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Q&A How can I write God with a more feminine aspect and introduce it into my culture's mythology?

I find myself giving versions of the same advice over and over, but it's applicable to so many situations. I call it the Sturgeon/Delany rule. Work out every last detail and implication of your n...

posted 7y ago by Chris Sunami‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T07:25:51Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31709
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Chris Sunami‭ · 2019-12-08T07:25:51Z (about 5 years ago)
I find myself giving versions of the same advice over and over, but it's applicable to so many situations. I call it the **Sturgeon/Delany** rule.

Work out every last detail and implication of your new religion, _for yourself_. But then, **only include in the actual story whatever details are immediately relevant** to the characters at any given moment. That will make your world and its religion feel three-dimensional and real, yet avoid info-dumps that fail to serve the plot and characters.

There is a lot of world-building that adds significant value to stories, particularly speculative fiction, but you never want to put it all on the page --that's just self-indulgent.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-11-27T18:24:25Z (about 7 years ago)
Original score: 1