wordbuilding from an intelligence point of view presenter: rhonda beardsley
TRANSCRIPT
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Wordbuilding from an Intelligence Point of View Presenter: Rhonda Beardsley
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Class Rules• Cell phones off or silenced• Feel free to eat or drink (If the facility
does not mind, neither do I)• Raise your hand with questions• Save sidebars until after the class• Save questions that only pertain to you
until the end• If you need to leave or use the restroom
feel free just be quiet if you can. • Thank you for attending!
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Who I am and why you care
• Rhonda Beardsley • 11 Years Military Intelligence• Two years of school on how to dissect places, people and
things. • Two years building country studies for various U.S. Air
Force units that deployed 46 out of every 52 weeks • One year briefing the three star general in charge of all the
military forces in the Pacific/Asian theater the same thing I am teaching you.
• Seven years traveling the world and doing this (what I am teaching you) for over 60 countries.
• Because I know a lot of little things and the little things matter.
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The Country/Setting Study• What a country study is• Why a country study is important• What it provides• The components • Why you care• Where to find examples
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Why it’s important
It gives you the chance to consider all the things
that will affect your story before they affect
your story.
It can help do away with vague.
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What a Country Study is Exactly
A country study is a comprehensive study of an area you will be working,
living, fighting, eating, talking and existing in…or the
setting of your story.
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What it Provides
3D parameters for where your story will existWhere and why your characters will eat, sleep and breath
What will ground your story and what will sink itDetails, Details, Details
CohesivenessA valid backdrop for backstory
Opportunity to realistically set your goals, conflicts and motivations
Believable MILIEU
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Cognitive Bias
Remove your world from your
world
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The Intel Bible on How to
Think
Free in PDF from The CIA
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Write Like You’re Filling an Aquarium
Be conscious of what you put in.
Don’t make assumptions.
Everything ties in to everything else.
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Preconceived Notions
You must think, write and reason
from the inside out NOT the outside
in.
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The 3 R’s
Reporter > Respondent >
Rebel
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Back it up with graphics or video
Seeing things makes them real
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Man Versus Motivation
Always build the man better than the motivation. Is he motivated because he is driven or because he is
forced.It is more true that the man drives the motivation
than the other way around.
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The Concept of MilieuWhat is Milieu?
Milieu as a characterMust be well rounded and thought out, just like your
other charactersIt is the easiest to do and hardest to fix later
It may or may not changeEvery single aspect of it will effect every single aspect
of every character
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Components of a Setting Study - Value of Life• What value does a society attach to life?
Slaves, Dogs, Kids, Sick, Elderly, Women, In Laws, Politicians
• Medical Care and Pain ManagementAvailability, Access (Note these two are different), Socially connected, Earn it v Owed it, Geographical AccessAll these will effect amount of knowledge your characters will have about all things remedy, injury, etc. This in turn will effect how they fight, fortify, live and learn
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Components of a Setting Study - Geography• How big is it? • A large country will have different modes of transportation
than a small one (boats, spaceships, horses, cars, trains, bullet trains, dog sleds, carriages, submarines, you get the picture)
• What is it close to? • Other countries and peoples, no one, the sun, deep space, a
hemisphere of nothing, who are the neighbors
• How much room is there? • Enough to live, rural, city, cramped city, post apocalyptic, Pre-
exploration, space, water world scenario
• Terrain• Mountains, caves, flat steppe, city, space station, rivers, oceans
forests
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Components of a Setting Study - Temperature• Touches everything
• Effect clothing, houses, conveyance, every detail can be exacerbated by temperature and weather
• Can facilitate isolation or extreme circumstances• Storms of all flavors, Antarctic, Mars, Nice weather-
travel, traffic, opportunity to move children and infirm• Extremes – Get what is right for your story and remain
consistent• Clothing – Hot – Almost nude or nude
Cold – Layers and layers
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Components of a Setting Study - Natural Resources• Food• If they have it, if they don’t
• Wealth• How is it dispersed (person v family v country v planet)
• Status• Rich places have more widely stratified population
• Hospitality• Lack of needs makes for conflict (see Maslow’s Pyramid)
• General Emotional Wellbeing• Happy, fed and well dressed = too little revolt or
emotional desensitization, too much can mean devaluation
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Jared Diamond
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Components of a SettingStudy - People• Population• Age Structure• Birth Death
Rates• Sex Ratio• Life Expectancy• Sickness
• Ethnic Groups• Social
Stratification• Nationalities• Literacy• Languages• Religions
You can create an entire stories worth of conflict with any one of these.Real wars are fought over any one of these in countries now everyday.
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Components of a SettingStudy - Government• Type• Level of Free
Living• Level of Free
Thinking• Corruption• Avenues to
Protest• Independence
• Movers and Shakers• Level of Prestige• Pressure Groups• Political parties
or groups• Interaction
strategies
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Components of a SettingStudy - Law• Origination• Law abidance
ratio• Policing• Curfews• Martial law
• Punishment• Change
procedures• General
Acceptance• Jury or Judge or
Vigilante• Level of
Authority
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Components of a SettingStudy - Communications• Talk• Telepathy• Who talks to who• Social
Acceptability• Social Constraints• Devices• Support for
Devices • See Weather and
Geography
• Level of Technology• Speed of information
flow• How is information
contained and compiled• Frequency of
communication• Availability of
communication• Control of
communication• Denial of
communicationWars and conflicts are nearly always won by who moves information the fastest and who hoards it best.
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Components of a SettingStudy - Transportation• Speed• Availability• Fuel Price and
Availability• Medium it uses• Air, Water, Land
• Social Constraints• Tolls• Checkpoints• Customs
• Maintenance• Roads – Paved,
Mud, Rock• Resistance to
Conveyance• Location of roads• Mtn, bridge, bog…
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Components of a SettingStudy - Military• Branches• Service and
Obligation• Beans, Bolts and
Boats• How many• Where are they • How fast can they move• How do they talk• Do they run• Supply Lines
• Training• Social Status• Manpower Available• Desertion Policy• Justice within ranks• How Rank Structure
Works• How Rank is Earned• POW Policy
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Components of a Setting Study - Illicit activities and items
• Drugs• Whores• Bibles• Slaves• Assassins• Saboteurs• Nudity in any
form• Children
• Jewelry• Makeup• Clothes• Communication
devices• Paper/pen• School• Magazines• Books
For the purposes of your story ANYTHING can become illicityou can use this to enhance your characters as well as setting
Things, Thoughts, Feelings, Places, Food, Love, Hate
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Establish Setting
• Best and Worst Case• Determine which things will be
character anchors.• Complete and thorough milieu will
provide telling details.
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Lets See How it WorksExample Time
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Where to See Real Country Studies• Jane’s Defense & Security Intelligence & Analysis
(Search block at top right) Use any similar country
• http://idr.janes.com/public/idr/index.shtml• Federal Research Division Library of Congress• http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/• CIA World Fact Book - All countries in the world
updated yearly• https://
www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
• State Department• Countrystudies.net• US Customs
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Summary
• Milieu• Value of Life• Geography• Temperature• Resources• Government
• People• Law• Communication• Transportation• Military• Illicit items
Write in an AquariumReporter > Respondent > Rebel
Seeing is Makes it Real
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Questions?
Intel Open Forum
Thank You for Attending