits of lore is a good way to create that feeling they are only a small piece of something larger and much older. For the most part, I find it a very useful tool.

  How far should we as writers go when we consider Lore?

  For my story, I set it a few years after Alduin is slain, so I have a lot of freedom of where to take the plot. Also my characters are living in 'modern' times with problems happening in the now. How much would they know or care about the lore? How well do you know our history? In one part my MC, Amari, summed up the whole Trinimac/Boethiah conflict and the origins of Orcs as:

  'a story about eating some fancy elf-god and turning the shit into Orcs.' [sorry Karver]

  A gross summation and even the original lore of that story was probably colored by the bias of the author (going back to the interview Phil posted). So I usually try to focus more on the cultural aspects of lore and how that would affect the modern TES people's character than the history.

  Two places I delve deep into lore are the mechanics of magic and the Daedra. These subjects have both a lot of information and huge holes, which gives me a lot of creative flexibility and a fear of missing key lore points. If you do want to include lore as key point of your story, I think picking one subject that really interests you and then just enough cursory knowledge of the other fields to get by is a solid strategy.

  What have you done in the past to rectify lore breaking situations?
  

  Well, so far no one has pointed out anything major in my chapters, but my outline is constantly changing. I think I've changed the overreaching purpose of the story four times now and it's still not in its final iteration. I'm still learning a lot of the lore as I go, so I'm sure I'll need to overhaul a section or concoct some workaround/ justification at some point.

  A bit late here, but oh well.

  Do you as a writer consider Lore to be a useful tool or is it a chain, binding your imagination?

  One of the things I like most about writing fan fiction is you already have a world built for you, which lore is a huge part of, so you can focus more on creating the plot and characters. As a new writer, having to create a new world on top of a story would be too much for me.

  For the most part I like to use Lore as a way to create atmosphere for a larger world. I don't want it to feel like my characters are in an isolated plot bubble and I think adding bits of lore is a good way to create that feeling they are only a small piece of something larger and much older. For the most part, I find it a very useful tool.

  How far should we as writers go when we consider Lore?

  For my story, I set it a few years after Alduin is slain, so I have a lot of freedom of where to take the plot. Also my characters are living in 'modern' times with problems happening in the now. How much would they know or care about the lore? How well do you know our history? In one part my MC, Amari, summed up the whole Trinimac/Boethiah conflict and the origins of Orcs as:

  'a story about eating some fancy elf-god and turning the shit into Orcs.' [sorry Karver]

  A gross summation and even the original lore of that story was probably colored by the bias of the author (going back to the interview Phil posted). So I usually try to focus more on the cultural aspects of lore and how that would affect the modern TES people's character than the history.

  Two places I delve deep into lore are the mechanics of magic and the Daedra. These subjects have both a lot of information and huge holes, which gives me a lot of creative flexibility and a fear of missing key lore points. If you do want to include lore as key point of your story, I think picking one subject that really interests you and then just enough cursory knowledge of the other fields to get by is a solid strategy.

  What have you done in the past to rectify lore breaking situations?
  

  Well, so far no one has pointed out anything major in my chapters, but my outline is constantly changing. I think I've changed the overreaching purpose of the story four times now and it's still not in its final iteration. I'm still learning a lot of the lore as I go, so I'm sure I'll need to overhaul a section or concoct some workaround/ justification at some point.