Wordbuilding from an Intelligence Point of View Presenter: Rhonda Beardsley

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Cognitive Bias

Remove your world from your

world

The Intel Bible on How to

Think

Free in PDF from The CIA

Write Like You’re Filling an Aquarium

Be conscious of what you put in.

Don’t make assumptions.

Everything ties in to everything else.

Preconceived Notions

You must think, write and reason

from the inside out NOT the outside

in.

The 3 R’s

Reporter > Respondent >

Rebel

Back it up with graphics or video

Seeing things makes them real

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Jared Diamond

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.

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

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

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.

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…

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

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

Establish Setting

• Best and Worst Case• Determine which things will be

character anchors.• Complete and thorough milieu will

provide telling details.

Lets See How it WorksExample Time

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

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

Questions?

Intel Open Forum

Thank You for Attending