World-Building Workshop ~ History of Your World

AUTHORS:

This is the fifth posting in this series.  To read the other postings, click here:

Crops & Creatures

Naming Your World and Choosing a Heirarchy

Terrain & Maps

Economy, Trade, & Money   

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HISTORY OF YOUR WORLD

Now that you have all the foundations in place, it's time to think of a history for your world. Now this can be as detailed or as sketchy as you want it to be depending on your story. Perhaps the inhabitants of your world *don't* know the history, in cases like Waterworld or Mad Max or what have you.

But a good history will make your world come alive, as you can add little details, maybe give magical items a history. If there's a pendant of invisibility, who made it? Who owned it? And what was it used for, good or evil? Think of leaders names, past and present. Maybe a lineage for a monarchy. Who was the first king?

Are there any heroes in your world? Tales of men overcoming all odds? Folk tales about mythical creatures such as the unicorn or dragon? If there are no unicorns on your world but there's folk tales about them, did they exist? Do they still? What happened to them so long ago to wipe them out? Or why do they now live in hiding?

These are all details you can jot down in a good history. And sometimes as you write your story, you can think of more history to go with your world, so it doesn't have to *all* be thought of at once. I know some of you might be thinking *whew!* :D

But these ideas can build a more believable world for your characters to live in. Just because you might not necessarily write about this information, YOU have it in case you need it to better understand your world, or perhaps understand the motivation behind your characters.

That should get you started on thinking of your own unique history. Just keep asking yourself the "what if" questions, and it will come. :)

One exercize that might help you is to write a short story about the history of your world.  In my world, there was a backstory of the dragons.  There used to be thousands of them in the sky.  But now, there is only one dragon left.  In the backstory, there had been a massive battle for a magical talisman that wiped out all the dragons save one.  That "epic" history demanded to be written out.  Now, this might not become a part of the story you're currently writing in this world, but it might help you understand your history a bit and get you to flesh out events a little more.

Even if you don't write a short story about your history, you might want to outline events on a timeline.  That will help you keep things straight as you write.  :)

~~Becka

http://www.RebeccaGoings.com