Why Have World History In The First Place?History has defined our modern existence. It is what has led up to this point, this world, here and now. And since history is so important to our world, why wouldn't it be when creating a fantasy world? Time shapes and molds any world, and this is true of fantasy worlds as well. So lets learn about how to create general history of a world. RelevanceObviously, you don't want to devise an entire history that has absolutely no relationship to the story you are telling. While it can be beneficial to have a general idea of history, you aren't going to want specifics for every little event in history. You wouldn't ever get to actually writing! I would recommend you have a general idea of major wars, uprising, political shifts, etc... but not a ton of detail. The history you should focus on is what is pertinent to your plot. For example, if you have an ancient evil re-emerging, you should have a very good idea of the history surrounding said evil. You should know how they rose to power, what horrible things they did, how come they haven't re-emerged until now, etc... And you should know what ripple effects they've had. Was a new country created by them that's still in existence? Did the class system get completely upset and put a different species in charge? Consider all angles of events relevant to your story. Keep A Timeline!For any history or story, it would be wise to keep a timeline. You should really know what happened first, how far apart events were, and so on, or else your story will seem messy and not thought through. Timelines don't have to be fancy graphics, they can simply be a list with the dates and events in order. In fact, please do keep it simple. I spent far too much time trying to find a good, free, online timeline graphic maker before I realized all you need is a list you can view. But How Do I Reveal My History?This is a tricky thing. There are a few paths you can take, and I'll recommend which I prefer. One way you can reveal history is by something like a prologue, giving the history that is relevant to your story. I would not recommend this way for the most part, because I feel it's too much exposition. I made this mistake with The Castaway Hero, and I am still kicking myself over it. The second way you could reveal history this through bits and pieces of dialogue. Have a character refer to "the battle of troll hill," or "the great treaty," in passing. This makes it easy to hint at a larger history, without going into info dumps of history. The third way I know is having a character monologue it. This is my kind of middle ground, and I use it a fair amount, especially in the upcoming sequels to The Castaway Hero. I personally prefer to have an ancient character give these, and only when it's important. For example, The Giant in The Castaway Hero delivers some info about how The Peacekeeper Stones wound up in special temples and sanctuaries, and how this ties in with how he knew of the hero's before their arrival. To End.I hope this has been helpful to at least get you started on the history of your world. This is not meant to be an in depth guide, but in the near future I plan on going a bit more in depth about how to really flesh out history and events, and implementing history into your world. And now for the shameless plug.
If you found this helpful and want to support me, please consider purchasing my debut novel, Stones of The Middle Lands: The Castaway Hero, available on Amazon HERE and Barnes and Noble HERE. If you have already read The Castaway Hero, please leave a review on all three platforms. It really helps us authors to know what you liked, what you didn't, and it makes us actually feel appreciated. Also be sure to check out my ever growing collection of short stories HERE. I hope you enjoyed, and until next time, keep on writing!
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Why Creatures Matter in WorldbuildingFirst of all, why would you want to include creatures in your worldbuilding? There are a variety of reasons. First of all, they may be relevant to your plot. They could be something the hero has to face, or they could be an ally, other species, or anything in between. These are especially prevalent in fiction. The hero's may be on a long road when they are suddenly attacked by some fearsome beast. It breaks up the monotony of travel, and gives you some fun conflict. Another reason to have a creature is that they reflect the environment. A lot of creatures are specially adapted to whatever environment they live in, and can be used to help emphasize how deserty, jungley, mountainy, etc... your world is. So especially if your story is a man verses nature type, this is a great reason to have creatures. So what are the most important things for a creature? Appearance, Type, Habitat, and Food SourceFirst and perhaps one of the most important parts of creature creation is appearance. What does the creature look like? A great example from my own book, The Castaway Hero, is the Grunkle, pictured above. This has one of the most fearsome appearances you will find anywhere. This is a creature of nightmares. Its entire appearance screams danger! Avoid me at all costs! This appearance also serves another purpose I will discuss a little later. Closely related to appearance is type. This is basic enough, by type we mean is it a mammal, reptile, fish, or something else entirely? Next is habitat and food source, which are also quite closely related. Where does your creature live? What does it eat? Often habitat and what it eats are also intertwined with appearance. If