Ophiucha
Auror
This is particularly relevant to historical fantasy, but could apply to other genres under the right circumstances. Ever write a story where there are facts, things happened... but nobody ever thought to write them down? If you've ever tried writing a story set in an ancient civilization other than Greece or Rome, you probably understand this one. So here's my situation:
I'm writing a story about the mercenary, John Hawkwood, as a werewolf following his excommunication from the Catholic Church. I can find a lot of oddly specific details. There was a wedding he attended with Geoffrey Chaucer and Petrarch, and the bride later remarried the brother of Hawkwood's wife. I can find a lot about his burial. I've found a few names from his band of mercenaries, and I've even found some people who will make excellent arc villains who get their comeuppance. One dude who opposes John Hawkwood even gets excommunicated himself. Easily can make their argument about werewolfism, and have him ironically become a werewolf himself. But... there are things - important things - that the records are rather hazy on. Like... his family. He had two wives, the first one is completely unknown. Her name, her fate. Unknown. He had children before he married his second wife, but whether they were from his first or from mistresses is unknown. And my god, good luck figuring out how many children he had. Numbers from four to about ten.
So the discussion point: when you just can't know, when the information simply doesn't exist, is it better to make it up or... just sort of sidestep the issue? In my case, for instance, should I decide from what I do know which of his children existed and whom they were born from, or should I just include an ambiguous "a letter from his son", with no name or age on the kid and no mention of his mother? Have you ever faced this issue in any of your stories, and if so, how did you get around it?
I'm writing a story about the mercenary, John Hawkwood, as a werewolf following his excommunication from the Catholic Church. I can find a lot of oddly specific details. There was a wedding he attended with Geoffrey Chaucer and Petrarch, and the bride later remarried the brother of Hawkwood's wife. I can find a lot about his burial. I've found a few names from his band of mercenaries, and I've even found some people who will make excellent arc villains who get their comeuppance. One dude who opposes John Hawkwood even gets excommunicated himself. Easily can make their argument about werewolfism, and have him ironically become a werewolf himself. But... there are things - important things - that the records are rather hazy on. Like... his family. He had two wives, the first one is completely unknown. Her name, her fate. Unknown. He had children before he married his second wife, but whether they were from his first or from mistresses is unknown. And my god, good luck figuring out how many children he had. Numbers from four to about ten.
So the discussion point: when you just can't know, when the information simply doesn't exist, is it better to make it up or... just sort of sidestep the issue? In my case, for instance, should I decide from what I do know which of his children existed and whom they were born from, or should I just include an ambiguous "a letter from his son", with no name or age on the kid and no mention of his mother? Have you ever faced this issue in any of your stories, and if so, how did you get around it?