On Projects Plans: A Heraldic Treatise

"Someone should really do X..."

The above statement is unhelpful. I have a personal rule which states that it should always be followed by "...and that someone is me!" if you want to be a contributing member of society.

How is that particularly relevant? Well, I found myself, some years ago, reading through period heraldic treatises (the many results of which may be found throughout this blog), and thinking to myself, "Someone should really write one of these for SCA heraldry..."

It took a few minutes for that inadvertant volunteering to sink in.

This isn't an upcoming project, rather an ongoing project that's been bubbling away. The research phase started in earnest in July 2011, and the actual pen-to-paper (as it were) phase began in November 2012. It's currently at approximately twenty thousand words (of an estimated forty to sixty thousand), and approximately ninety pages (of an estimated two to three hundred). The length will jump quite a ways when I start adding illustrations, rather than simple text. This is just the first draft, mind, so it's not a third of the project done, by any means.

There are various areas to be covered in the treatise, including both book and voice heraldry, as well as precedence and thoughts about the society, as the period treatises I've studied have had varied topics contained within, from simple coat-armour to complex musings on the nature of knighthood and nobility, and diverse other things.

I've been away from the project for several months, because of study commitments (hmm, should I spend time writing the treatise, or my many essays and assignments?). I've returned to the project this week, and have been revising a lot of the earlier writing and choices to match the later study I've done, as a way of refamiliarising myself with the work. Some of the things I've noticed along the way have reinforced to me the scale of the project I've put myself in for.

Many of the things written on this blog will likely be a springing point (or central reference) for sections of the treatise, as various parts overlap. For instance, the court heraldry section of the treatise will likely be based largely on my Court in the Act article.