SANJIESAN LORE / Reference prose
Give a setting entry a clear present date
An institution can seem to hold contradictory powers when an entry slides between past and present without saying so. Google’s style guide distinguishes general present behaviour from actions tied to another time. A fictional reference needs its own time boundary as well: current should mean current at a stated point in the setting.
Choose the reference moment
Pick a story date or a clearly defined stage such as before the first chapter. Write what the institution actually does then. Use direct sentences: who appoints its members, what decisions it makes and where it operates. Do not include every historical role in the same present-tense paragraph. If a power is disputed, say who claims it and who rejects it rather than presenting both as an undisputed fact.
Move history into a dated change
Add one earlier change that helps explain the current situation. Perhaps an office moved, a duty passed to another body or a ceremonial role survived after practical authority ended. Link that change to its consequence. The reader should be able to tell whether a character in the present scene can still invoke the old power, merely remembers it or is making a contested claim based on it.
Keep proposals visibly conditional
Finish with one planned reform only if it matters to the project. Identify who proposes it and whether it has taken effect at the reference moment. Avoid writing it as an inevitable future unless the story has established that outcome. Then inspect related entries for the same time boundary. A city description and an organisation entry should not silently use different versions of the institution’s present.