Project: Shadow

Let's talk about cutting our own path forward.

If you want to support the work that I do, you can join the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cedorsett

Or buy me a Coffee on Ko-fi.

YouTube Channel= https://www.youtube.com/user/cedorsett/

Site: https://www.projectshadow.com

Dragon's of Night: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/dragons-of-night

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cedorsett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectshadowsite/

Let's just get to the links I promised.

If you want to support the work that I do, you can join the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cedorsett

Or buy me a Coffee on Ko-fi.

YouTube Channel= https://www.youtube.com/user/cedorsett/

Site: https://www.projectshadow.com

Dragon's of Night: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/dragons-of-night

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cedorsett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectshadowsite/

Things are changing, or at least they feel like they are. This is an interesting time to do world building a contemporary dark fantasy world set on Earth.

What I decided to do

I decided to set the story in the ’90s because of my own nostalgia for the goth subculture of my youth. Also I didn’t want to have to deal with the state of the world as it is now. I don’t know how to process live in the United States right now enough to write a story about it, but that doesn’t mean that current events aren’t changing the ideas going into my story world.

The Outrage is not mine to appropriate

Our job is not to appropriate the anger and outrage of people of color and victims of systemic racism, segregation, or of any population we do not belong to that suffered genocide. We need to adopt a tone of confession and anti-racism. We also need to be careful not to proclaim that our stores offer an absolute or ideal solution to these problems. 

How do we write honestly from the POV of our characters without appropriation?

I can’t write a utopia because that wouldn’t serve the story, but I can’t pretend that I have the answer to these problems.  What ever am I going to do?

The real question is: how do I develop a “realistic” fantasy setting without either proclaiming that I have found a “perfect” solution or appearing to write anything into the setting that would justify the bias of the characters within the setting?

The answer I came up with is to focus on making sure I am not including racist tropes in my world building that would undercut the stories and the world itself. I know I will not be perfect about this, but it is something we all need to keep a close eye on.

Several good example of what I am talking about come from my beloved Harry Potter books. I am not talking about the author’s current transphobia, but the flawed analogy used in the series.

Seek perfection Knowing you will never find it.

I know I will make mistakes, we all will, but we cannot allow our fear of failure to keep us from working. I understand that there is a big difference between author intent and reader impact, so I am going to do everything in my power to do no harm with my work. Should I mess up, then I need to apologize and fix it in good faith.

I don’t have all the answers

I wish more writers would repeat that over and over to themselves. Our work is about seeking meaning in this world and finding an escape from it. Our job is not to solve the world’s problem but to search, try, and sometimes harrow the souls of our characters and give our readers a worthwhile experience.

All writing is empathy. Don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t know everything. The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep a close eye on our intentions and the effect we might have on others.

Fear serves no purpose other than to keep us quiet. Do your best to tell stories worth tell, ever seeking to do no harm with your tales. That is all that can be asked from any of us.

If you want to support the work that I do, you can join the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cedorsett

YouTube Channel= https://www.youtube.com/user/cedorsett/

Site: https://www.projectshadow.com

Dragon's of Night: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/dragons-of-night

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cedorsett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectshadowsite/

The best part of this new project for me is that it has restored my love for telling stories and writing. I didn’t think I lost my love until I felt it return.

If you want to support the work that I do, you can join the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cedorsett

YouTube Channel= https://www.youtube.com/user/cedorsett/

Site: https://www.projectshadow.com

Ash Dancer: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/ash-dancer

Barrens' End: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/barrens--end

Dragon's of Night: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/dragons-of-night

Princess Rescue Squad: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/princess-rescue-squad

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cedorsett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectshadowsite/

Let’s talk about Setting the scene and go through my draft (here).

How are you setting the scene for your work? What do you think about How I set up mine?

If you want to support the work that I do, you can join the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cedorsett

YouTube Channel= https://www.youtube.com/user/cedorsett/

Site: https://www.projectshadow.com

Ash Dancer: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/ash-dancer

Barrens' End: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/barrens--end

Dragon's of Night: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/dragons-of-night

Princess Rescue Squad: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/princess-rescue-squad

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cedorsett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectshadowsite/

Let’s dig into the Foundations page by talking about how to use it. I will be using mine as an example (here).

