61 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
61 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Initial Relationships
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category: Characters
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tags: characters, relationships, starting-state, secrets, continuity
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contextKey: characters.initialRelationships
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micro: Define how characters relate to each other before the story changes them.
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quickTitle: What are Initial Relationships?
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quickSummary: Initial Relationships set the baseline for family ties, friendships, rivalries, secrets and other bonds before later scenes change or reveal them.
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screenshot:
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---
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# Overview
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Initial Relationships describe the starting point between two characters. They answer the question: "What is true about these characters before the story changes it?"
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Use this section for relationships that already exist at the beginning of the project, the beginning of a book, or before the character first appears. This includes obvious connections, such as parent, friend or employer, and hidden connections, such as a secret affair, concealed family tie, mistaken identity or undercover role.
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# How This Helps Continuity
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The initial relationship becomes the baseline for current relationship state, relationship events and later continuity checks. If a scene changes trust, hostility, awareness or emotional intensity, that change should usually be recorded as a Relationship Event rather than by rewriting the initial relationship.
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Initial Relationships can also separate story truth from reader knowledge. The writer may know two characters are related long before the reader does.
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# Understanding the Fields
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| Field | What it means | Example |
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| --- | --- | --- |
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| Related character | The other character in this relationship. | If you are viewing Annie Fletcher, choosing Beth means you are describing Annie's relationship to Beth. |
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| Relationship type | The kind of bond or role between them. | Parent, friend, rival, employer, secret lover, suspect. |
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| Awareness | Who knows about the relationship or understands its true nature. | The writer knows Beth and Maggie are sisters before the reader does. |
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| Initial book | Where this relationship baseline begins. | Book 1 if the bond exists from the start; Book 2 if the character enters the series later. |
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| Confidence / intensity | How strong, certain or emotionally charged the relationship is. | 10 for devoted family or intense hatred; 2 for a weak acquaintance. |
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| Reciprocal | Whether PlotWeaver should also create the reverse connection. | If Annie is Beth's parent, Beth is Annie's child. |
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| Reader initially knows | Whether the reader knows this relationship at the starting point. | Untick for hidden family ties, secret affairs or delayed reveals. |
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| Notes | Extra context, hidden history or author-only explanation. | "The reader thinks they are strangers, but Annie is Beth's mother." |
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# When To Use Initial Relationships
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Use an initial relationship when the connection is already true before the relevant story action begins. Use a Relationship Event instead when the bond changes during a scene, becomes known to someone, or gains new emotional weight.
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# Example
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A detective and a suspect may begin as strangers in public, while the writer knows they had a private meeting years ago. The initial relationship can record the hidden past, Reader initially knows can stay off, and a later relationship event can mark the scene where the truth is revealed.
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# Writer Tip
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Be honest about the baseline. If the story is hiding something from the reader, do not hide it from your planning record; use the reader knowledge and awareness fields to track the secret cleanly.
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# Common Mistakes
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- Adding duplicate relationships instead of editing the existing baseline.
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- Using Initial Relationships for changes that happen inside scenes.
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- Leaving Reader initially knows ticked for a secret relationship.
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- Treating intensity as only positive; hatred, fear and rivalry can also be intense.
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# Related Guides
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- [Current Relationships](/Help/Article/characters.currentRelationships)
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- [Relationship Events](/Help/Article/characters.relationshipEvents)
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- [Character Details](/Help/Article/characters.details)
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