Maybe I'm strange, but what exactly is an essence? I'm completely confused here.

Here is the link to the article on the HW blog. You can also read it at my blog. The article outlines and defines what I mean by 'essence,' but there is much room for clarification. Feel free to ask questions here.

Personally, I'm still confused, although I want to figure it out. Can you summarize "essence" into one sentence (or a purpose) so I can define it easier? Thanks!

"Essence is a flexible but precise system of complex metaphors, designed expressly for the purpose of being able to efficiently and accurately communicate an artistic impression or idea, no matter how nebulous or exact it is."

That is the concise definition from the article. It covers essence pretty good, but it takes a few reads to comprehend. I will try to clarify.

Essence is a way of saying things: it is like a language. But you create the vocabulary and the definitions as you go. Essence is a super advanced system of metaphors. It helps to describe things and ideas quickly and efficiently. It helps to define and analyze nebulous ideas. It helps to artistically represent very concrete objects and people. It creates the skeleton of a poem.

Did that help?

That helps. Could you give me an example? Thanks!

You are welcome.

Here goes, real quick, off the top of my head:

Kimensul

Mind {

Motion [
(96%)
(wind howling through dead woods in a craggy mountain pass)
(moonlight reflecting off of a bottomless pool disturbed by an arrow)
(blood - crimson red)
(night - obsidian - black/pansy - flame - orange) ]

Spirit Light [
(2%)
(darkness of the pit of a cave under the crust of the earth)
Motion [ (erupting lava over a sleeping village) (catapults hurling flaming corpses into a besieged castle at night) ]
(death - blue/burning hand - red/skeleton - black) ]

}

That is the sword character that I told y'all about. He is a Zheigor, a demon. The above essence gives you an example of the type of syntax that I use, with a few shortcuts. The dashes (-) in the elements (the parts surrounded by parenthesis) refer to internal references. Ask for more details as needed.

Are you refering to ways you describe the sword? Blood - crimson red, that kind of thing?

Yes. (blood red) is different from (blood - red). The former simply gives a color, the latter adds in the connotations of blood.

Remember that the above essence is fragmentary, and does not represent the Kimensul's full essence.

I think I'm catching on. What do you mean by mind motion, then?

Mind {} is the Metaphor. Motion [] and Spirit Light [] are the Classes. I will start a thread for discussing metaphors and classes and elements soon. Perhaps now.

WOW! So an essence is kind of like a dictionary you can refer back to as a writer?

Is it like a dictionary for each character with different ways to explain them? Can it be used for places and inanimate items, too?

Sort of, yes. That is actually a pretty good way of describing it, I guess. It helps you to articulate your ideas to other writers who use Essence no matter how nebulous your ideas are, or how artistic and personal the concept is. It also is a reference for you to go back to and get back into the 'spirit' or 'mood' of a character, scene, or place.

Yes. Yes. You can actually use it for anything that you want. Think of it like a language or a type of poetry: you can describe anything.

I LOVE it! That is an awesome idea! *scurries off to write an essence*

Okay, I'm starting to get it. What are the parts of an essence?

"An essence is made up of attributes, categorized into a hierarchy of three categories. There are metaphors, classes, and elements, in that order of precedence. Each attribute is made up of one or more of the attribute next below it in precedence, or optionally of one or more additional attributes of its own category. Thus you can have a class and a metaphor inside of a metaphor, but not an element, and you can have multiple elements inside of a class, but not a metaphor. See?"

That is from the article. If you read it, and then look back at my example, you should be able to figure it out. Each attribute has its own enclosing syntax. Metaphors enclose their contents in curly braces ( {} ), Classes use square brackets ( [] ), and elements use parenthesis ( () ).

Now I'm lost again. Can you define metaphors classes & elements in relation to an essence?

Hmm... OK. This is easy for me to understand because I enjoy CSS, perl, PHP, HTML, and etc., which is why it will be harder for someone who doesn't like those things to understand.

Think of a box. A really big box. And it says 'Kimensul' on the outside. That box is the Kimensul's Essence. Everything inside it describes the Kimensul in some special way. There are four different kinds of boxes, and each one describes a different facet of the Kimensul (or whatever your essence is of).

Now, inside the box marked 'Kimensul' (the Essence), is another box. You can have as many boxes in there as you like, but this time there is only one of this kind of box. This is the Metaphor. It is labeled 'Mind.' That means that inside it is things that describe the mind of the Kimensul, instead of his/its appearance, or whatever.

Inside the Metaphor box marked 'Mind' is two more boxes. These ones are Class boxes. One is labeled 'Motion,' the other is labeled 'Spirit Light.' These are two different kinds of classes. There are a lot of different kinds, but these are the two that we are using this time. Motion means: motion. Spirit Light means the goodness or badness of something.

Inside the Motion Class box are several small boxes. They vary quite a bit, but they are all Elements. That is the smallest kind of box that you can put inside an Essence. There are five in the Motion box. You can see them in the example surrounded by parenthesis. If you need help understanding them, just ask.

Inside the Spirit Light Class box is yet more boxes. But along with the normal, little Element boxes is one more Class box! Remember that you can put a box inside another one of the same type? Well, you can, and it can come in pretty handy too. This Class box is labeled Motion again, and it contains yet more of those cute little Element boxes.

Inside all of those cute Element boxes (all ten of them, to be exact) are bits of text. That is the final content of your Essence.

There are a lot of types that you can do, and there are a lot of shortcuts and tips and tricks that you can do with all of this, but I hope this little illustration helps you to understand. Feel free to ask more questions!

Okay, I think I'm getting it...but I'm still confused. What are the four boxes you talked about in the beginning.

Okay, I think I'm getting it...but I'm still confused. What are the four boxes you talked about in the beginning.

Hmmm.

I have a question. What if all of these boxes simply don't apply to what's being essenced?

There are four boxes in the systematic articulation of an essence: the essence itself, any metaphors, any classes, and any elements.

They always do, because they are merely categories for expression. If you need a different box, make one (please, do), but it will always be a metaphor, a class, or an element.

Alright, so I hear from my siblings that I went backwards in defining essence. I apologize for the confusion. ops: I will try to amend myself by starting a new thread in here explaining myself much better. My sister is intending to write an article on it too.

I'm...just completely messed up now. I think I'll just have to read what other people are doing and figure it out myself.

Is an essence...like an encyclopedia?

An essence is more like a picture.

So it talks about different ways to describe a thing and different aspects of a thing's "essence"?

Yes. I will be writing a thread re-describing what exactly an essence is, as separate from how to articulate an essence. Hope that helps.