Way With Worlds: Worldbuilding With Real Religions

Temple Japan Religion

[Way With Worlds appears at Seventh SanctumMuseHack, and Ongoing Worlds]

So you’re world building, but the world is basically like ours, or like a given historical place and time. You’d start building religions, but . . . you’re dealing with real religions that people practice and live right now (or the ancestors or descendants of those religions). You’re not so much creating them, but asking where they fit into your setting, what’s “real” and what you have to write.

There’s more “about” than “building.”  Sounds easy, right?  Not when you realize that when it comes to religion you have to . . .

  1. Treat as a functioning part of your setting.
  2. Know what you’re writing about.
  3. Write/describe/handle it in a realistic way (or a way that seems realistic).
  4. Deal with annoying people.

So you’ve got to design your “real” world, but also deal with ‘real” religions.  How do you handle these challenges?

Let’s address them one by one . . .

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50 Shades Of Resume #12: The Juice Box

Resume 12

Joshua Omondi doesn’t think outside of the box – he thinks of how to make a better box. In this case, he made his resume into a juice box. Yes, a juice box, complete with labels, ingredients, contents, and so on. It’s printable for folding purposes or to just show off.

He wanted to do something different and he certainly did.

So when I look over this resume, I see these high points:

  • It’s just plain clever. It’s a juice box resume, and he keeps the design consistent with what you’d expect of, well, an actual juice box.
  • There’s also a sense of humor to this obviously. Again . . . juice box.
  • He includes a lot of information on a “stunt” resume There’s quite a bit of detail here – he doesn’t rely on the “stunt” to speak for him.
  • The skill descriptions are clever to – using percentages to communicate his ability. A good example of translating one metaphor to another.
  • The use of the icons on the side to describe himself is a nice touch – making it look not only like a product, but further adding detail and communicating from more than just text.
  • The inclusion of a personal picture is, as always, a good humanizing touch. It’s also a good picture, calm and dignified, which is an interesting contrast to the whimsy – and that may keep this from seeming silly.
  • People’s reactions to this resume will tell the creator if he’d fit in with them.
  • It’s also a good testimony to not just his design skills but product design skills – which is its own skill-set. it says he’s not just an artist, but a person that can really design something – that backs up his listing Packaging Design as a skill.

Now as you may guess a resume this unusual has some limitations:

  • This is a stunt resume. It’s definitely going to need to be paired with a regular resume and portfolio.
  • Not everyone may get this – though I suspect if they don’t, then they’re not the kind of person he’d want to work for.
  • The small text may not be for everyone.
  • Updating this must be a colossal pain in the backside.

An unusual resume with limits, but clever.

Steve’s Summary: I’d get a kick out of this resume – as long as it was wrapped around a juice box and with a regular resume. It’d want the full experience – because I imagine seeing this in context, in 3D, is a powerful statement of talent. I’d also have something to share with people to say “look how clever this is!”

Also I’d get free juice.

[“50 Shades of Resume” is an analysis of various interesting resumes to celebrate the launch of the second edition of my book “Fan To Pro” and to give our readers inspiration for their own unique creations.]

– Steven Savage