research first, inspiration second
Aug. 21st, 2013 08:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marycatelliAspiring writers ought to read widely and heavily in history before they find a story idea that needs a particular era's background.
Beside giving a good sense of what societies are like so you get a built-in detector for need to research, it can also provide facts along the way. Like, say, succession.
Wrestling with the political implications of having the monsters attack -- at the command of an intriguer, though that's not yet revealed. Toyed with the possibility that a nobleman will revolt on the grounds that the law requires that the king be a paladin, in which case he would have their legendary powers to deal with the monsters. Of course, that raises the question of whether he's a paladin himself. . . .
Then I remember the Russian Imperial succession, which is semi-Salic. Women were not absolutely barred from the throne, but one would only on the extinction of all male dynasts. Yet, at the moment, some claim the rightful heir is a woman. This is because the laws also required that the heir be born of an equal match, to a bride (or bridegroom) of a sovereign or royal house, a difficult condition to fulfill while not actually occupying the throne.
The order of "paladins" having grown so lax that only one man proved to have the powers at need, a woman could easily claim the throne. Well, put in a claim. I may even let her win. (And the nobleman will revolve, too. Perhaps two: one who's ready to brazen the claim out, and another who thinks the only virtue they failed in was courage, so he would succeed.)
Useful thing to have handy.
Beside giving a good sense of what societies are like so you get a built-in detector for need to research, it can also provide facts along the way. Like, say, succession.
Wrestling with the political implications of having the monsters attack -- at the command of an intriguer, though that's not yet revealed. Toyed with the possibility that a nobleman will revolt on the grounds that the law requires that the king be a paladin, in which case he would have their legendary powers to deal with the monsters. Of course, that raises the question of whether he's a paladin himself. . . .
Then I remember the Russian Imperial succession, which is semi-Salic. Women were not absolutely barred from the throne, but one would only on the extinction of all male dynasts. Yet, at the moment, some claim the rightful heir is a woman. This is because the laws also required that the heir be born of an equal match, to a bride (or bridegroom) of a sovereign or royal house, a difficult condition to fulfill while not actually occupying the throne.
The order of "paladins" having grown so lax that only one man proved to have the powers at need, a woman could easily claim the throne. Well, put in a claim. I may even let her win. (And the nobleman will revolve, too. Perhaps two: one who's ready to brazen the claim out, and another who thinks the only virtue they failed in was courage, so he would succeed.)
Useful thing to have handy.