A way with worlds: 06 - Pyramids of Power

THE EFFECTS OF POWER:

When writing I tend to think of two basic ways to achieve a result: by force and by subtlety. Writing either takes thought, so I'll address them separately.

RESULTS BY FORCE:

These seem simple to write - the Evil Army conquers the kingdom, the hero kicks the bad guy's rear end thanks to his training, the doctors cure the disease with a superpowerful antibiotic. Call it what you will, but in many cases you're just writing "force wins in the end." Its easy to do and in many cases logical

Unfortunately, explaining results achieved by force requires two things that can often be forgotten:

1) How is the force used (be it intellectual, military, technical, etc.) powered and how is it achieved? Its easy to hand out superpowers, armies, etc. but harder to explain just how much force is brought to bear. If you want a planetary devastation beam, that's going to take quite a source of energy. If you're going to have someone running a massive corporation, that's a lot of organization (and marketing, and useful products, and even more).

2) What are the side effects of this use of massive force? Brute power, be it military or financial, is not subtle. Taking a country, acquiring a rival, etc. all have repercussions - a military attack destroys resources and creates bad feelings, a corporate takeover may mean people who hate you are now part of your company. As mentioned above, track unexpected side effects when you have characters exert power, but especially when force is involved.

Force takes energy, and force is not subtle. Keep that in mind.

RESULTS BY SUBTLETY:

Subtlety is often forgotten when one writes. It can be more interesting to have the hero kick backside than solve things cleverly. However, realistically, things to happen because of subtlety, and some genres (mystery, romance) will require subtlety in many cases.

Whereas getting a result by force means overwhelming something, achieving things by subtlety means your characters achieve their end by not overwhelming a target. They may make personal connections, kill off an important individual, perform an action at a specific time that affects things critically, etc.

Of course, there are challenges to writing subtlety:

1) Subtlety requires the knowledge and intellect and skill to have an effect. A detective has to be able to put clues together. A seducer has to be able to charm. An assassin trying to stop a coup has to kill the right person.

2) Subtlety can be thought of as working at a "critical-point" - making a connection with another person, finding the right clue, etc. Make sure the critical points ARE critical points, that seducing the Queen will really make a difference, that finding that clue really solves the mystery.

Subtlety also may have to be communicated at least a bit to your reader so they know what's going on. Sometimes you can be too subtle, and loose the reader.

SUMMARY:

With great power comes great challenges in writing. Remember, just as force can backfire and subtlety can be lost, not writing power correctly can ruin a story. Take your time and think ahead.

Take a trip to my own alternate world, the Crossworld of Xai, at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/xai/