The Other East

I just can't make my fingers type tonight, I just can't do it.  I'm suffering crippling writer's block even though I have a wealth of ideas to put into words... but I just can't get started.  That's really the hardest part for me, when writer's block hits it overtakes and destroys everything!  I can't defeat it and it's holding my life back!

What do I do?!?!

Write, I guess.  The only way to solve it is to write.

So tonight aside from continuing to watch DuckTales episodes I've been doing some cursory research into Eastern history.  And not just the stuff I usually look into and would consider my specialty, Japanese and Chinese history.  No tonight I looked into the other East, namely Persia and Arabia.  There's quite a lot of interesting history that goes largely ignored in a traditional education.  These regions are an untapped resource and a great influence for an aspiring writer like myself.  Their was a golden age of Arabian culture when it was the most advanced society in the world (arguably with China) which is a fact that few Westerners would ever admit.  A few weeks ago I looked

There are several factors that make studying these regions difficult with names and language being some of the biggest barriers.  If you are able to get past that, and I am, the ancient histories of these regions open their treasures up to study.  I've done some quick looks at Arabia and Persia in the past but I want to really read in depth about the history of these two areas.  It can never hurt to have such an influence in fantasy writing, y'know, and I think this area of the world has been largely ignored.  From names to mythology to traditions the "other East" isn't well represented in fantasy.  Mostly just retellings of 1001 Nights.  Ancient Persia was so much more than just Greece's rival.  There was a strong Zoroastrian nation there when there were no Christian nations.

That's what I'm doing now and I want to try and craft a world or region of my own based on what I'm discovering in Arabian and Persian history.  Maybe.  Or just increase my knowledge of the world by understanding better the history of a large area that has become very troubled in modern society.  In fact I would say the modern cultures in these areas are very much the antithesis of their ancient counterparts and my studies might show me the path to this modern world.  Where once there was an Islamic enlightenment there is fanaticism and ruin, and I want to know why!

It's all part of keeping my mind active and healthy.  If you don't use it you lose it.  I'm a student of the world and history and I intend to be for the rest of my life.