Building Realities 003

With Jack Lhasa!

Welcome back, my friends!

I hope you've been enjoying my newsletters, Notes, comments and chat so far. Dave has spent the last month kicking some serious ass getting me organized and catching up on the material I'd already written. Twice this year, I've shown a few choice details to my closest friends, respected writers. It didn't catch like I expected. I just thought they'd fall in love with concept, start on the material, and suddenly be like, "Oh.. Oh, wow.. Jack's really got something here." After Dave started going over the stuff, that's how he reacted.

My notes at the time of his Eureka! moment were much clearer. More refined. Still not ready for my intended goal, but I already had nearly 200 separate document and image files.

We started bouncing it around, and now I'm already setting the final up as co-authored. As I've mentioned, the task is herculean. This style of worldbuilding isn't often recommended to anyone. This is because most writers only need the setting for a single novel, maybe 3, if they're lucky. In those stories, it's best to let your characters reveal the world to the reader, and the writer jots down a bit of a 'cheat sheet' that contains the things most referenced. In music they call that a fakebook.

I decided I wanted to do things differently. I've built worlds before. I've worked on a number of teams of writers to establish large scale products. But, Moonshadow, well, I wanted more from it.

So, this time, this project, I’d build every detail. Not going OCD with it, but ending with a world so complex, and fertile, that I could write short stories. Novels. Novellas. Movie scripts. All in this world. Plus my artistic side. Not just that. I also wanted a world that made the readers want to write their own stories in it. Produce an endless stream of their own art.

I understood how different this would be. It was going to be extremely challenging—insanely hard, in fact. I realized it could take years off my lifespan. I knew I would need help, which might be the toughest part in the beginning.

In issue 004, I'll finish the *How We Got Here* so it'll take up less space. We're going to talk about templates, outlines, technique, and personal style.

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Last week I asked my readers to share something about the setting of the last story they'd written. This week, I would love to hear what makes a book's setting feel genuine, to you the Reader. If you'd like to share, that's what the Chat is made for!! I'd love to get more discussion going. I know it's early, and somethings will get more interaction later. I'm a curious person though, and I don't get tired of talking about writing. When we work together, the end result is always better. Collaboration over competition is how true innovation happens. That's a rare thing to experience.

I'm going to let you see inside my process. I've often been asked about my methods, because it's unusual. The carving of my voice was an oddity, in that I did not attempt to write prose aside from flash fiction for years. I considered poetry the only truly artistic aspect of writing. I wrote verse for 5-6 hours daily, often while doing physical things, like chores, hiking, exercise.

The muse walked out on Jack the lyricist during my time at university. The only thing that had ever been effortless to me was lost completely, because my cadence changed. I was in 4/4 time. Something I'd never known. I felt lost. It took great effort to learn to switch up the tempo without hitting a flat.

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One of the breathtaking vistas you’ll be in awe at the site of each of the countless new unearthly biomes.

The setting of the "Crimson Forest" is a mystical scene infused with a striking red hue. The forest is lined with tall bamboo stalks stretching upwards, and the leaves and undergrowth are vivid red, creating an ethereal and magical atmosphere. Soft light filters through the canopy, casting a gentle glow throughout the scene. The overall mood is serene yet otherworldly, giving the impression of a hidden realm bathed in shades of crimson.

Many writers(like myself) keep a daily journal, even with all the other writing we do. Somedays it is just so much! But, if you’re reading this, you can probably install an app called Day One for your device. The free plan is extremely generous. With a full host of options, and a team who’ve been perfecting it for so long, (9 years!) it’s the perfect app for a writer who wants to keep a little bit to the side. Something I love about it is the On This Day feature. There are days when I have seven years of entries! Would! While robust enough for any purpose it’s CB lean and simple enough to check-in on quickly.

Until next week,

- Jack Lhasa

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All content here in is copyright Jack Lhasa 2024-2025, unless other wise noted. The brief biographical material is copyright David Cunningham. Art is also copyright Jack Lhasa 2020-2025, all right reserved. If for any reason you’d like to use any of the material found in these newsletters or websites, please contact Jack Lhasa. When asked, I can be very accommodating.