your creature eats meat, like the Grunkle, it will have adapted like that. The reason the Grunkle has such gigantic claws is because it eats meat. If a creature eats plants, then it doesn't really need things designed for killing. And as noted earlier, a creature that lives in a jungle is going to look quite different than something that lives in a desert. All things to consider when designing a creature. Magic, History, and AdaptationsThe next set is relatively small. First of all, is this creature magical. This is generally something to consider for a fantasy. Next is history. Now this isn't something like an evolutionary history, though that can be something to consider if you are creating creatures that are closely related, such as the Grunkle and Krunkle. What I mean by history is the history of a specific individual creature. If you have a certain creature that may be the last of its kind, what storied past has that creature had? What has shaped it? And the last thing in this chunk is any special adaptations and abilities. These can be quite closely related to habitat and how they survive. Turning to the Krunkle, it has a special ability to shift between a very dog-like form and a monstrous Grunkle-like form. Another thing to consider with the adaptations is why they have them. Has anything forced them to evolve like that? Uses, Threats, Domestication, and PertinanceAnd now for the final things to consider. First of all, how is the creature useful? Is it some kind of beast of burden? Can its body parts be used for something special? Is it quite edible? Can they be used in magic rituals? The next thing is simple. Is the creature a threat? Is it something that could hinder your hero's, or is it just another creature? Another simple thing to ask yourself is are these creatures wild or domestic? In The Castaway Hero, Grunkles are wild, while Krunkles are quite domestic creatures generally. The very last thing to consider is pertinence to the plot. This is almost certainly the most important part. If your creature has no relevance to the plot, why do you even bother creating it? So what you need to think is what purpose does the creature serve in your book? Are they just another obnoxious creature on the long road? Are they some kind of guardian for an object of power? And are they representative of something? For an example, lets return to the Grunkle. In The Castaway Hero, one of the characters is deathly afraid of Grunkles. But, as part of a challenge, he absolutely has to overcome his fear to protect someone he cares about. So in this case, the Grunkle literally represents fear and how the character overcomes it. So consider that next time you create a creature. To end offI hope you have found this article useful. Down below you will find a button which will allow you to download a copy of the template I use for creating my amazing creatures. I think this will help you all surpass even me in creating amazing, fascinating creatures! If you are interested in experiencing many of my creatures, be sure to check out my book, Stones of the Middle Lands: The Castaway Hero, out now on Amazon HERE and Barns and Noble HERE. Until next time, keep on writing!
Start with a mapSo, you want to build a world in which to tell a story. Well, as someone who has created a whole amazing world(in my humble opinion), let me show you how I got started. When I first started creating The Middle Lands, I began with a basic map. We begin with a basic shape (as you can see the general shape above^). From there you can create various features in the land. I would highly recommend keeping a key so your land formation markings are consistent, As you can see in the image above, I added mountains, rivers, and volcano's to this map. From there you can create names for the various regions in your world. In the case of The Middle Lands, you can see that all boundaries are physical, such as mountains and rivers. Now of course this doesn't have to be the case, you can have more political boundaries in your worlds instead.
When it comes to naming things, when I created the original map of The Middle Lands, I was a little less skilled and named things ridiculously like Kenada and The Ethan Lands, I pray that you do NOT do this! When I had to rename some of the places in The Middle Lands, I looked into the Latin and Greek roots for words associated with major features of each land. For example, Infernterra comes from two root words, Inferno, which means fire, and Terra, which means earth, which means Infernterra literally means "Fiery Earth", an apt description of that particular area. From there we named the major formations, such as the Valley River and The River Unknown. Now would be the best time for you to figure out where your major settlements or plot-relevant places are, and mark them. As you can see on this map, the River, Jungle, and Sea Temples are all marked as they are important places in this world. And there you have it, finish up the map with any more details you would like to fill in and you have a general map of a world for you to tell fantastical stories in. I hope this was useful and I plan on continuing to write more articles on world building 101. If you have any interest in exploring this world any further, please visit HERE to get The Castaway Hero on Amazon or HERE to get it through Barnes and Noble. Until next time, keep on writing! |
Welcome to The Writers Block!AuthorKen Mears is a new 17 year old author, here to share his wisdom, advice, and experiences with you, the reader! Archives
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