Writing Is Not an Alibi

For some reason, part of me seems to want to cram half of my culture worldbuilding in this scene. It’s been… years, literally, from the last time it happened so blatantly: I remember clearly doing it a lot in Infinity (my now abandoned, overgrown and seriously wrecked epic-fantasy-with-a-touch-of-crossover project) in scenes where Violet, the earthling MC, faced her first few big culture shocks. It’s the dreaded “Protagonist enters new setting” ExpoSyndrome (which is now a word, because I say so). Groan.

This realization doesn’t change the fact that this has to stop, since I’ve come to know better. This scene has cool and important events in its own right and all this extraneous info is just diluting the impact. Of course, such is the way of first draft: moving this info in appropriate places where it will be properly shown instead of told is a task for revision. Onward!

Erthel notices as they’re about to sit at the table that they’re seven – and the table has been prepared for eight. The unneeded seat is for Faurel’s father. Yes, it is exactly what it looks like. The man has been quite dead from a few years, and the family always keeps for him an empty seat (with a plate, a glass, a napkin and so on), right next to the widow.

This bit of culture and the way it’s shown, says quite something about the high bloodlines’ concept of family, and especially about Faurel – who says “our matriarch” for his mother, but “my father” for his dad. This is why I’m pretty sure that this bit is going to stay here in revision.