Labotomy of a Writer

Yes, it's the end of the series - officially. We covered a lot over the last few weeks and I'm sure some of you are freaking out! That much information to research oh no! It's not as bad as you think, seriously. Your story may not require all of the things that we discussed and even if it requires all of them, it is really easy to research, especially with the worksheet I created. It at least keeps me from forgetting something that is important to the story.

I used my novel "The Story of William Archer" as it required me to fill in most of this information. The rest of it I made up based on the story for this post. The italic parts are my little notes for you to refer to, hints and things to help you use the worksheet. I also reference things in my research notebook, enclosed in brackets [ ]. This allows me to fill out this worksheet without writing my notes down twice. If you don't have a research notebook, I suggest you get one - or you can reference file names that are on your computer if you don't print them out.

*Kingdom/Country Name: Ollur

Commerce:

Currency:

• copper kiln - $1,
• bronze tellik - $10,
• silver kelit - $50,
• gold frellik - $100

Trades: (common trades that the country is known for) Ship building and weapon making

Government:

System: (what type of government rules the country) Monarchy [see notes, pages 12-16]

Class: (where do people fit?)

• Merchant Class - shop keepers, tailors, etc.
• Trade Class - blacksmiths, carpenters, farmers, etc.
• Political Class - Barons, Knights (non-military), Viscounts.
• Noble Class - higher nobles like Dukes, Marquees, Earls.

Military: (repeat as often as needed)

Type: Royal Guard

• Rank: Guard (Name)
• Awards: Royal Rose Medal (valor), Royal Star (bravery above and beyond)
• Weapons: Pistol & saber

Type: Royal Navy

• Rank: [see notes pages 5-6]
• Awards: Royal Star (bravery above and beyond), Aquarian Award (after famous Naval General)
• Weapons: Pistol, saber, cannons (on ship)

Weaponry: (here you can say commoners and nobles but I say each class of people)

Merchant Class: simple pistols, crude swords, daggers

Trade Class: simple pistols, crude swords, daggers

Political Class: the best pistols, rifles, swords, daggers

Noble Class: swords (useful but mostly for show), daggers, some may carry their own pistols

Religion:

Gods:

• God of Water and the Sea, Illiat (you can also make a note of what their “sign” looks like, like the Sign of the Cross)
• God of War, Trellin

Goddesses:

• Goddess of Fertility, Nephina
• Goddess of Earth and Farming, Ollura

Beliefs/Superstitions: gifts to the gods bring good fortune, not blood offerings, blood or live sacrifices bring bad luck,

Myths/Legends: Illiat, the God of the Sea – similar to the legends of King Tritan of the merfolk, (you can add more here for each of the deities in your story, but I’ll stop with just one to keep from boring you.)

Traditions: (I just made small notes here, but you can or may need to show more detail. I didn’t put all information here, again to not bore you)

Birth: Each year celebrate “birth anniversary” for one week until the age of 16, huge party for “sweet 16” for both girls and boys,

Graduation: Two day celebration

Marriage: Bride and Groom wear colors of their family, altar is decorated in both colors with the family crest (grooms) embroidered on it,

Death: A day of silence followed by a day of great celebration; color of mourning: red

*Race: Ollurian

Skin: light, peach colored

Hair: brown, black, blonde, purple

(add any other details about their race, like if they have pointed ears or horns or attenae, only 4 fingers, etc)

*Styles: (list for all classes and males, females, and children)

Merchant Class:

• Males: simple tunics and leggings, boots,
• Females: one layer dresses, simple belt, sleeves hug wrist, hair pulled up but no head piece,
• Children: same

Trade Class: *will also wear special clothing for their trade, like aprons

• Males: simple tunics and leggings, boots,
• Females: one layer dresses, simple belt, sleeves hug wrist, hair pulled up but no head piece,
• Children: same

Political Class:

• Males: Tunics with family crest embroidered on the chest, leggings, leather boots,
• Females: two layer dresses (tunic and under dress), loose sleeves, hair pulled up with beautiful clips,
• Children: same, girl’s hair pulled into braids with colorful ribbons

Noble Class:

• Males: Elaborate Tunics with family crest on chest, expensive trimmings, leggings, expensively made boots with some sort of decoration (like fur on the cuff),
• Females: two layer dresses (tunic and under dress), billowy sleeves, hair held in exquisite head wraps and veils,
• Children: same, girl’s hair styled in curls or under a veil,

*Location:

Located: North border: the ocean, South: Country of Welish, East: Country of Betern, West: Country of Martyn

Cities: Port Illiat (capital), Trellin, Rentin, [setting sketches pages 1-2]

*Technology: [see notes pages 20-21, 24-26, 27-30]

Names: Cities are named after Gods and famous military heroes

*Language: English with Ollurian accent (sounds like British), [see notes pages 43-45]

So as you can see, I only refer to my huge research notes a few times. The other stuff I made up or used other research notes to make up my own information. It's not as hard as it seems if you look at it this way. At least it isn't to me. I was able to fill in this page in about an hour, with very little research. Granted I already had a lot of research done, so I guess I could say it would take a day or two to fill out this entire thing.

Remember that your story may not use every single one of these points! (So it may not take you quite as long, just depends on how much extra research you need to do)The bolded titles with an asterix are the ones that I think are required for every story, but you can pick and choose as you like.