What are the foundations of your world? What do you think about mine?

If you want to support the work that I do, you can join the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cedorsett

YouTube Channel= https://www.youtube.com/user/cedorsett/

Site: https://www.projectshadow.com

Ash Dancer: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/ash-dancer

Barrens' End: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/barrens--end

Dragon's of Night: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/dragons-of-night

Princess Rescue Squad: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/princess-rescue-squad

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cedorsett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectshadowsite/

Since I am taking part in World Anvil’s World Building Summer Camp for Camp NaNoWriMo this year, I am working on my prep homework.

So let’s talk about mine:

I have never felt more secure in my story world and what I am building, I hope you come along for the ride.

If you want to support the work that I do, you can join the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cedorsett

YouTube Channel= https://www.youtube.com/user/cedorsett/

Site: https://www.projectshadow.com

Ash Dancer: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/ash-dancer

Barrens' End: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/barrens--end

Dragon's of Night: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/dragons-of-night

Princess Rescue Squad: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/princess-rescue-squad

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cedorsett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectshadowsite/

For Camp NaNoWriMo this July, I am doing World Anvil’s World Building Summer Camp! Specifically, I am building my Dragons of Night setting (here) so I can write my new Blinded Angels series.

I hope you are excited to work on your own project and interested to follow along with the creation of mine. Let’s do this together.

If you want to support the work that I do, you can join the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cedorsett

YouTube Channel= https://www.youtube.com/user/cedorsett/

Site: https://www.projectshadow.com

Ash Dancer: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/ash-dancer

Barrens' End: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/barrens--end

Dragon's of Night: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/dragons-of-night

Princess Rescue Squad: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/princess-rescue-squad

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cedorsett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectshadowsite/

If I had a penny for every time I have been told that I am limiting my audience by writing so many Queer characters, I would be rich. I have been called out in my hometown as a race traitor for having non-white characters characters in my books…

I am not trying to pat my self on the back or show my bona fides on these issues, but to explain that world is full of people trapped in their own minds.

All I want is for people learn to ask themselves how much you engage with protagonists that are different from you. If you are a part of any minority, that answer is probably either “all the time” or “way too much.” If you are a cis gender, heterosexual, white male, would you answer the same way?

Too many voices in fandom and society speak out anytime representation happens. No, they don’t represent the majority opinion and they are outliers, but the problem is, large and small media companies cave in to them all too often.

Diversity in fiction allows more people to see and empathize with people from different backgrounds, and in so doing, we learn to empathize with everyone as human. That is what these people don’t want to have happen. 

They believe that division is power. They are wrong. Unity is power. Diversity is power. It is where our real strength resides.

If you want to support the work that I do, you can join the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cedorsett

YouTube Channel= https://www.youtube.com/user/cedorsett/

Site: https://www.projectshadow.com

Ash Dancer: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/ash-dancer

Barrens' End: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/barrens--end

Dragon's of Night: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/dragons-of-night

Princess Rescue Squad: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/princess-rescue-squad

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cedorsett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectshadowsite/

The biggest lie that threatens our world is that left behind king and queens when we became democratic societies. We didn’t, we simply changed the way we named people part of the ruling class.

In a democracy, we believe that the power belongs to the people. When well organized, this is true. Unfortunately, we have constructed an idea that we should elect “leaders” and then follow them. Nothing could be less democratic.

A representative at best should be a Vox Populi, or voice of the people they represent. They are meant to follow their constituents not the other way around.

When we examine real movements like the ones that are happening right now such as the Black Lives Matter protests for George Floyd, we are watching the entitled ruling class bristling at the mere suggestion that they should listen to much less follow the will of the people or even work for the people.

We have to learn to see the through these ideas and start seeing people as coordinators, mediators, and organizers, and abandon the language of leaders and leadership. It does more harm than good.

If you want to support the work that I do, you can join the project on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cedorsett

YouTube Channel= https://www.youtube.com/user/cedorsett/

Site: https://www.projectshadow.com

Ash Dancer: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/ash-dancer

Barrens' End: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/barrens--end

Dragon's of Night: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/dragons-of-night

Princess Rescue Squad: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/princess-rescue-squad

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cedorsett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectshadowsite/