[World-Info] Is there such a thing as too much?

SimLuke · Post by **SimLuke** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 7:24 am

[dreamsaftersunrise.keenspace.com]

One of the upcoming main characters is a member of the 'Gawa' religion, something I have, to the letter, the holy books for in my head. This also includes the differences in translations, how the original translation looks (with it's own language and reading system) what chapters are missing and what's contained in those chapters, etc.

Now, I know this kind of info is almost expected of a fantasy esquie story, but DAS isn't exactly fantasy based... It's a modern day affair. Okay, so the said religious character sees gods and magic and whatnot, but it is very possible he is simply a paranoid delusional.

So, could I do a disservice by not following the 'trend' as such and doing all of these text files of the holy books? Or would you say there is no such thing as too much extra info? Also, if the latter is true, how much should I put up at once? The chapters of the books as I write them, or only upload them when I have them all done?

IVstudios · Post by **IVstudios** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 7:59 am

Nothing kills a comic for me like when the author puts in too much information about his made up world. What a lot of artist don't seem to realize is that for the most part, the reader will just sort of "buy it." As long as it doesn

Phalanx · Post by **Phalanx** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:09 am

psst! It's http://dreamsaftersunrise.keenspace.com , not dreamsaftersunrise.keenSPOT.com

SimLuke · Post by **SimLuke** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:16 am

ACK!

. I'm so used to going into keenspot sites I type in keenspot automaticly by assosation with the word keen. I'll edit straight away.

Ahem, to try and diginfy myself....

The problem with trying to intergrate it into the dialouge and other such thing is there are some things that are just too much,a nd somethings that the characters are just not meant to know. I am planing to bring out the main detals this way, but there are the parables on the Gawa way the world has been made, etc.

The explaining can easly be done though, as Ben's the only character who even knows about the Gawa religion, but...

Comments taken on board anyway. Thanks for the answer.

--- Luke

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:28 pm

If you have it and want to type it, do so. You could put it on your site as reference so if the character says something like "Chapter 8 Verse 4 in the Book of the Danube" you can link directly to it so the reader has the information on hand. Remember, though, that you want to tell a story, not convert people to your religion (maybe you do, it doesn't matter). The reader is going for a story and they expect to see one.

The point of extra information is that it should be extra. If the reader wants to see it, they can and it's an aid to the experience. If they don't want to bother they don't need to and the story should stand on its own merits.

Also, if you include the information, don't force the reader to go through it to get to your comic. Don't put so much time into the extra material that you neglect the story. Beyond that, it's your comic. Do what you like.

K-Dawg · Post by **K-Dawg** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 11:35 am

In the world I created there are tons of things that the reader doesn't know. But at the same time my main characters don't know these things as well. You learn about the world as they learn about it.

Caduceus · Post by **Caduceus** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 1:23 pm

K-Dawg has a good formula there. It's nice to construct the character so they don't know everything. That way we can all learn together!

Oualawouzou · Post by **Oualawouzou** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 2:37 pm

I have nothing about "extra info" pages, as long as you don't make them mandatory to understand the story.

I know it's almost clich

Driving Without Pants · Sat Jan 22, 2005 9:16 pm

A good rule of thumb in this situation is one that is borrowed from film: never say what you can show. For this particular instance, a good way to show the complexity of this made-up religion would be to cite very specific parts of it: for example, have the character quote chapter and verse all the time, much like a real religious person would. By being exposed to a scattered array of very specific references to the religion, the reader will be able to fill the gaps in his own mind.