SANJIESAN LORE / In-world documents
Distinguish the text, margin notes and later additions
An in-world letter or travel journal can contain an original text, a later annotation and a reader’s uncertain correction. If those layers are presented without context, another writer may treat every line as equally authoritative. Identify the voices before turning the attractive artifact into a source for the rest of the setting.
Identify the document’s layers
In an original example, separate the traveller’s entry, an owner’s margin note and a later archivist’s heading. Record the date or sequence when the draft establishes it, leaving the rest unknown. Krita’s layers introduction explains separate grouped visual elements; such organisation can help prepare the artifact image, but the author still decides which voice each element represents. A different handwriting style alone may not communicate the intended speaker to a reader.
Give each statement an appropriate status
Choose one factual-sounding claim and ask which voice makes it. A marginal correction can be right, mistaken or deliberately misleading; do not make it confirmed merely because it is written later. Compare the claim with the author’s separate working decisions. Keep the artifact’s wording intact when ambiguity is intentional, while recording what other contributors may safely infer. The author’s reference note and the fictional document serve different audiences and do not need identical amounts of explanation.
Preserve the context in a crop or quotation
When using a close crop in an article or concept book, keep enough caption context to identify the voice and edition. A decorative fragment should not turn a character’s guess into an official setting statement. Keep the full working artifact and its layer note for future revisions. If another contributor changes a heading, recheck which text it appears to govern. The result can remain atmospheric while giving the production team a clear route back to the source of each claim.